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F o u n d a t i o nof confidence and workethic,” he said.Hathorn recentlywrote a brief essay aboutteaching. In it, he notedthat teaching requires acapacity to listen, and listeningcarries an obligationto nurture students’talents.“The capacity to listenand to observe whatothers may not hear orsee in themselves, furthermoreto shed sometemporary light towarddeveloping insight andconfidence, is what distinguishesa good listener– one truly willing toassume the privilege andobligation of what isheard,” he wrote.Hathorn’s studentslearn about the history ofart and study the masterpainters. “At the sametime, I encourage them tocall all that into question. Hector LaSalaAnd, in the same light,I want them to call much of what theyreceive from me into question,” he said.He also challenges his studentsto explore what is unfamiliar, pressingeach one to become a “visual archaeologist.We charge a student to excavatelayers of possibilities, layers of information,to get something that is reallymeaningful to him.” It is at that point,he continued, when a student finds hisown voice.The professor said he learns fromhis students. “There are plenty of timeswhen I wake up in the middle of thenight thinking about a student’s workas well as my own,” he said. When thathappens, he is reminded of the connectionbetween teaching and his own work.In addition to teaching, Hathorntakes an active role in Department of VisualArts’ activities. Brian Kelly, head ofthat department, credits him as “a majorvoice in our department developinginto one of the premier visual arts programin the country. . . John possessesan endless amount of energy and freelydevotes that energy for the bettermentand support of the department’s anduniversity’s educational mission.”Over the past 16 years, Hathornhas led 17 trips by faculty and studentsto Houston art museums. He and acolleague, Allan Jones, obtained UL LafayetteInstructional Improvement Mini-Grants to help finance 12 of those trips.Young architects learnby serving othersHector LaSalaProfessor Hector LaSala wants hisstudents to learn more than how todesign buildings on a computer screen.He encourages them to get their handsdirty by working on construction jobs.And, he shows by example how theycan use their talents to change lives.“Above all, I hope our programallows students to experience the fulfillmentof pro bono work. My main missionis to graduate students who realizetheir responsibility to be not just architects,but citizen architects,” he said.His work has earned him the 2008Distinguished Professor Award from theUL Lafayette Foundation. He received itsExcellence in Teaching Award in 2001.LaSala and colleague Geoff Gjertsonare co-directors of the Collegeof the Arts’ Building Institute, whichenables students to turn theories intohands-on experience. Through the institute,they earn course credit by workingon community service projects.Over the past five years, for example,more than 200 architecturestudents have worked on projects at theAcadiana Outreach Center in downtownLafayette, which provides shelter andassistance to homeless and poor clients.Projects include a communal amphitheater,a gazebo, a meditation park andtransforming an existing warehouse intoa distribution center for free clothing.Through the Building Institute,architecture majors have also assistedone of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Lafayetteby building playground equipment,benches and a canopy over itsbasketball court.Gordon Brooks, dean of the Collegeof the Arts, said one of its goals is to encouragecollaboration across disciplines.“Hector is a prime example of a facultymember who takes this seriously,”he said.Since 1994, LaSala has broughtstudents from all departments of theLucius Fontenot46 LA LOUISIANE | Spring 2008

college to design and build stages andprops for plays performed at Burke Hallon campus. He is also set designer for theSummer Youth Shakespeare Ensemble.LaSala is an advocate for energy-efficientarchitecture and urban housing fordowntown Lafayette.In 1983, he and UL Lafayette architectureprofessor emeritus Edward Cazayouxbuilt an energy-efficient home on universityproperty. Their work received the U.S.Department of Energy’s Energy DesignInnovation Award. Both are members ofthe university’s BeauSoleil Team, whichis participating in the U.S. Department ofEnergy’s fourth Solar Decathlon.Last year, LaSala learned that theBuilding Institute’s Outreach Center projectreceived $280,000 in federal funds to buyproperty and plan the conversionof a 14,000-square-foot warehouseadjacent to the center into a multistorycomplex that will incorporateapartments and commercial space.He said he values the opportunitythat UL Lafayette gives himto pursue his many professionalinterests.“I am so grateful for the creativefreedom I am allowed in myteaching. My research exists becauseof it,” he said.Heeding Mom’sadvice led torewarding careera certificate program as a geriatric nursepractitioner.“Learning is a lifelong adventure, especiallyin nursing and health care,”Sudduthsaid. “I want to excite young students aboutnursing and let them know that nursing is aprofession that provides caring and competentcare to all who need it.”Dr. Melinda Oberleitner, head of theNursing Department, said Sudduth ispopular with students, who describe heras “a clinical expert who is approachable,engaging and a great instructor. They oftencomment on her helpfulness and on hercaring for students as individuals.”Sudduth sometimes incorporatesgames into her lessons to engage her students.For instance, she has them participatein a game that helps them learn whatSudduth excels in research as well asteaching. Most recently, she and nursing colleagueDr. Sudah Patel presented their findingsfrom a study on student stressors followingHurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.“We realized that our students werefeeling the effects of the hurricanes andthat we could help alleviate some of theirstressors,” said Sudduth. “We encouragedthem to talk with friends and family andalso told them about free resources oncampus like counseling. We wanted themto take advantage of these offerings so theirstudies wouldn’t suffer.”The two presented their findings at theprestigious World Psychiatric AssociationInternational Congress late last year.Sudduth received the OutstandingVolunteer Award for her work as a nurseDr. Ardith SudduthDr. Ardith Sudduth can’t pinpointwhy she became a nurse.But after decades in the profession,she’d have it no other way.“My mother was a great motivatorbecause she insisted my sisterand I go to college. She didn’t carewhat our choice of major was – justthat we went to college and graduated,”said Sudduth, an assistantprofessor in the College of Nursingand Allied Health Professions.At the time, most female collegestudents sought degrees in teaching ornursing, Sudduth said. Her sister became ateacher, while she became a nurse.Sudduth earned a bachelor’s degree,two master’s degrees and a doctorate.She is a nationally certified family nursepractitioner. In December, she completedDr. Ardith Sudduthit’s like to age and to be forced to deal withage-related conditions.“They go through different stages ofaging, like walking with a cane or wearingglasses that depict eyesight with maculardegeneration. They really get a sense of whataging feels like,” she said.practitioner at the Lafayette CommunityHealth Care Clinic. Sudduth also receivedthe Col. Jean Migliorino and Lt. Col. PhilipPiccione 1951 Commemorative EndowedNursing Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence.She holds the Hamilton Group EndowedProfessorship in Nursing. nLucius FontenotLA LOUISIANE | SPRING 2008 47