James M. and Sue Gilbert Mellard Endowment established
The Lamar University Foundation has announced an endowment has been established for the College of Arts and Sciences. The James M. and Sue Gilbert Mellard Endowment will provide funding to support PULSE Magazine, Lamar’s student-created literary magazine.
“The James M. and Sue Gilbert Mellard Endowment preserves a legacy that spans fifty-five years, and this generous gift ensures that PULSE will be well supported into the future,” said Joseph Nordgren, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “We are particularly grateful on behalf of the Lamar faculty and student support staff who regularly devote their time and energy to make PULSE a first-rate student literary magazine. The endowment will ensure that Lamar students will always have an avenue available to them for sharing their creative literary talents with others.”
Graduates from Lamar, James M. Mellard and Sue Gilbert Mellard, were both instrumental in the birth of the PULSE magazine. The student literary magazine was born in spring 1959, and James Mellard took over as editor at the end of that semester.
Sue Gilbert Mellard received her secretarial science certificate from Lamar and went on to complete her Bachelor of General Studies from Northern Illinois University where she was appointed Director of External Programs and later Director of Alumni Relations and Public Affairs for the NIU College of Law.
After James M. Mellard earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Lamar in 1960, he went on to earn a master’s degree at the University of Oklahoma and a doctorate of philosophy from the University of Texas at Austin. He then taught as an assistant professor at the University of Southern California and later took a position at Northern Illinois University where he served as department chair and dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. While at NIU, Mellard held notable academic positions and won a number of teaching awards, including the most prestigious, the Presidential Teaching Professorship. Upon retirement, Mellard was named Presidential Teaching Professor, Emeritus.
According to James Mellard, PULSE has become his most enduring Lamar achievement. He was delighted to know the endowment he and Sue established will help to ensure that it will always be a literary fixture at Lamar.
For more information about establishing an endowed scholarship, contact the Lamar University Foundation at (409) 880-2117.
