Dr. John Gray retired as president of Lamar, and Dr. C. Robert Kemble was named as the eighth president on Feb. 1, 1977. In 1981, the John Gray Institute was founded.
In spring 1983, Senate Bill 620, sponsored by Port Arthur Sen. Carl Parker, was passed, creating the Lamar University System and entitling the university to an additional $2.4 million in state funds annually beginning in 1985. Lamar University Beaumont was the system's primary institution. Other components were LU-Port Arthur, LU-Orange, the College of Technical Arts and the John Gray Institute.
By 1983, when the Lamar University System was created by the Texas Legislature, LU-Orange owned nine buildings on a 28-acre campus, and LU-Port Arthur had grown from an enrollment of 151 students when it joined with Lamar University in 1975, to 1,367. The combined enrollment in the Lamar system exceeded 15,000, and regents selected Dr. C. Robert Kemble to serve as chancellor of the system. The Montagne Center, named for Regent A. H. (Bob) Montagne, opened in December. In January 1985, Dr. Bill Franklin became the ninth president of Lamar University.
Lamar University's Gulf Coast Hazardous Substance Research Center was created by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986. Senate Bill 39, drafted by Senator Carl Parker, created a parallel state organization. Dr. George McLaughlin was named the system's second chancellor.
In 1987, Lamar University announced the establishment of its first endowed faculty chair, the Homer L. Walles Chair in Visual and Performing Arts. The following year, the second and third endowed chairs are established at Lamar by Dr. and Mrs. Jack M. Gill and Mr. and Mrs. C. W. Conn Jr.
In 1988, the Texas Hazardous Waste Research Center began operations in research, evaluation, testing, development and demonstration of alternative or innovative technologies in the minimization, destruction and handling of hazardous wastes.
LU-Orange and LU-Port Arthur were granted separate accreditation in 1988 and 1989, respectively through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. That same year, the Legislature removed restrictions that kept both campuses from purchasing land and constructing new buildings. That year, the Minority Scholars Institute was established at Lamar University.
The Institute of Technology was created in 1990 to provide technical, business, health and industrial education through programs two years or less in length.
State Sen. Carl Parker saw Senate Bill 843 approved in 1991, allowing LU-Port Arthur and LU-Orange to begin granting its own degrees. That same year, the John Gray Institute received its first state appropriation.
John Idoux served as interim president of Lamar University from August 1991 to March 1992 when W. Brock Brentlinger became interim president. Chancellor McLaughlin stepped down. Dolph Norton became interim chancellor.
In 1993, a critical state management control audit of the Lamar University System pointed out problems and deficits in several University areas. Dr. Rex Cottle became president of Lamar University on Feb. 26, 1993, and began working to address the issues. Discussion began to grow on the idea of merging Lamar University System with The Texas State University System.
In February 1995, Sen. Michael Galloway and Rep. Mark Stiles drafted legislation to make Lamar University a part of TSUS. LU System Chancellor Joseph Champagne and University regents voted to oppose the legislation. The bill passed in the House in April on a vote of 141-3.
On Sept. 1, 1995, Lamar officially became a member of The Texas State University System, joining Angelo State, Sam Houston State, Southwest Texas State and Sul Ross State. The campuses in Orange and Port Arthur and the Institute of Technology became separate components of the TSUS.
The Jack Brooks chair in Government and Public Service, Lamar's fourth faculty chair, was established with a $1.6 million in gifts on behalf of former U.S. Rep. Jack Brooks, a key figure in the history of the University. In 1997, Dr. James True became the first faculty member to occupy the chair.
In March 1998, Dr. Rex Cottle submitted his resignation from the presidency. Dr. William Johnson, president emeritus of Stephen F. Austin University, became interim president in May, launching the university into its 75th Anniversary year with a rededication ceremony at South Park Junior High School, the original site of South Park Junior College.
Thirty-year Lamar faculty veteran, dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication and interim executive director of University Advancement Dr. James M. Simmons was named president-designate on Feb. 9, 1999, by the Board of Regents of The Texas State University System.
In the summer of 1999 former Lamar University campuses in Orange and Port Arthur and the Institute of Technology changed their names in response to concerns expressed by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools becoming Lamar State College-Orange, Lamar State College-Port Arthur and Lamar Institute of Technology.
Dr. James Simmons assumed the duties of the office of the president on Sept. 1 and a TSUS tradition of holding a formal investiture ceremony to instate the new president was held Nov. 4, 1999.
