Quick Facts

• LSU was founded by the Louisiana General Assembly in 1853 under the name Louisiana State Seminary of Learning and Military Academy and was located near Pineville, La., with the first session beginning Jan. 2, 1860.
• LSU is one of only 30 universities nationwide designated as a land-grant, sea-grant and space-grant institution.
• LSU is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral, and professional degrees.
• LSU includes 10 senior colleges and schools, in addition to specialized centers, divisions, institutes, and offices.
• As of the spring of 2009, LSU's enrollment is more than 26,000 students, including more than 1,400 international students and over 4,000 graduate students.
• LSU has more than 1,500 faculty members and a staff of more than 5,000.
• LSU Libraries contain more than 3.2 million volumes.
• The School of the Coast and Environment (formerly CCEER) was designated as the first Coastal Marine Institute by the Minerals Management Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior.

ATHLETICS

• LSU's mascot, Mike VI, is a live Bengal-Siberian Tiger mix that lives in a 15,000 square foot habitat across from Tiger Stadium.
• LSU has won 45 national championships: Baseball (5), Men’s Basketball (1), Boxing (1), Football (3), Men’s Golf (4), Men’s Track and Field (6), Women’s Track and Field (25).
• “Hey, Fighting Tigers,” one of the more well-known songs at Tiger sporting events, was adapted from the Broadway show tune “Hey, Look Me Over,” written by Emmy and Tony award-winning composer Cy Coleman for the musical "Wildcat" starring Lucille Ball. LSU gained permission to adapt the music and change the lyrics.

CAMPUS

• The University moved to its present location in 1926, the fourth move since its inception in 1860.
• Theodore C. Link was chosen to create the original campus master plan. Although he died before the plan was completed, his designs define the Italian Renaissance character of the campus, which is marked by red pantile roofs, overhanging eaves, and honey-colored stucco.
• New Orleans architects Wogan and Bernard completed Theodore Link's in-progress work and designed some of the buildings Link had proposed.
• The current Baton Rouge campus was dedicated on April 30, 1926.
• When Huey P. Long was elected governor in 1928, he launched a major building program that continued through the 1930s.
• During the 1930s, many of LSU's live oaks and magnolia trees were planted by landscape artist Steele Burden. The live oak trees on LSU's campus have been valued at $50 million. Through the LSU Foundation's "Endow an Oak" program, individuals and groups are able to endow live oaks across campus.
• In the 1970s, azaleas, crepe myrtles, ligustrum, and camelias were planted in the quadrangle, and sidewalks were added.
• Since the 1930s, more than 200 principal buildings have been constructed and others are currently under way.
• Forty-six buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the campus is protected by the State Capital Historic District legislation.
• LSU is located on more than 2,000 acres of land in the southern part of Baton Rouge, bordered on the west by the Mississippi River.
• The University's more than 250 principal buildings are grouped on a 650-acre plateau, which constitutes the main part of campus.
• LSU's landscaping was called "a botanical joy" in its listing among the 20 best campuses in America in Thomas Gaines's The Campus as a Work of Art.
• The LSU Indian mounds are located near the northwest corner of the campus. The two mounds were created by Native Americans more than 5,000 years ago and functioned as territorial markers or symbols of group identity. In 1999, the mounds, which are a part of a larger mound group throughout the state are older than any in North America, Mesoamerica or South America and predate the construction of the great Egyptian pyramids, were placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

LITERARY TRADITIONS

• LSU is the home of The Southern Review, one of the world's most prestigious literary journals, established in the 1930s by Robert Penn Warren, Cleanth Brooks, and Charles Pipkin.
• Founded in 1935, the LSU Press is a nonprofit book publisher dedicated to the publication of scholarly, general interest and regional books. LSU Press is one of the oldest and largest university presses in the South and is the only university press to have won a Pulitzer Prize in both fiction and poetry.

ALUMNI AND FORMER STUDENTS

LSU's prominent alumni and former students include:

• Eduardo Aguirre, Jr. - The first Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in 2003; was appointed the U.S. Ambassador to Spain in 2005.
• James Andrews, M.D. - World-renowned orthopedic surgeon and founder of the American Sports Medicine Institute
• John Ed Bradley - Sports Illustrated writer and novelist
• Donna Brazile - Author, educator, syndicated columnist and Democratic political strategist
• Kenneth Brown - Host of HGTV's show "ReDesign"
• James Carville - Author, media personality and chief political strategist for President Clinton's 1992 campaign
• Cassandra Chandler - Former Special Agent in Charge at the FBI, one of FBI’s highest-ranking African-American women
• Bill Conti - Academy Award-winning composer who has written theme music for several well-known movies, including “Rocky” and its sequels
• Lodwrick M. Cook - Former Chairman & CEO of Atlantic Richfield Company
• Maxime Faget, Former NASA engineering and development director
• Carlos Roberto Flores - President of Honduras from 1997-2001
• Murphy "Mike" Foster Jr. - Governor of Louisiana from 1996–2001
• Sylvia Shaqueria Fowles - professional basketball player in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
• Julie Giroux, Emmy Award-winning composer for music direction of the 63rd Annual Academy Awards
• Reinosuke Hara - Former President and CEO of Seiko Instruments
• Hubert Humphrey - 38th Vice President of the United States
• Delos “Kip” Knight - Former vice president of marketing and brand management at eBay
• Mary Landrieu - First female U.S. Senator from Louisiana
• Harry J. Longwell - Former Executive Vice President and Director of ExxonMobil
• Shaquille O'Neal - Four-time NBA Champion, three-time NBA Finals MVP who completed his degree in 2001
• Suzanne Perron - Textiles designer who has worked with Carolina Herrara, Anna Sui and Vera Wang; her designs have been featured on the covers of Vogue, Modern Bride and Martha Stewart Weddings
• Rex Reed - New York author and film critic
• Dolores Spikes - Former president of Southern University and the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore
• Marty Sixkiller - media tools supervisor for PDI/Dreamworks Inc., who worked on the movies "Antz," "Shrek," "Shrek 2," “Shrek the Third,” “Madagascar” and “Over the Hedge”
• David Toms - PGA golfer and 2001 PGA Champion

Page last updated: January 31, 2012