Edwin Lewis Stephens (1873–1938) was named the first president of Southwestern Louisiana Industrial Institute, on January 3, 1900.
[1] Although Frazar served as president for only two and a half years, he supervised the construction of many of the buildings and halls that still stand on campus and form the physical personality of the university.
In the 1950s, President Dwight Eisenhower appointed him to the Federal Reserve Board for the Louisiana region.
It also added graduate programs in English, history, microbiology, mathematics, statistics, education, and computer science.
[3] In 1997, Authement and a group of supporters launched a campaign to increase the university's privately held assets to $75 million with the majority of funds to be used for endowed chairs, professorships, and scholarships.
[5] Prior to his appointment in 1996 as the state's Commissioner of Higher Education, he served in many roles on the UL Lafayette campus, including vice president for university advancement, executive director of the alumni association, program director for the Union Program Council and student government adviser, as well as an adjunct assistant professor.