LSU names eight to 2012 alumni hall of distinction class

Distinguished scholar, author and international business consultant John S. Butler and Dallas Cowboys linebacker Bradie James highlight the roster of LSU alumni named to the 2012 LSU Alumni Association Hall of Distinction. Butler is the LSU Alumnus of the Year, while James has been selected as the university’s Young Alumnus of the Year. Both will be inducted at a ceremony on Friday, March 30, at the Lod Cook Alumni Center on campus. Others who will also be inducted into the 2012 Hall of Distinction at the ceremony are:
• Kurt Culbertson, board chairman and CEO of DesignWorkshop, a landscape architecture, urban design and strategic services firm based in Aspen, Colo. Culbertson got his bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture from LSU in 1976.
• Joseph D. Fail, of Bay Springs, Miss., president and majority stockholder of the family-owned Telephone Electronics Corporation. He graduated from LSU in 1961 with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering.
• David B. Means III, of Gloster, a 1972 LSU agriculture graduate who’s active in DeSoto Parish business and civic endeavors. He was also named the College of Agriculture Outstanding Alumnus in 2007.
• James P. Richards Jr., co-founder and principal of Townscape Inc., a Fort Worth-based landscape architecture firm. He received his bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture from LSU in 1978.
• Donald Welge, of Chester, Ill., founder of Mary Lee Donuts chain. He graduated from LSU in 1957 with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics and is a major benefactor of the Department of Agricultural Economics & Agribusiness.
• Claude O. West, president of Westco Land LLC and West Foundation Inc., who is also a charter member of the Tiger Athletic Foundation. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business from LSU in 1949.