NATCHITOCHES, La., July 18,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Louisiana Supreme Court
Associate Justice James Genovese was
named the 21st president of Northwestern State
University during a special meeting of the Board of
Supervisors for the University of
Louisiana System on Thursday, July
18.
Genovese was named the lone finalist July
16 after a day of meetings and forums with students,
faculty, staff, alumni and community stakeholders, as well as a
public interview.
"My vision is to reinvigorate and rejuvenate Northwestern," said
Genovese. "I have chosen this as perhaps my final endeavor in my
employment. It means so much to me that I am willing to forego the
remaining two years of my term and help the institution that
allowed me to get to where I am today."
During interviews, Genovese said he will focus on increasing
enrollment, fund raising and increasing the university's
visibility.
"What a great honor and pleasure it is to be able to have a
chance to say I can do something for Northwestern and the
State of Louisiana," said
Genovese. "It's going to be a challenge and I look forward to
it."
Genovese earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at NSU in 1971 and his
juris doctorate from Loyola University
in 1974 with honors in property law. He has been an associate
justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court since 2017. He was a
practicing attorney for 21 years before serving as a judge in the
27th Judicial District from 1995-2004 and a member of the Louisiana
Third Circuit Court of Appeal from 2005-16.
Genovese served on the Louisiana Supreme Court's Judicial
Council Appellate Court Work Point Values Working Group and the
Trial Court Committee to Review the Need for Judgeships and as
chairman of its long-term subcommittee. He was the Supreme Court's
appointee to the Juvenile Justice Reform Act Implementation
Commission. Genovese is a board member of the Supreme Court of
Louisiana Historical Society.
Genovese has been a panelist, speaker and lecturer at
conferences and continuing education seminars on recent updates,
professionalism, ethics, summary judgment, writs and appeals,
practices and procedures of the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of
Appeals and judicial review in the Louisiana Supreme Court.
As an undergraduate at NSU, Genovese was named in Who's Who
Among Universities and Colleges, Who's Who Among Greek Fraternities
and Sororities of America and Outstanding College Athletes of
America. He was a four-year letterman in tennis at No. 1 Singles
and Doubles, president of Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity and involved
with Interfraternity Council, Student Government Association and
intramurals. He was inducted into the Long Purple Line, the
university's alumni hall of distinction, in 2018.
Genovese practiced law in Acadiana from 1974-1995 and served as
president, vice president and secretary-treasurer of the St. Landry
Parish Bar Association. He is a member of the Louisiana Bar
Association, Colorado Bar Association and American Bar Association
and is admitted to the bar in all state and federal courts in
Louisiana, including the United
States Supreme Court.
Genovese's judicial career began as a judge ad hoc of the
Opelousas City Court from
1975-1989. He was elected district judge of the Twenty-Seventh
Judicial District Court for the Parish of St. Landry in 1995 and served as district
judge through 2004, whereupon he was elected to the Louisiana Third
Circuit Court of Appeal. He served on the appellate court from
2005-2016. He was elected Associate Justice of the Louisiana
Supreme Court, commencing January 1,
2017.
Genovese succeeds Dr. Marcus
Jones as president of Northwestern
State.
Leah Jackson
(jacksonl@nsula.edu)
Director of Public Information and Media Relations
Northwestern State University
(318) 357-4553
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SOURCE Northwestern State
University