LSU Hosts Ceremony to Name Patrick F. Taylor Hall

President John Lombardi, Phyllis Taylor (center), and Chancellor Sean
O'Keefe with Taylor Energy Company board members and LSU officials

September 12, 2007 — On Saturday, September 8, LSU hosted a ceremony formally naming the Center for Engineering and Business Administration building in honor of the late Patrick F. Taylor of New Orleans. Taylor authored the Taylor Plan, which started the groundwork for the Tuition Opportunity Program for Students, known as TOPS, to become a reality for Louisiana students. Events were held at the Patrick F. Taylor sign outside at the front of the building on Nicholson Extension.

Chancellor Emeritus James Wharton served as master of ceremonies, along with LSU Chancellor Sean O’Keefe, LSU Board of Supervisors Chairman Jerry Shea, LSU College of Engineering Dean Zaki Bassiouni and many others. Mrs. Phyllis M. Taylor, who continues her late husband’s legacy through the Patrick F. Taylor Foundation, was in attendance to accept the honor.

“Patrick Taylor’s influence on the young people of this state is his true legacy, and we are honored to name in his memory a building that is a lasting memory of his long and illustrious career,” said O’Keefe.

Taylor graduated from LSU with a petroleum engineering degree in 1959. He founded the Taylor Energy Company LLC in 1979, which became the only solely owned independent company to explore for and produce oil and gas in the Gulf of Mexico. It was eventually named as one of the top 100 private employers in New Orleans due to Taylor’s practice of hiring and contracting with Louisiana companies.

In addition to his major role in Louisiana’s energy industry, Taylor also served as a strong supporter of education. He helped found the TOPS program, which provides merit-based tuition assistance to Louisiana undergraduate students enrolled at the state universities. During the 2005-2006 academic year, more than 42,000 Louisiana students received TOPS awards, totaling $116.7 million.

Taylor was a dedicated philanthropist and public service advocate, and throughout his lifetime he maintained an active presence on the LSU Board of Supervisors, the Coast Guard, U.S. Marine Corps support foundations and the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, among many others.

He once said, “The way I want to be remembered is by the young people of this nation and my ties to them. I tell them that, like me, they can dream. I talk about hard work, integrity and guts. I demand that of them and they respond.”

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