The nationally renowned Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture and the LSU College of Art and Design are pleased to announce the creation of the Max Z. Conrad Lecture Series, an endowed lecture series administered through the LSU Foundation and named for one of the most beloved and longest serving professors in the School.

The School will officially announce the series on Friday September 24 at 5 PM in the Design Building on the LSU Campus. LSU Chancellor Michael Martin is scheduled to attend and open the ceremony with brief remarks.

The lecture series is the brainchild of a core group of alumni from the Reich School, who have known Conrad over the years and recognize the invaluable contributions he has made to the School in his 45 years on the faculty. Together, these alumni helped raise more than $145,000 to create an endowment for the lecture series, which will kick off next fall.

“It is a delight to see alumni and friends of the Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture come together to honor a distinguished teacher,” says Ken Carpenter, Interim Dean of the College of Art and Design. “Every landscape architecture program in the country would love to have a Max Conrad on their faculty.”

Conrad, a native of New Orleans, joined the LSU faculty in 1965. His stated areas of interest are in urban design and regional planning, though he is well-known among alumni in the Reich School for his affable manner and his tireless commitment to his students and broadening their horizons. He is responsible for creating programs within the curriculum of the School that send students on field trips to the East and West Coasts of the U.S. and Southern Canada, and has also been instrumental in arranging student internships to Asia and summer field trips to Europe, Asia and South America.

Conrad also organizes trips for alumni each year, which is how the idea for the lecture series came to pass. A group of alumni who have traveled with him for the past several years decided they wanted to honor him by raising funds for a lecture series that would complement the College-wide Paula G. Manship Lecture Series. The College Lectures and Exhibitions Committee will select the speakers based on need and funds available for each year.

“This new lecture series will be a lasting way to honor Max, and at the same time, augment our exceptional interdisciplinary Paula G. Manship Lecture Series,” Carpenter says. Support for the LSU College of Art and Design, like that shown through the establishment of the Max Z. Conrad Lecture Series, advances the goals of the Forever LSU campaign. Forever LSU is a historic effort by the LSU community to attain more than $750 million in support for LSU by the end of 2010. To find out how you can join the campaign for LSU’s future, visit www.foreverlsu.org.