Family establishes LSUS scholarship to honor Shreveport advertising executive

Special to 318 Forum

An endowed scholarship honoring Shreveport businessman Jack Lamb will help LSU Shreveport students improve their communication skills.

Lamb, 80, took college classes but never earned a degree. He worked in local radio and television in Shreveport-Bossier City and was an advertising and marketing salesman for decades. He worked his way up at various ad agencies before operating his own agency, a sales promotion company, and, ultimately, Lamb Outdoor Advertising.

“I have two big regrets in my whole life,” he said. “First, my wife did not have what I consider a proper honeymoon, and two, I do not have what I consider a proper degree,” he said.

Lamb’s four children, Ann Lamb Tolleson, Walter Lamb, Richard Lamb and Patrick Lamb, created the Jack Lamb Outdoor Advertising Endowed Scholarship as their dad’s 80th birthday gift.

All four took their father’s passion for education to heart. They are first-generation college graduates who built their careers around their degrees.

Walter Lamb admires his dad’s work ethic and the foundation his parents provided for the family.

“He had three kids out of the gate, so he had to work. He worked several jobs at once. He’s such a gifted salesperson and marketer, but he knew if you had an education, it would be easier,” Walter Lamb said. “He and our mother were always very supportive of us going to school.”

The Jack Lamb Outdoor Advertising Endowed Scholarship will be awarded each year, with preference given to active-duty and retired military members attending or planning to attend LSUS.

However, a selection committee will also consider any students who meet other criteria because of Lamb’s firm belief that everyone today needs higher education to succeed in work and life.

LSUS Foundation Executive Director Laura Perdue says the foundation is grateful for the Lamb family’s generous gift.

“We are honored to be chosen to establish the new scholarship. We met Jack Lamb, and it was clear he is a force with his family and his business knowledge,” Perdue said. “We will make sure the students receiving his scholarship in the future have the same drive that he does.”

Jack Lamb says he’s still grateful to the businessmen who mentored him as he built his career and believes the scholarship is a new way to mentor others.

“When I was in business, kids who really put forth the effort, especially the ones who made exceptionally good grades, I made a job for them. I paid it forward,” he said. “The scholarship is wonderful. You’ve got to give back. You can’t just take, take, take.”

The LSUS Foundation promotes philanthropic support for LSUS programs and areas of study while recognizing the all-important growth and success of economic development in northwest Louisiana. The LSUS Foundation manages 58 endowed professorships and chairs and awards over 150 scholarships each year.

Online: https://www.lsusfoundation.org/index

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LsusFoundation/