Times-Picayune: LSU’s new chief may ruffle feathers in his pursuit of national excellence
The best predictor of what kind of president the Louisiana State University System is getting in John Vincent Lombardi is what he has done in his previous jobs. That seems to be what Lombardi himself would suggest.
“We need the past because we humans prove quite predictable,” the 64-year-old historian wrote in 1998. “We do similar things and find similar solutions to similar problems. We respond to challenge and opportunity in ways that track a relatively narrow range of alternatives.”
So, if Lombardi’s pattern holds true after his unanimous appointment Friday by the LSU System Board of Supervisors, the Golden Band from Tigerland will soon welcome a new guest marcher. He’ll arrive in an unassuming pickup truck, wearing black-rimmed spectacles befitting a professor and sporting a pair of suspenders, probably purple and gold. He’ll wield a clarinet and a sharp tongue, with more than a few strong opinions at the ready.
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