In Commemoration of Horace C. Hearne, Jr.

Deceased June, 1994

 

Originally from Shreveport, Horace C. Hearne, Jr., graduated from LSU with a B.S. in physics in 1951 and received a master degree in mathematics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

His career included analytical work for several branches of the U.S. military and DuPont du Canada. He served as a civilian consultant to the Diem government in South Vietnam and was recognized for his efforts by President Diem.

Hearne later lived many years in Shawnee Mission, Kansas, where he owned and operated several manufacturing enterprises. In 1993, he contacted the LSU foundation and the Department of Physics and Astronomy about an estate gift, which he arranged through a trust. He died in Shreveport in June, 1994.

Hearne's investment portfolio in his trust resulted in the transfer of $1,281,790 to the LSU Foundation in the summer of 1996. The terms of the gift called for the endowment of several chairs and professorships in a new Horace C. Hearne, Jr. Institute for Theoretical Physics.

The funds have been applied to two endowed chairs, which have qualified for additional matching grants of $800,000 from the Louisiana Board of Regents Educational Quality Support Fund (LEQSF). With the state's matching funds, the two endowments total $2 million.