NEWS RELEASE

Contact: David West (west@nsula.edu )
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466

12/10/2003

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NATCHITOCHES-Northwestern State University will present an honorary doctorate of humanities to New Orleans business and civic leader Melba L. Steeg during Fall Commencement exercises Friday, Dec. 19.

Steeg is a native of Mansfield and an alumnus of Northwestern, receiving a bachelor's degree in education. She has been an active supporter of the university, serving as president of the NSU Foundation from 2001 until 2003.

During her tenure as president, the NSU Foundation received its first $1,000,000 endowed chair and a pledge to create another endowed chair. The Melba L. Steeg Endowed Professorship in Primary Education was established in her honor. Steeg also served as a member of the Foundation Board.

In 1994, she was named to the NSU Hall of Distinction, the Long Purple Line. Steeg was named to the NSU College of Business Hall of Fame in 1998.

Steeg, the president of Investing and Developing, Inc., a commercial and residential real estate developing and financing corporation, has been the first woman on many of the boards and commissions on which she has served. She has been a board member or trustee of organizations including the National Conference of Christians and Jews, where she was a member of the national board, and co-chair of the Regional Louisiana Chapter, the Caroline Dorman Nature Preserve in Natchitoches and the National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine.

She was an advisor/consultant to the Ellender Foundation for Medical Research which she co-founded, the Touro Infirmary Gerontology Committee and was co-chair of the Touro Infirmary Steering Committee. Steeg has been a member of the board of the Chamber/New Orleans and the River Region, the Urban League of New Orleans and the New Orleans Museum of Art. She was the organizer and first chair of the Transportation Committee of the Chamber.

In addition, Steeg served as chairman of the board and president of the Greater New Orleans Tourist and Convention Committee and was the founder of the group's marketing committee.

Her civic and charitable involvement has led to several major awards. Steeg has been the recipient of the Humanitarian Award from the National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Disease, the Weiss Brotherhood Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews and the Hornblower Award by the Greater New Orleans Tourist and Convention Commission. She and her husband, Moise S. Steeg, received the Volunteer Fund Raiser Award from the National Society of Fund Raising Executives. Steeg has also received the National Jewish Chairman's Award, the Paul Tulane Award at Tulane University and was the recipient of the Sophie Newcomb Society Award.

She has been listed in the International Who's Who of Women and has been recognized as one of the Best Dressed Women in New Orleans.

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