NEWS RELEASE

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

4/28/2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NATCHITOCHES- Northwestern State University will award an honorary doctorate of humane letters to Maj. Gen. Erbon W. Wise of Sulphur during Spring Commencement Exercises Friday, May 7.

Wise became one of the state's leading newspaper publishers during a 50-year career. He started with a newspaper in Maplewood, a community near Lake Charles, in the late 1940's and built a chain of 36 daily and weekly newspapers and Court News publications before retiring in 1998.

Wise, a 1941 graduate of Northwestern, is a charter member of the NSU Hall of Distinction, the Long Purple Line. He is also a charter member of the NSU President's Council and the NSU Foundation Board. Wise is also an honorary co-chair of Northwestern's first capital campaign, "For a Brighter Tomorrow."

"Gen. Wise and his wife Marie have a great love for Northwestern and it is an honor for us to recognize him in this way," said Northwestern president Dr. Randall J. Webb. "He has been a strong supporter of the university and has been willing to ensure future progress and success at Northwestern."

In 2002, the Wises donated $400,000 to the NSU Foundation to create the Erbon W. and Marie Wise Endowed Chair in Journalism, Northwestern's first fully funded endowed chair. The gift was matched with $600,000 from the Louisiana Board of Regents Support Fund to create a $1,000,000 endowment.

In 1991, they established the Erbon and Marie Wise Education Trust to fund advanced education in newspaper-related fields. Students at NSU and other universities have benefited from scholarships provided by the Trust.

In addition to serving 27 years in the U.S. Army Air Force, the U.S. Selective Service System, U.S. Army Reserve and the Louisiana National Guard, Wise served Louisiana as adjutant general and as state director of the Selective Service System, Civil Defense and the Office of Emergency Preparedness.

Wise is the author of 19 books. His latest, "My Military Years, 1941-1969," was published in 2001.

While at Northwestern, he met his wife, Marie who also graduated from Northwestern in 1941. Marie Wise became a teacher after graduating from Northwestern. She was co-publisher of several newspapers with her husband. For 24 years, she wrote a popular weekly column, "Challenge of Genealogy," which appeared in 35 Louisiana newspapers. The Wises established the Erbon and Marie Wise Genealogical Library at the Louisiana State Archives in Baton Rouge in 1987.

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