Don LaBonte, interim director and professor in the School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences, accepts the Lucien and Peggy Laborde Professorship at a reception on March 9 at the LSU AgCenter. (Photo by Johnny Morgan. Click on image for downloadable photo.).

Don LaBonte, interim director and professor in the LSU AgCenter School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences, was named to the Lucien and Peggy Laborde Professorship in Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences at a reception on March 9.

LaBonte, who has been a faculty member at the LSU AgCenter since 1988, has spent most of his professional career in sweet potato research.

In 1981, he graduated from Eastern Illinois University with a bachelor’s degree in botany and followed with a master’s degree. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in 1988.

As a faculty member with the LSU AgCenter Department of Horticulture he has the responsibility of developing new sweet potato varieties and conducting genetic research on sweet potatoes.

In 2002 and in 2008 LaBonte was a member of research teams that earned the LSU AgCenter’s Tipton Team Research Award.

“As a young child, I remember my aunt telling me to find a career that would allow me to help people,” LaBonte said. “It amazes me at times to see that this is exactly the career that I have.”

Lucien and Peggy Laborde, both graduates of LSU’s College of Agriculture, have funded several professorships and are also sponsors of Top 100 Alumni Scholarships.

Peggy Laborde was the first female agronomy major in the LSU College of Agriculture when she graduated in 1947.

The Labordes’ children, Laura Dauzat, Tommy Laborde, Luke Laborde and Janine Williams, provided funds in honor of their parents.

Lucien Laborde, who is a former president of the College of Agriculture Alumni Association, was the first recipient of the American Farmer Degree in Louisiana.

"To Lucien and me it has always been 'Forever LSU,' and I'm glad that has been instilled in our children as well," Peggy Laborde said.