As part of its transition to LSU New Orleans, the LSU New Orleans announced today the hiring of acclaimed New Orleans music educator and band leader Eddie Williams Jr. as the university’s new band director, marking the relaunch of a marching band program for the institution. The last time the Privateers had a marching band was in the 1970’s.  

Williams brings more than two decades of experience in music education, performance leadership and program development, including leadership roles at West Jefferson High School and the nationally recognized “Marching 100” at St. Augustine High School.

The creation of a marching band program represents a major expansion of student life and athletics as the university prepares to officially become LSU New Orleans on July 1. This initiative aligns with the university’s broader efforts to enhance student opportunities, strengthen campus culture and build long-term institutional momentum. The university’s initial goal is to establish a pep band program with plans to march in Mardi Gras parades by 2028.

“As LSU New Orleans continues to grow and evolve, creating opportunities that enrich student life and strengthen our campus’s powerful identity as a 7th Ward institution, is critically important,” said Jeanette Weiland, interim chancellor and chief administrative officer of the LSU New Orleans. “Eddie is not only an accomplished educator and musician, but also a proven leader who understands the culture, energy, and traditions that make New Orleans unique. His leadership will help establish a lasting foundation for generations of future students.”

Williams most recently served as director of bands at West Jefferson High School, where he built a thriving program from the ground up, growing participation and leading ensembles that earned superior ratings and competition honors. Prior to that, he directed the renowned “Marching 100” at St. Augustine High School, leading performances at major events, including the Rose Bowl Parade, and collaborating with Grammy-winning artist Jon Batiste on the album “We Are.”

Williams is widely respected throughout the New Orleans music community for his work in marching band instruction, show design, music arrangement and student mentorship. During his tenure at St. Augustine, he helped maintain a 100% scholarship rate for graduating band seniors while elevating the national profile of the program.

“Eddie Williams Jr. represents the very best of New Orleans musical tradition, discipline and excellence,” said Aulston G. Taylor, president of St. Augustine High School. “His impact on students extends far beyond performance. He has spent his career developing young leaders, creating opportunities through music and inspiring pride in every organization he serves. LSU New Orleans is gaining a tremendous educator and an outstanding ambassador for our city’s culture.”

Williams said he is honored to help establish a new tradition at the university during a transformational moment in its history.

“It is with tremendous pride and excitement that I begin this new journey as the inaugural band director for LSU New Orleans,” Williams said. “This is an opportunity to build a meaningful program rooted in excellence, tradition, culture and school spirit that reflects the heart and energy of New Orleans. Together, we will create a legacy that inspires students, energizes our campus community and proudly represents the Privateer spirit for generations to come. The sound of LSU New Orleans is coming.”

The LSU New Orleans is transitioning to LSU New Orleans on July 1, returning to the LSU System where it was originally founded in 1958. This transition positions LSU New Orleans for expanded academic opportunities, stronger partnerships, enrollment growth and long-term sustainability while preserving the university’s unique identity and longstanding connection to the city of New Orleans. 

The LSU New Orleans team, “LSU New Orleans Pixel Pros,” is based in the Department of Computer Science at the LSU New Orleans. Team members include Abdullah Naeem, Anav Katwal, Ayon Dey, and Md Tamjidul Hoque, Professor of Computer Science.

Researchers from the LSU New Orleans earned the #1 ranking in the segmentation task of the NTIRE 2026 Rip Current Detection and Segmentation Challenge, an international competition held in conjunction with CVPR 2026, one of the world’s leading conferences in computer vision and artificial intelligence.

The LSU New Orleans team, “LSU New Orleans Pixel Pros,” is based in the Department of Computer Science at the LSU New Orleans. Team members include Abdullah Naeem, Anav Katwal, Ayon Dey, and computer science professor Md Tamjidul Hoque.

The team developed an advanced artificial intelligence system to detect and segment rip currents, powerful and fast-moving channels of water that are responsible for numerous beach-related fatalities worldwide. The research has potential applications in future AI-assisted coastal monitoring and beach safety systems.

Their method achieved the highest overall ranking among participating teams under a rigorous evaluation framework that measured both detection accuracy and segmentation quality.

The results were independently documented in a recent arXiv study, further validating the accuracy and robustness of the team’s approach.

This achievement highlights the LSU New Orleans’ growing leadership in artificial intelligence research and its application to real-world challenges in coastal safety, environmental monitoring, and resilient infrastructure systems.

Prof. D. Ryan Gray will lead a group of students and archaeologists in an investigation of a location believed to be associated with a World War II-era aircraft crash and the loss of an American pilot in central Italy.

LSU New Orleans Archaeological Research and Curation (LSU New Orleans ARC) has announced the launch of its latest partner project with the US Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), intended to help fulfill the DPAA’s mission of making the fullest possible accounting of missing-in-action American service personnel.  

Prof. D. Ryan Gray will lead a group of students and archaeologists from LSU New Orleans (to be renamed LSU New Orleans in July) to investigate a location believed to be associated with a World War II–era aircraft crash and the loss of an American pilot in central Italy. They will join longtime colleague Prof. Harald Stadler, archaeologists affiliated with the University of Innsbruck and the Archäologische Forschungsgruppe Osttirol in Austria on this project. It will mark the team’s first project in Italy and their seventh recovery mission with the DPAA.

The LSU New Orleans team will incorporate many other contributors to this mission. The National WWII Museum in New Orleans is planning to send three members of the Museum’s Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy to the excavation in Italy. Erica Lansberg, the DPAA Research Partner Fellow at the Museum, along with two members of the Museum’s Historical Research Services team, Rebecca Poole and Stephen Bateman, will be joining, contributing their rich historical expertise on World War II to the excavation efforts. They will also be joined by professional archaeologists from Tamarix, a longtime Italian partner organization that continues to offer support for DPAA activities in Italy.

The group will be augmented by additional students from two different institutions. This summer, the DPAA is leading a ROTC Initiative, sending teams of cadets and midshipmen to MIA recovery missions across four different countries. The goal of this initiative is to create a permanent annual summer training partnership with each of the service branches, providing future military officers an impactful developmental experience while they assist in the important mission of bringing our Missing in Action home. A group of cadets from Tulane will join the excavation through this initiative. Finally, building upon the success of last summer’s excavations at Duncan Plaza in New Orleans, a group of students and archaeologists from the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, led by Dr. Jim Parker, the Executive Director of the Michael and Sara Moskau Institute of Archaeology, will lend their expertise to the project.

The project was developed as a public-private partnership with DPAA, to further the DPAA’s mission to locate, recover, identify, and return unaccounted-for US personnel from previous wars and conflicts. LSU New Orleans’s first partner project with the DPAA in 2017 resulted in the recovery and identification of the remains of Captain Lawrence Dickson, the first of 27 missing Tuskegee Airmen from World War II to be recovered. Another LSU New Orleans mission in Germany resulted in the recovery and identification of two B-17 crew members, Technical Sergeant William Leukering and Staff Sergeant Edgar Mills.  

The team believes that all families deserve closure and the dignified treatment of their lost loved ones, and the team is proud to partner with the DPAA and to ensure that military personnel are returned for proper burial. 

LSU New Orleans was represented by Entelechy in the graduate category and SensorySync in the undergraduate category.

Two student teams from the LSU New Orleans competed in the 2026 Entrepreneurship Pelican Cup, a statewide business plan competition that brings together student-founded ventures from universities across Louisiana.

A total of 44 teams entered this year’s competition, with 12 advancing to the final round, including six undergraduate and six graduate teams. The 2026 competition also introduced separate undergraduate and graduate categories and increased the total prize pool to $157,000. LSU New Orleans was represented by Entelechy in the graduate category and SensorySync in the undergraduate category.

Entelechy, the 2024 Privateer Pitch winner, presented its project, Camo Chameleon. The team includes Soheil Saneei, Nhi Pham and Gabe Malone, with faculty advisors Dong-Jun Min and Shafin Khan. Their project focuses on helping children develop social-emotional learning skills, with plans for a pilot program in select elementary schools. Entelechy’s selection marked the first time a LSU New Orleans team competed in the graduate category of the Pelican Cup.

"The achievements of SensorySync and Entelechy at the 2026 Entrepreneurship Pelican Cup speak to the extraordinary commitment, creativity, and perseverance of our students," said LSU New Orleans professor and team mentor Dong-Jun Min. "They navigated the challenges of entrepreneurship with focus and determination, continually refining their ideas while supporting each other as a team. It has been truly rewarding to watch their growth into thoughtful, capable innovators. Their accomplishments set a powerful example for future LSU New Orleans teams, and I look forward to seeing our students continue to build on this momentum in the years ahead."

SensorySync, a 2025 Startup LSU New Orleans finalist, placed third in the undergraduate category and received a $10,000 prize. The team includes computer science students Pranish Ghimire, Krish Neupane and Simant Singh, with faculty advisor Shafin Khan. Their platform is designed to help families navigate therapy and individualized education program support by offering therapist matching, real-time progress tracking and a shared system for communication among parents, teachers and therapists.

The Pelican Cup is hosted by the University of Louisiana Monroe and is open to students enrolled at four-year colleges and universities across the state.

Thomas J. Wallbillich III receives the NASA Silver Snoopy Award, presented by astronaut Jessica Watkins in recognition of contributions to human spaceflight mission success and crew safety. Wallbillich also received the NASA Individual Silver Achievement

As NASA’s Artemis II mission progresses, marking the first crewed deep-space flight in more than fifty years, a University of New Orleans engineering graduate is contributing to the mission’s success through his work in spacecraft structural verification.

Thomas J. Wallbillich III (M.S., Engineering Science, University of New Orleans, 1995) is a Certified Professional Mechanical Engineer whose career spans nearly four decades in the space industry, beginning during the Space Shuttle era. His work has focused on structural analysis, testing, and verification of spacecraft systems critical to human spaceflight.

He currently supports structural verification efforts for NASA’s Orion spacecraft within the Artemis program, which is designed to return humans to the Moon and establish a foundation for future missions to Mars.

In recognition of his engineering contributions to crewed spaceflight, Wallbillich received the NASA Individual Silver Achievement Medal for leadership of the Artemis II Orion Crew Module battery qualification failure stress analysis. He is also a recipient of the NASA Silver Snoopy Award, presented by astronauts to individuals who have made significant contributions to mission success and crew safety.

As Artemis II continues its mission, Wallbillich’s work represents a direct connection between LSU New Orleans engineering community and a historic milestone in modern space exploration.

Hosted by LSU New Orleans and the Student Activities Council (SAC), SUCbAUF (pronounced “suck-off”), short for Students Unwinding with Crawfish, Beer, and Unprecedented Fun, is the University’s annual crawfish boil that marks the approaching end of the academic year.

LSU New Orleans is gearing up to host one of its most beloved traditions, SUCbAUF XXXIX, on Tuesday, April 28 from 3PM-7PM—bringing together students, faculty, staff, alumni, and the greater community for an afternoon of music, food, and celebration on the lakefront.

Hosted by LSU New Orleans and the Student Activities Council (SAC), SUCbAUF (pronounced “suck-off”), short for Students Unwinding with Crawfish, Beer, and Unprecedented Fun, is the University’s annual crawfish boil that marks the approaching end of the academic year. Known for its lively atmosphere and distinctly New Orleans flair, the event continues to be a highlight for generations of Privateers.

This year’s celebration features an exciting lineup of local talent, including Move Ya Brass, Kawaii AF, and Love Your Own Noise, providing a dynamic soundtrack for the afternoon. Attendees can also enjoy a variety of attractions, including inflatable activities, snowballs, Lucky Dogs, and—of course—plenty of crawfish.

“SUCbAUF is one of my favorite campus traditions because it brings the best of us together,” said LeeAnne Sipe, Assistant Vice President and Dean of Students. “Privateers work so hard, and is there any better way to celebrate than crawfish with friends at the end of the year? When I first started working here, I knew this was no ordinary crawfish boil because people in the city were always bringing it up as soon as I mentioned my work.”

In a new addition this year, the event has been moved to the afternoon in collaboration with the University Alumni Association, creating more opportunities for alumni and community members to join the celebration.

“This year we worked with the University Alumni Association to move this tradition into the afternoon to accommodate the community’s schedule,” said Joy Ballard, Director of Student Involvement and Leadership. “Alumni often talk about SUCbAUF as one of their favorite college memories, and I am excited to give them an opportunity to celebrate with us again.”

For students like Jamacia Smith, SUCbAUF is all about connection.

“My favorite part of SUCbAUF is the community,” Smith said. “I love seeing our campus come together all in one place! And of course the crawfish!”

Tickets are free for LSU New Orleans students, $10 for faculty and staff, and $20 for community members. Tickets will be available for purchase on the day of the event.

With live music, local flavor, and a vibrant campus spirit, SUCbAUF XXXIX promises to be an unforgettable way to close out the semester.