Editing Louisiana Tech University (section)

===University era===
[[File:Revised Wyly Tower of Learning in Ruston, LA IMG 5673.JPG|250px|thumb|The 16-story Wyly Tower of Learning, named for the benefactors [[Sam Wyly]] and [[Charles Wyly]], is the most prominent building on the Louisiana Tech campus in [[Ruston, Louisiana]]. It was designed by the [[Bastrop, Louisiana|Bastrop]] architect [[Hugh G. Parker Jr.]] Though the Wyly Tower is the landmark campus structure, the university is planning to have the structure razed to make way for a revised library facility. The tower has been cited for lack of ventilation, [[asbestos]], difficulty of providing fire protection, and stairwells do not exit to the exterior of the building.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.latech.edu/masterplan/graphics/wt_plan.pdf|title=Wyly Tower Replacement|publisher=latech.edu|access-date=April 10, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402223104/http://www.latech.edu/masterplan/graphics/wt_plan.pdf|archive-date=April 2, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>]]

In 1962, Foster Jay Taylor became the 12th President of the Louisiana Polytechnic Institute, having succeeded [[Ralph L. Ropp]]. During his twenty-five years at president, Dr. Taylor oversaw the transformation of the former Louisiana Polytechnic Institute into Louisiana Tech University. The university's enrollment grew from about 3,000 students in 1962 to roughly 12,000 students in 1987. The first African-American students at Louisiana Tech, James Earl Potts (a transfer student from the nearby [[HBCU]] [[Grambling State University]]) and Bertha Bradford-Robinson, were admitted in the spring of 1965.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thenewsstar.com/story/news/education/2016/11/09/louisiana-tech-announces-creation-james-earl-potts-and-bertha-bradford-robinson-scholarship/93553354/|title=Louisiana Tech announces the creation of James Earl Potts and Bertha Bradford-Robinson Scholarship }}</ref>

Most of the modern buildings on the Main Campus were either built or renovated during Taylor's tenure as university president. The main athletic facilities were constructed during the Taylor Era including [[Joe Aillet Stadium]], the [[Thomas Assembly Center]], [[J.C. Love Field]], and the Lady Techster Softball Complex. In addition to the athletic facilities, the 16-story Wyly Tower, Student Bookstore, Nethken Hall ([[Electrical Engineering]] building), the University President's House, and the current College of Business Building were built on the Main Campus. In order to house the increasing student body of Louisiana Tech, Dr. Taylor led the construction of Graham, Harper, Kidd, Caruthers, and Neilson residence halls.

Taylor's time as Louisiana Tech president also marked the beginning of Lady Techster athletics. In 1974, Taylor established the [[Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters basketball|Lady Techsters women's basketball]] program with a $5,000 appropriation. He hired [[Sonja Hogg]], a 28-year-old PE instructor at [[Ruston High School]], as the Lady Techsters' first head coach. Under Coach Hogg and her successor [[Leon Barmore]], the Lady Techsters won three National Championships during the 1980s.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1065541/1/index.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121202230032/http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1065541/1/index.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 2, 2012 |title=Belles Of The Ball |magazine=Sports Illustrated |access-date=August 2, 2009 |date=November 19, 1986 }}</ref> In 1980, Dr. Taylor founded the [[Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters softball|Lady Techster Softball]] team with Barry Canterbury serving as the team's first head coach. The team made seven straight teams to the NCAA softball tournament and three trips to the [[Women's College World Series]] during the 1980s.

The first doctorate was awarded in 1971, a [[PhD]] in [[chemical engineering]].

In 1992, Louisiana Tech became a "selective admissions" university. This university has increased their admissions criteria four times since 2000 by raising the minimum overall grade point average, composite ACT score, and class ranking.

Louisiana Tech has earned recognition from the [[Louisiana Board of Regents]] for its graduation rate and retention rate. According to a report of the Louisiana Board of Regents published in December 2011, Louisiana Tech has the second-highest graduation rate among the fourteen public universities in the state of Louisiana. The 53.3% 6-year graduation rate is the highest in the [[University of Louisiana System]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://as400.regents.state.la.us/pdfs/grate/grs0405.pdf|title=2011 Board of Regents Graduation Rate report|website=state.la.us|access-date=January 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160825182933/http://as400.regents.state.la.us/pdfs/grate/grs0405.pdf|archive-date=August 25, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> Louisiana Tech has a 78.64% retention rate among incoming freshmen who stay with the same school after the first year, the top rate in the University of Louisiana System.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://as400.regents.state.la.us/pdfs/ssps/fall10/spsretn210.pdf|title=Board of Regents Retention Rate Report|website=state.la.us|access-date=May 29, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030650/http://as400.regents.state.la.us/pdfs/ssps/fall10/spsretn210.pdf|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> The average time-to-degree ratio for Tech's graduates is 4.7 years, the fastest in the UL System.<ref>http://www.regents.doa.louisiana.gov/assets/docs/Data/TTD/2010-2011/TTDRPT20.PDF {{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

Louisiana Tech became the first in the world to confer a Bachelor of Science degree in [[nanosystems engineering]] when Josh Brown earned his degree in May 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.latech.edu/2007/06/25/first-nanosystems-engineering-major-to-be-commended/|title=First nanosystems engineering major to be commended|work=latech.edu|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100610053221/http://news.latech.edu/2007/06/25/first-nanosystems-engineering-major-to-be-commended/|archive-date=June 10, 2010}}</ref> Continuing its mission as an engineering pioneer, Louisiana Tech also launched the nation's first cyber engineering BS degree in 2012.

{{as of|2017|May|}}, Louisiana Tech has awarded more than 100,900 degrees.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.myarklamiss.com/news/local-news/la-tech-celebrates-100000th-graduate/|title=La Tech celebrates 100,000th graduate|date=May 20, 2017|access-date=August 13, 2019|archive-date=August 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190813192654/https://www.myarklamiss.com/news/local-news/la-tech-celebrates-100000th-graduate/|url-status=dead}}</ref>