Lavergne, Gary M., 1955-

Author and educator Gary M. Lavergne (1955- ) was born in Church Point, Louisiana. He holds degrees in social studies education and secondary school teaching (University of Louisiana, 1976, 1981) and Educational Administration (McNeese University, 1988). He served as Director of the Southwest District Professional Development Center, and in 1988 was appointed the first Director of the Region IV Education Service Center of the Louisiana Department of Education. He has served with the American College Testing Program and as director of Admissions and Guidance Services for the Southwestern Regional Office of The College Board. Lavergne currently (2006) holds the position of Director of Policy Analysis and Research for the Admissions Office of The University of Texas at Austin. In addition to his work for the University, Gary Lavergne researched and wrote A Sniper in the Tower (1997), Bad Boy from Rosebud (1999), and Worse Than Death (2003), as well as works celebrating his Cajun heritage and nationally-syndicated essays on education, literature and American society. An authority on criminal justice and education, he has given numerous addresses and television interviews.

Gary M. Lavergne was born in the small Southwestern Louisiana Cajun community of Church Point in 1955 to Nolan D. and Helen Barbara Lavergne. He earned a B.A. in Social Studies Education (1976) and a M.Ed. (1981) in Secondary School Teaching from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. In 1988, he earned an Education Specialist degree (Ed.S.) in Educational Administration and Supervision from McNeese University in Lake Charles, Louisiana. After several years of teaching Social Studies at Rayne High School in Louisiana, Lavergne became the first Director of the Southwest District Professional Development Center (PDC) in 1984. In 1988 he was appointed the first Director of the Region IV Education Service Center of the Louisiana Department of Education. In 1989, he accepted a position with the American College Testing Program (ACT), and in 1997 he went on to become the Director of Admissions and Guidance Services for the Southwestern Regional Office of The College Board. Lavergne served in that position until August 2000 when he became the Director of Admissions Research and Policy Analysis at The University of Texas at Austin.

To date (2012) Lavergne has written four books: A Sniper in the Tower: The Charles Whitman Murders, The Bad Boy from Rosebud, Worse Than Death and Before Brown . In addition to these books Lavergne has authored works on topics such as his Cajun heritage and educational subjects. He has appeared at several Texas Book Festivals and his latest book, Before Brown, has garnered him the 2011 Writers' League of Texas Book Award for Non-Fiction, the 2010 Coral Horton Tullis Prize and the 2010 Carr P. Collins Award.

Source: Adapted from http://www.garylavergne.com/

Accessed: 2012 January 27