Former Ducks Unlimited President Inducted into Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame
OutdoorHub Reporters 03.29.12
Dr. L.J. Mayeux has received numerous awards for his conservation achievements, but being inducted into the Louisiana Hall of Fame is an achievement culmination of sorts.
Mayeux’s conservation efforts to restore waterfowl habitat in Canada and Louisiana began almost 30 years ago. He has held many titles at Ducks Unlimited including state chairman, national president and chairman of the board. During his tenure, he helped to increase state membership by 30 percent in 1993/94, implemented educational classrooms, locally and internationally and has authored 32 weeks of teaching guides that focus on environmental and wetlands conservation for waterfowl. Just to name a few.
This June, he will be one of a few honorees to be inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.
Original press release issued by Ducks Unlimited on March 29th, 2012
Dr. L.J. Mayeux of Marksville, La., former national president and chairman of the board for Ducks Unlimited, is the 2012 recipient of the Dave Dixon Louisiana Sports Leadership Award presented by the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. He will be among the 11 honorees at the 2012 Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Induction Dinner and Ceremonies on June 23, at the Natchitoches Events Center.
“Dr. L. J. Mayeux, widely known across DU as ‘Dr. Duck,’ is a consummate example of the passion and commitment of the DU volunteer,” said DU President John Newman “He has held virtually every volunteer position in DU. Starting as a Marksville, La., committee member in 1980, he rose through the ranks of Ducks Unlimited to become national president and board chairman, and an innovator in environmental education and promotion.”
Dr. Mayeux, a Marksville physician, has achieved marked success in myriad capacities for local, state, national and even Canadian DU organizations. As the Louisiana DU state chairman in 1993 and 1994, he increased state membership by 30 percent and state income by 25 percent, as well as receiving recognition for leading Louisiana DU to number one among the states in increasing Greenwing (youth) membership and sponsors. Mayeux took the helm of Ducks Unlimited Inc. as national president in 2000. After his two-year term, he took over as DU chairman of the board for three years.
Mayeux founded an Adopt-A-Classroom program for children in grades 3-5 at parish/county, state, national and international levels in 1994. He received DU’s Wings of Innovation award 11 years later for the Cygnet curriculum he wrote.
“DU is pleased to see Dr. Mayeux honored in this way for his years of service and support of continental conservation work,” Newman said.
In 2010, DU hosted a tribute dinner in honor of Dr. Mayeux, which generated more than $450,000 in one evening for the organization. Those funds were leveraged to accomplish more than $2 million of conservation work in Canada and the United States, including a 1,400-acre conservation area dedicated to Dr. Mayeux in Saskatchewan, Canada, and a 1,200-acre project in his honor at Grand Cote National Wildlife Refuge in Avoyelles Parish.
The Dave Dixon Award is presented annually by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association’s 30-member Hall of Fame selection committee to an individual who has played a decisive role as a sports leader or administrator benefiting Louisiana and/or bringing credit to Louisiana on the national and international level. Dixon Award winners are enshrined as Hall of Fame members and will be recognized in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame museum.
The award is named in honor of Hall of Famer Dave Dixon, the driving force behind bringing the National Football League to Louisiana with the creation of the New Orleans Saints franchise. Dixon, who passed away in 2010, is also considered the “father” of the Louisiana Superdome, developing the concept for the innovative domed structure and pushing state officials for its construction in the late 1960s. His wife, Mary Dixon, will present the Dave Dixon Award to Dr. Mayeux at the June 23 ceremonies.
