NATCHITOCHES – Louisiana Supreme Court Associate Justice James Genovese was named the 21st president of Northwestern State University during a special meeting of the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System on Thursday, July 18.
Genovese was named the lone finalist July 16 after a day of meetings and forums with students, faculty, staff, alumni and community stakeholders, as well as a public interview.
“My vision is to reinvigorate and rejuvenate Northwestern,” said Genovese. “I have chosen this as perhaps my final endeavor in my employment. It means so much to me that I am willing to forego the remaining two years of my term and help the institution that allowed me to get to where I am today.”
During interviews, Genovese said he will focus on increasing enrollment, fund raising and increasing the university’s visibility.
“What a great honor and pleasure it is to be able to have a chance to say I can do something for Northwestern and the State of Louisiana,” said Genovese. “It’s going to be a challenge and I look forward to it.”
Genovese earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at NSU in 1971 and his juris doctorate from Loyola University in 1974 with honors in property law. He has been an associate justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court since 2017. He was a practicing attorney for 21 years before serving as a judge in the 27th Judicial District from 1995-2004 and a member of the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal from 2005-16.
Genovese served on the Louisiana Supreme Court’s Judicial Council Appellate Court Work Point Values Working Group and the Trial Court Committee to Review the Need for Judgeships and as chairman of its long-term subcommittee. He was the Supreme Court’s appointee to the Juvenile Justice Reform Act Implementation Commission. Genovese is a board member of the Supreme Court of Louisiana Historical Society.
Genovese has been a panelist, speaker and lecturer at conferences and continuing education seminars on recent updates, professionalism, ethics, summary judgment, writs and appeals, practices and procedures of the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeals and judicial review in the Louisiana Supreme Court.
As an undergraduate at NSU, Genovese was named in Who’s Who Among Universities and Colleges, Who’s Who Among Greek Fraternities and Sororities of America and Outstanding College Athletes of America. He was a four-year letterman in tennis at No. 1 Singles and Doubles, president of Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity and involved with Interfraternity Council, Student Government Association and intramurals. He was inducted into the Long Purple Line, the university’s alumni hall of distinction, in 2018.
Genovese practiced law in Acadiana from 1974-1995 and served as president, vice president and secretary-treasurer of the St. Landry Parish Bar Association. He is a member of the Louisiana Bar Association, Colorado Bar Association and American Bar Association and is admitted to the bar in all state and federal courts in Louisiana, including the United States Supreme Court.
Genovese’s judicial career began as a judge ad hoc of the Opelousas City Court from 1975-1989. He was elected district judge of the Twenty-Seventh Judicial District Court for the Parish of St. Landry in 1995 and served as district judge through 2004, whereupon he was elected to the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal. He served on the appellate court from 2005-2016. He was elected Associate Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court, commencing January 1, 2017.
Genovese succeeds Dr. Marcus Jones as president of Northwestern State.
Photo caption
Northwestern State University’s 21st President James Genovese, right, is pictured with his wife Martha Janes Genovese.
