THIBODAUX – The Nicholls State University Alumni Federation recently held its annual Awards for Excellence reception to honor those who have most helped to advance the university and the Nicholls Alumni Federation. Among the awards presented were the James Lynn Powell Award, to honor the top alum, and the 
Corporate Mark of Honor, to recognize a top corporate supporter.
The James Lynn Powell Award, the Federation’s most prestigious award given to a Nicholls graduate, was presented to C.R. “Rusty” Cloutier of Lafayette, a 1968 Nicholls finance and economics graduate who is president, CEO and director of MidSouth Bank of Lafayette and its parent company, MidSouth Bancorp, a publicly traded company with total assets of $800 million.
The Morgan City native began his banking career in 1964 in his hometown as a cashier at First National Bank, which was later purchased by Whitney Bank. Twenty years later, in 1984, he was executive vice president and secretary to the board of directors. Along the way, he was instrumental in the bank’s expansion to Franklin, he managed the bank’s $75 million in investments, and instituted a master charge department, a small business loan division and a government loan program.
Cloutier is past chairman of the advisory committee of Fannie Mae in Washington, D.C. and the Independent Community Bankers of America, as well as past president of the Alumni Awards – top grad, corp.
Community Bankers of Louisiana. He is also national director of the Community Banking Network and recently completed a six-year term as a director of the New Orleans Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
At home in Lafayette, he is president of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Foundation Board and co-chairs the UL Lafayette Foundation Museum Committee and the Athletic Advisory Committee. In 2004, he was awarded the Civic Cup, the highest honor given to Lafayette’s most outstanding citizen.
Rusty has always been active at Nicholls, whether as a member of the Student Government Association or later, as a member of the Nicholls Alumni Federation and the University Foundation. During the university’s 50th anniversary, Rusty was honored as a Golden Graduate for his success. In 2000, he was named the Nicholls Beta Gamma Sigma Businessman of the Year.
The Corporate Mark of Honor was awarded to Major Equipment and Remediation Services of Morgan City, owned by R.E. “Bob” Miller, a 1974 Nicholls history graduate. Miller and his company have left a lasting mark on the lives of Nicholls honors students by underwriting the costs of converting a classroom to an honors student lounge and funding scholarships for the annual study-abroad program that has sent honors students to Plymouth, England, every spring for the past six years.
Miller is one of the charter members of the Honors Brigade and chaired the Morgan City division. Under his leadership, the division raised more than $200,000. Miller is also a member of the Nicholls Alumni Federation, a past member of the Colonel Club, a lifetime member of Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society and a member of Phi Alpha Theta Honor Fraternity in History.