Mary Leach Werner, an oil and gas executive, will be the commencement speaker at Louisiana State University Eunice’s Fall graduation ceremonies.
Werner will address the nearly 100 summer and fall graduates and their families in LSU Eunice’s Health and Physical Education Center at 10 a.m. Friday.
She is a director and vice president of The Sweet Lake Land & Oil Company and The North American Land Company. Family-founded and owned since the 1800s, these companies are based in Lake Charles and engage in land management, oil and gas, farming, ranching, wildlife and real estate operations.
Werner was appointed to the LSU Board of Supervisors in June 2017, by Gov. John Bell Edwards. Her term will end in June 2018. She is filling the remainder of former public service commissioner Scott Angelle’s term who resigned from the board to take a position in the Trump administration. The LSU Board oversees the colleges in the LSU system, including the flagship campus in Baton Rouge. Werner’s mother, Laura Leach, served on the LSU Board for 18 years under four governors.
Werner served on the Board of Directors for the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society (Calcasieu Area), Art Associates of Lake Charles, Education and Treatment Council/Harbor House, Louisiana Preservation Alliance, Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, Lake Charles Civic Ballet, Children’s Museum of Southwest Louisiana, Imperial Calcasieu Museum and the Louisiana Center for Women in Government. She was also a founding director of the Family Foundation of Southwest Louisiana, supporting the family and youth counseling agency in Lake Charles. She is serving on the Board of Directors for the Community Foundation of Southwest Louisiana and Second Harvest Food Bank.
Werner grew up in Leesville, where she graduated from Leesville High School. After attending Birmingham Southern College, she earned her bachelor of science in business administration at Brenau Women’s College in Georgia. She is married to Joel W. Werner, and they are the parents of three children.