2024 Hall of Distinction Inductees and Outstanding Young Alum Award Winner

The LSU E. J. Ourso College of Business is proud to announce the 2024 Hall of Distinction inductees – Patrick J. Brandau, Stephen R. Fussell, and Lyttleton “Lyt” T. Harris IV – as well as the 2024 Outstanding Young Alum, Whitney Dawn Breaux. The college will honor these distinguished individuals at a banquet on Thursday, October 10, at the Business Education Complex.

 

Meet the Inductees

Patrick J. Brandau

Patrick Brandau is the New Orleans managing partner for Deloitte & Touche LLP. He serves as an audit and assurance partner at Deloitte and is a certified public accountant. In these roles, Brandau helps drive the local strategy for growth, business development, social impact, and other strategic initiatives. Brandau has over 28 years of experience serving large, complex companies, with a primary focus on the energy, resources, and industrials industry. He has broad experience serving clients on technical issues associated with complex business transactions and significant experience in assembling, organizing, and overseeing large client service teams. Brandau uses his strong knowledge of SEC requirements to advise clients on initial and secondary public securities offerings.

Brandau has served clients through a variety of corporate transactions, including acquisitions, dispositions, and initial public offerings of their securities. He communicates regularly with senior members of management and the audit committees of large companies on a variety of matters, including SEC and GAAP reporting requirements, internal control structure, and audit committee leading practices.

Brandau currently serves as the lead relationship partner for LSU, one of Deloitte’s priority universities. He has also been a valuable member of the E. J. Ourso College of Business Dean’s Advisory Council since 2014. Brandau was born and raised in Louisiana. He attended LSU, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in accounting in 1996.

 

Stephen R. Fussell

Stephen Fussell is a distinguished human resources executive and philanthropic leader. His career spans more than 40 years with three Fortune 100 companies. Fussell started his career at Shell Corporation and later at Nestlé. He joined Abbott Laboratories in 1996, serving most prominently as chief human resources officer and executive vice president of human resources, while simultaneously serving as chairman and president of the $450 million Clara Abbott Foundation. He was also appointed to the board of directors of Abbott Fund.

Fussell led over 50 mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures during his Abbott tenure, including the creation of two large-cap public companies: AbbVie and Hospira. Under his leadership, Abbott was consistently named one of the industry's best deal makers and a Great Place to Work in more than 60 countries.

Fussell supports the E. J. Ourso College of Business with an endowed scholarship for need-based students in the communities surrounding his hometown of Covington, Louisiana. He also supports the Oaks, the leadership philanthropic arm of the Tiger Athletic Fund. Fussell earned his Bachelor of Science in business and administrative management from LSU in 1979.

 

Lyttleton “Lyt” T. Harris IV

Lyt Harris currently serves as managing partner of The Harris Investment Partnership, specializing in projects such as multifamily real estate and senior housing developments.

Harris led a storied career starting at Scott Paper Company. There, he rose through the ranks, becoming the project manager for the first disposable diapers in the U.S., which he took from test market to national distribution. He later became the national brand manager for disposable diapers and the company's facial tissue product line.

Later, as director of marketing for a large division of Hunt Wesson Foods, Harris and his team discovered and teamed up with Orville Redenbacher to take his gourmet popping corn from test markets to national distribution. In three years, it was the No. 1 selling brand of popcorn in the U.S., a distinction that the brand still holds today.

Harris then spent several years as a senior marketing executive in the banking and finance industry before moving to Houston in 1982 to become president and CEO of Southwest Management & Marketing Company, a residential property management concern. He sold his company and retired in 2004.

Harris is a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and currently resides in Houston, Texas. He was married to the late Venita VanCaspel Harris. Harris earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in marketing and management from the University of Mississippi in 1962. He earned a Master of Science in marketing and economics from LSU in 1963. In 2009, he received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Northwood University. Harris established what will eventually become multimillion-dollar endowed scholarship programs for worthy students majoring in marketing at each of his alma maters, as well as economics majors at The University of Colorado, where his late wife earned her degree. Read more about Lyt Harris in his full bio.

 

Meet the Outstanding Young Alumnae

Whitney Dawn Breaux

Whitney Breaux joined Eli Lilly and Company in 2011 as a sales account manager. Since joining Lilly, Breaux has held eight different roles across the company, including sales, information technology, U.S. marketing, global marketing, sales leadership, and international marketing. In her current role as the global marketing leader for Eli Lilly’s dermatology portfolio, Breaux is responsible for launching a new biologic treatment in 30 countries around the world.

In 2020, Breaux was diagnosed with stage 3 invasive ductal carcinoma breast cancer at the age of 32. During her battle with cancer, she noticed a gap in awareness about breast cancer, especially among young Black and African American women. This realization fueled her passion to create the Day 18 Campaign, encouraging women to perform self-breast exams on the 18th day of each month. The number 18 symbolizes the statistic that one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. Breaux now also serves on the Woman’s Hospital board of directors, advocating for patients like herself.

Breaux boasts numerous accolades beyond her professional successes. In 2004, she was the first Black woman crowned Miss Teen Louisiana. In 2010, the Baton Rouge Business Report recognized Breaux as a rising business leader and named her to their “Forty Under 40” list at age 22. She is also in the process of authoring her first book, entitled Be A Badass and Change the World.

Breaux is a lifelong resident of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in mass communication with a focus on political communication in 2009 and an MBA in 2011, both from LSU. Read more about Whitney Breaux in her full bio. 

 

About the Hall of Distinction

Established in 1996, the E. J. Ourso College of Business Hall of Distinction recognizes individuals who make significant contributions in the areas of business, academia, or government as well as their community. The Hall of Distinction induction is not limited to LSU alumni, but nominees have a formative connection with the college.

In addition to the Hall of Distinction, the college annually presents an Outstanding Young Alumni Award. This honor recognizes one E. J. Ourso College alum whose early accomplishments distinguish them as an upcoming leader in their profession. 

For more information about the Hall of Distinction award criteria and a list of past inductees, visit the Hall of Distinction honoree gallery.

For information on the 2024 Hall of Distinction Banquet, contact Leigh Ann Charles.