Donaldsonville native D-D Breaux named 2022 LSU Alumna of the Year

Former LSU gymnastics coach D-D Breaux, who originally hails from Donaldsonville in Ascension Parish, has been honored as the 2022 LSU Alumna of the Year.

The legendary coach joins country music artist Jordan Davis, who was named the 2022 Young Alumnus of the Year, in the LSU Alumni Association Hall of Distinction. Their induction will be April 1, 2022.

Honorees will include: Cate Heroman, a veteran teacher, administrator, advocate, consultant, coach, author, and Knock Knock Children’s Museum volunteer; Gil Rew, a dentist in private practice in Mansfield, and Ivory Toldson, president and CEO of the QEM Network, professor of counseling psychology at Howard University, and editor-in-chief of The Journal of Negro Education.

According to LSU's media center, Breaux is the longest tenured coach of any sport in SEC history. She built the LSU program into a national powerhouse during her 43 seasons.

As the “Dean of Coaches,” she represented the university at the highest level in the gym and in the community, dedicating her life to LSU and the more than 200 gymnasts she coached over the years.

She was named SEC Coach of the Year on nine occasions and NCAA Central Regional Coach of the Year nine times.

Breaux earned a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education in 1976 and a master’s degree in physical education in 1978.

The first LSU Alumnus of the Year award was conferred in 1966; the Young Alumnus of the Year Award was established in 1999 to recognize alumni who have attained professional prominence early in their careers.

Including the 2022 inductees, the LSU Alumni Association has recognized 324 individuals representing a cross-section of LSU graduates.