GRAMBLING, LA – Grambling State University will award Charles Guidry the honorary degree, Doctor of Business, during the 2015 Spring Commencement at 10 a.m. Friday, May 8 at the Frederick C. Hobdy Assembly Center.

Guidry will receive the university’s highest honor for his accomplishments in business and success in the sugar industry. Guidry has grown his small family farm to become one of the top producers of sugar cane in the state of Louisiana, and he serves as the only African American member of the Cajun Sugar Co-Op, Inc. Board of Directors.

He was born in Abbeville, La., in 1944, the oldest of nine children. He graduated from Grambling with a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education in 1969. He fought in the Vietnam War and was awarded the Army Commendation Medal, Bronze Star and the United States Army Air Medal for his service. After returning from the war, Guidry attended Texas Southern University and earned a Master of Education in 1973.

Guidry worked as an elementary school teacher for six years in Houston, before returning to his family farm, Charles Guidry Farm, Inc., in 1979. Guidry has grown his father’s small farm of 100 acres to a 4,100-acre operation with 29 employees that grosses over $5.3 million per year.

After Hurricane Rita hit in 2005, Guidry, his wife, Wanda, and his son, Jerome, lost their homes, and the Guidry farmland was temporarily ruined. Faced with the possible loss of the farm, Guidry used his own savings and delayed retirement to keep the farm running.

“Grambling State University has numerous outstanding alumni. We celebrate Mr. Charles Guidry’s accomplishments with the awarding of the honorary doctorate to demonstrate our sincere appreciation for his notable success and the support he provides to GSU and his community, family and the state of Louisiana,” GSU Interim President Cynthia Warrick said.

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