Former LSU system president

NEW ORLEANS – Services are pending for former LSU System President Dr. Allen A. Copping. He died Dec. 1 at age 84.

He headed the LSU system for 14 years through 1999. He was the system’s third president.

During his tenure he guided the establishment of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center and LSU’s management takeover of the public hospital system.

Dr. Copping, a New Orleans native, studied dentistry at Loyola University in New Orleans, receiving his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree in 1949.

He was a U.S. Navy veteran of the Korean Sar.His time in the military included a stint as head of oral surgery on a hospital ship. After discharge, Dr. Copping returned to New Orleans where he maintained a private dental practice before going into medical education and rising rapidly through the administrative ranks.

He was head of the Loyola University School of Dentistry Department of Dental Anatomy from1956 to 1970 and subsequently served as associate dean and then dean of the LSU School of Dentistry from 1971 to 1974. In 1974, he was named chancellor of the LSU Medical Center in New Orleans.

Survivors include three children.

Superdome architect

NEW ORLEANS – Services are pending for architect Arthur Q. Davis. He died Nov. 30 at age 91.

Davis and a partner designed the Louisiana Superdome. On his own, David designed the New Orleans Arena next to the Superdome.

He was a U.S. Navy veteran of World War II. After post-war graduation from Harvard, he and partner Nathaniel Curtis designed a number of buildings that defined the modern New Orleans’ skyline.

Survivors include his wife, Mary and a daughter.

Arrangements are by Tharp-Sondheimer-Tharp