Greg LaCour Keeps His Commitments at LSU and Beyond

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When Greg LaCour says he plans to work for Louisiana State University (LSU) until he retires, believe him. The director of campus planning—and reluctant interim assistant vice president (AVP) of planning, design, and construction—at LSU returned to his alma mater after 33 years out of state. The plan was always to return home. And when it comes to following through with a plan, LaCour’s determination precedes him.

Since leaving Louisiana in 1985, that plan has been in motion. LaCour’s family line on his father’s side goes back seven generations in Pointe Coupee Parish, and back five on his mother’s. His family still maintains one of the family homes that was built in 1866. LaCour, the eldest of his siblings, always figured he would be the one to come back and tend the family homestead. But the plans were bigger.

“Since I was a kid, it was my dream to buy a piece of property on the False River, design the house, and that would be the last place I’d ever live,” LaCour says. Kids make big plans. For hundreds of reasons, those dreams mature, evolve, or dissipate into something else over the years as time, circumstance, and maturity take hold.

But there is something different in the LaCour bloodline. He and his three siblings all stayed with their same employers for 30 years. LaCour himself has been married for 40 and was an eventual principal at Gensler for 30.

“I think there’s just always been an expectation in our family that if you make a commitment, you stick with it,” LaCour says. “We were raised to work hard, and if you are going to do something, you don’t quit. You just keep going.”

And that childhood plan to eventually move back home? While still living in Houston, LaCour bought property on False River in 2008. In 2016, construction began on the house LaCour designed. In December 2017, they moved into the house with just mattresses on the floor, determined to spend Christmas there. It was going to be their home away from home until he retired.  

Frank Lloyd Wright may have been the house’s inspiration, but the home is distinctly LaCour’s. The director of campus planning’s childhood fascination with tree houses blossomed into something unique without being ostentatious, personal yet likely the envy of anyone who visits.

There was just one problem. LaCour didn’t have a job in Louisiana. After 30 years at Gensler, LaCour realized his hope of opening an office in Louisiana just couldn’t drum up the kind of business a name as significant as Gensler requires. But the Gensler principal was hired to design an office at LSU’s landscape architecture department, so at least he could come home to design for his old school.

While prepping for construction, LaCour caught a ride on a golf cart across campus with a university project manager.

“I told Vincent that it would be awesome to work here and drive a golf cart all day,” LaCour says. “Vincent said, ‘There’s an opening.’ And he gave me my future boss’s number.”

LaCour will never forget that golf cart ride because it seemed that fate was putting the last piece in place for his homecoming.

And while LaCour intends for this to be his last career move, he’s far from taking it easy. His team is currently documenting over 14 million square feet of space at LSU, ensuring that data is accurate and up to date for input to a massive database that helps monitor space use on campus.

“It’s been a two-year process so far, and we’ve never had this level of organization,” LaCour says. “Working here is a chance to give back to LSU for the opportunities my education gave me.”

The university is also on the way to building a new library learning commons. It was a project that LaCour was excited about when he took the job, one whose construction should start in 2026. In the middle of the process, LaCour’s boss left. He’s been the interim AVP for planning, design, and construction for the past year, and career advancement is not something LaCour was necessarily gunning for.

“If I stay in the AVP role I hope to help create a succession plan with this great team of people,” the director says. “There are some things I look forward to getting done before I eventually ride off into the sunset.”

That day isn’t today, and that’s OK. Because LaCour has already made his dream come true. He’s surrounded by his family, living in a house he designed, and most importantly, he kept the commitment he made to himself. Greg LaCour is home after 30 years, right on time.

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