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Ragin’ Cajun Athletic Foundation:Student-Athlete Performance Center Named In Honor Of Mosing Family
It is only fitting that one of the newest and most technology-laden of Louisiana’s athletic facilities now bears Don Mosing’s name. After all, Mosing has been one of the most respected men in oil and gas technology, in addition to being a highly successful businessman, for well over a half-century. The long-time president and driving force behind what started as Frank’s Casing Crew & Rental Tools, and is now better known as Frank’s International, is the inventor and co-inventor of more than 60 U.S. patents as well as hundreds more around the globe. But Mosing did much, much more — within the company his father founded and which he worked for over 60 years, within the Lafayette and Acadiana community which he has called home his entire life, and within the university where many of his fondest memories of football and student life were formed and to which he has been one of the major benefactors in its history. On Friday, the 88-year-old Mosing was honored for all of those things, when the university and athletic department unveiled the newly-named Donald and Janice Mosing Student-Athlete Performance Center in a ceremony during Homecoming week, honoring Mosing and his late wife. The 100,000-square-foot facility, the largest in the Sun Belt and one of the largest among all Division I schools in the South, is the home of the Louisiana football team with all offices, a plush locker room and equipment area. But, the facility is also used by every Ragin’ Cajuns student-athlete, from the 12,000-square-foot weight room, the state-of-the-art athletic training and hydrotherapy area, the nutrition station and the 150-seat auditorium. That’s only fitting, since director of athletic development Gerald Hebert said his friend has been a benefactor to the entire Ragin’ Cajuns program, as well as the University overall. RCAF executive director Jim Harris said that Mosing and his family are the program’s largest donors, including a major gift that made the Mosing Athletic Performance Center possible. But it’s not just the athletics department that has benefited from his generosity. Four years ago, he made a $2.83 million donation to UL’s College of Engineering, from which he graduated in 1950 with a degree in mechanical engineering. That funded a $1 million endowment chair, a computer-aided design lab for students and a student career development program. Last December, he received an honorary doctorate in systems engineering during graduation exercises. "Mr. Mosing’s success is a testament to the value of a solid education, hard work and determination," said UL president Dr. E. Joseph Savoie. "His gifts are emblematic of his leadership." "He was cheap labor," said one longtime friend. After receiving his degree in 1950, he went to work full-time for Frank’s, and became president in 1989. Prior to that, and even after becoming president, Mosing was the epitome of a "hands-on" engineer, working in every aspect of company operations. He worked on job sites, he flew a float plane to call on customers in the South Louisiana bayous, and he spent much time huddled over a drafting table, coming up with ideas for the design and manufacturing of oilfield equipment that was revolutionary in its time. Even within the last year, Mosing received yet another U.S. patent for an advance in oilfield equipment. "When I think about Don, I think about someone who lived the American dream," said another long-time acquaintance. "He didn’t start from scratch, his father did that, but he certainly took the ball and ran with it. They may have had five or six employees back then, and look where they are now." In its heyday, Frank’s employed more than 4,000 people. Even with the slowdown in the oil and gas industry, the publicly traded company has 3,000 employees in 40 locations across the U.S. and around the world. Several years ago, Mosing’s son Keith went to Houston and started Frank’s International, and now is executive chairman of a firm that has manufacturing facilities in 60 countries and is headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Don Mosing continued to concentrate on U.S. and Gulf of Mexico operations, and he remained active until his retirement in 2011 – the same year he was honored by World Oil Magazine with its Lifetime Achievement Award. His scores of other industry honors include being named by the Louisiana Gulf Coast Oil Exposition (LAGCOE) as its "LAGCOE Looey," the group’s ceremonial host, from 1997-99. But he never forgot his undergraduate days at then-SLI, and particularly his time on the football team where he played with longtime UL staffer Dr. David Fisher. Hebert reunited those two a few years ago, and at the time heard one issue that Mosing had with the athletics department. "Back then after the war, the department gave lifetime admission passes to events to graduates, and he still had his," Hebert said. "That idea was discarded a long time ago, but he still expected that to be honored. That’s the kind of man he is … he’s a tough taskmaster, and he believes that people should live up to their promises." Hebert had a similar lifetime pass made, a laminated one that Mosing still sports at some events. One of those was this summer’s ribbon-cutting ceremony at Louisiana’s new golf facility at Oakbourne Country Club, where Mosing has been a member for decades. He and his son Brad each made $200,000 donations to make that building possible. Another donation is inside the Mosing Student-Athlete Performance Center, with head football coach Mark Hudspeth using the Frank and Jessie Mosing Football Office that honors his parents. As of yesterday, his family’s name also adorns the outside of the ultra-modern facility. "With all that he has done, this was only fitting," Hebert said. "He stepped up at a great time of need for all of us and helped us get to where we are today."
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