Roger H. Ogden of New Orleans, Louisiana, is an alumnus of LSU, where he served as student body president and graduated with honors and second in his class from the College of Business. He received his juris doctorate degree from Tulane Law, where he was elected to the Tulane Law Review and was an Order of the Coif graduate.
Ogden is a real estate developer, civic leader, and philanthropist. He has been a leader in the development and acquisition of more than $2 billion in commercial real estate including shopping centers, hotels, and office properties, and public pro bono projects. Ogden is co-founder of Stirling Properties where for 20 years he led the company as principal and CEO in the development and acquisition of a portfolio of 35 shopping centers. In 1996, Ogden developed the Omni Riverfront Hotel, a project that pioneered development on Convention Center Boulevard. In 2000, Ogden acquired and redeveloped the Shops at Canal Place, a 260,000 square foot five-star mall in downtown New Orleans featuring Saks Fifth Avenue, Tiffany, Brooks Brothers, and Anthropologie. He developed the Loews Hotel and restoration of Piazza d’Italia in 2003. Ogden is a principal in the acquisition and redevelopment of the Omni Royal Orleans Hotel in the French Quarter following Hurricane Katrina.
Ogden has been extraordinarily active in civic endeavors, including as chairman of the LSU Board of Supervisors, chairman of the Audubon Park Commission, and chairman of the boards of many other public and non-profit organizations, including co-Chairman of the LSU/Tulane Cancer Consortium Board and 2018-19 chairman of the United Way Campaign. In connection with his civic work, he has donated his time and talents as the coordinating developer of the New Orleans Aquarium of the Americas and Woldenberg Park, a world-renowned riverfront park that reconnected the Vieux Carre to the river, and the restoration of the historic Louisiana Supreme Court building, located in the heart of the Vieux Carre. He chaired the design and construction committee for the development of the new business school complex at LSU and currently serves on the board of the LSU Foundation and executive committee of the Flagship Coalition. He endowed the LSU Roger Hadfield Ogden Honors College (named after his father and son).
Ogden’s experience and passion for economic development dovetails with his service as the Founding Chairman of the SoLa Super Region Committee (a collaboration between GNO Inc. and the Baton Rouge Area Chamber). Most recently on the New Orleans Aviation Board, he has helped lead the development of a new $1 billion world-class terminal to be opened in the fall of 2019. Additionally, Ogden is a member of the Business Council of New Orleans and the River Region and is recognized as one of New Orleans leading entrepreneurs in “How They did It ... Profiles of New Orleans Entrepreneurs,” published in 2009. He is an emeritus member of the GNO Inc. Board of Directors and currently serves on the statewide Committee of 100.
Committed to the arts, Ogden founded the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in 2003. The project has led to a renaissance of this historically important area of the city and is nationally recognized as the largest and most comprehensive collection of Southern art in the world. He has served on the boards of the New Orleans Museum of Art, Louisiana State Museum, Contemporary Art Center, NOCCA, and the LSU Museum of Art. He currently chairs the art committee of the Louisiana Governor’s Mansion Foundation and has served on the board of directors of the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting.
Ogden has received numerous professional, business, and civic awards, which include Lifetime Achievement Award by the Association for Corporate Growth in 2019, Times-Picayune Loving Cup, Louisiana Legend by Louisiana Public Broadcasting in 2015, New Orleanian of the Year by Gambit Magazine, Metropolitan Area Committee’s Special Achievement Award for Metro New Orleans, LSU Alumni Hall of Distinction, Junior Achievement NOLA Business Hall of Fame, New Orleans Ten Outstanding Persons by Family Services, LSU Business School Hall of Distinction, Anti-Defamation League’s A.I. Botnick Torch of Liberty Award for Humanitarian Service, named one of the 30 Driving Forces in New Orleans by City Business, Greater New Orleans Philanthropist of the Year in 2009, the National Urban League Empowerment Award, and most recently he has been chosen the recipient of United Way’s Tocqueville Award 2019. Ogden has been a resident of New Orleans for 50 years.
Honorable Mention, Cornerstone Summer & Fall 2015
My LSU Giving Story
What is your favorite memory involving LSU?
I have two favorite memories, so it is a tie. The first is a general memory of the beautiful robin’s egg blue skies and sunny days of late September and early October. Walking across the parade grounds from the Kappa Sigma house to classes and savoring the first whiff of fall with the clear air and the warmth of the sun on my face, I knew that I was exactly where I should be and how fortunate I was to be attending LSU.
The specific memory is standing on the driveway below the student union balcony when the election committee reported the student body presidency election results. I recall hearing my name called as the victor of what had been an extremely competitive and tight election and being there with all my supporters, friends, fraternity brothers, and girlfriends. That was certainly a favorite highlight of mine.
What makes LSU unique?
First, let me state that, unequivocally, LSU is UNIQUE. It really is unique in almost every conceivable way. The campus is unique and, more specifically, uniquely beautiful. As it says in the alma mater, “where broad magnolias shade inspiring halls” one could add “the azaleas in bloom in late February beneath a majestic collection of hundred-year-old Live Oak trees across the campus, which are geographically situated uniquely between the university lakes and the broad expanse of the Mississippi River.” Further, when I think of LSU, I think of the vivid colors, starting with the purple and gold, ranging to magnificent sunsets to the West across the Mississippi River, and finally to the muted colors of a foggy day in the quadrangle. Add to that our unique music, “think classical to zydeco” and our crazy unique food, “from the crawfish of South Louisiana to the meat pies of Natchitoches.”
One can see the uniqueness of LSU when comparing to campuses like Alabama, Florida, and Texas A&M, and most schools north of the Mason-Dixon line “pale” in comparison.
Why did you choose to attend LSU?
To be completely honest, sitting in Tiger Stadium as a 13-year-old boy when Billy Cannon made the punt return on that foggy Halloween night sealed my fate. It was never going to be anything else but LSU.
Why do you support LSU?
Simply put, not because it is my beloved alma mater, but more importantly because if there is one single institution that can alter the course of the State of Louisiana, an institution that can affect changing Louisiana’s future from being at the bottom of all the good lists and make it to the top of those lists, it is LSU. I know of no university, public or private, that has and can have to an even greater extent as profound an effect on the state where it is located.
If someone asked you why he/she should make a gift to LSU, what would you say?
Again, there is no more important investment one can make to the future of Louisiana, all of Louisiana, than to make an investment in our flagship university, LSU.
What is your vision for LSU, and how do you think philanthropy can drive that vision?
Relatedly, my vision for LSU is that the university will be the leader of a renaissance in Louisiana where LSU is the positive factor in our state. Leveraging all of her God-given assets of great people, great geographic location, and great natural recourses in addition to our cultural uniqueness in the U.S.
What motivated you to join the LSU Foundation Board of Directors?
To be forthright, I have long held that the LSU Foundation was a “sleeping tiger” that when awakened and vitalized would become an integral part of advancing LSU through tapping in to the mostly untapped private philanthropic giving that can provide the margin of excellence for the university.