When Dr. Lou Agnese was hired as the eighth president of Incarnate Word College in 1985, he was one of the youngest university presidents in the United States. At 33, the Brooklyn native faced the daunting challenge of reviving an institution with a shrinking enrollment and an uncertain future whose student demographics were out of step with San Antonio. Now in his twenty-sixth year as Incarnate Word president, Agnese, as a local business leader recently observed, has forever transformed the educational landscape of South Texas.

Author Dr. Patricia A. Watkins, retired vice president for international affairs at UIW, mixes humor with an insider’s keen eye for details in “Lou: From Brooklyn to Broadway.” She provides an insightful look into how Agnese, over a quarter century, transformed a small college best known for being across a popular eatery on Broadway in San Antonio into a financially robust international center of learning. Today, the University of the Incarnate Word, as it has been known since 1996, has sites in Texas, China, Mexico and Germany. It is the largest Catholic university in Texas and the state’s fourth largest private institution of higher learning.

“Lou: From Brooklyn to Broadway, The University of the Incarnate Word’s 25 Years with Dr. Louis J. Agnese Jr.” is now available for purchase at locations including the UIW Bookstore, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and The Twig Book Shop. It was published by San Antonio-based Maverick Publishing Company.

The book is available for purchase at the UIW Bookstore or online at www.uiw.bkstr.com.