MR. WARREN A. PERRIN
2001 Recipient
International Achievement Award
Mr. Perrin, of PERRIN, LANDRY, deLAUNAY, DARTEZ and OUELLET, has been the subject of many articles, interviews and broadcasts concerning his multi-faceted career as a champion of human rights, a defender of Louisiana’s rich French cultural heritage, and a tireless and innovative diplomat who has done much to help put Louisiana on the world map.
Mr. Perrin has served as President of the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL) since 1994. In 1990, Mr. Perrin established the Acadian Heritage & Culture Foundation, which operates the Acadian Museum. In 1996, he launched an initiative which led to the official twinning between the Acadian Museum of Louisiana and the Musée Falaise-Acadie-Québec of France to help strengthen cultural and economic ties.
It was Mr. Perrin who proposed the plan, later adopted by the state as FrancoFête ‘99, to invite the entire Francophone world to Louisiana to celebrate the State’s tricentennial. Mr. Perrin served as President and led a task force from throughout Louisiana to carry out this year-long event composed of over 1500 separate cultural celebrations.
Mr. Perrin was a featured speaker at the 1994 World Acadian Reunion (attended by 400,000 Acadians) in New Brunswick, Canada, and helped propose that Louisiana host the 2nd World Acadian Reunion in 1999 as part of FrancoFête ’99.
In 1997, Mr. Perrin represented the State of Louisiana at the World Francophone Summit in Hanoi, Vietnam. He was named by Governor Foster to head the Louisiana delegation to the World Francophone Summit in New Brunswick, Canada in 1999.
Mr. Perrin has also served as a representative of the Lebanese-Louisiana community at a foreign relations conference hosted by then Vice-President Bush in 1986, led a Louisiana delegation to Costa Rica in 1990, and represented the United States at the World Human Rights Conference in France in 1993. Subsequently, he founded the annual Human Rights Conference held in conjunction with Festival International de Louisiane each April.
In June of 1999, Perrin presented a resolution which was adopted by the Louisiana State Bar Association Board of Governors providing that French-speaking lawyers and judges from Louisiana provide assistance to the legal system of Haiti.
Mr. Perrin has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette since 1979. He served as President of the Alumni Association at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 1993-94, and in recognition of his outstanding services to his alma mater, he was named to serve on the Professional Services Division of the University’s Centennial Campaign in 1999.
Mr. Perrin co-founded a Civil Law Seminar jointly sponsored by the University of Moncton School of Law in New Brunswick, Canada and the Lafayette Parish Bar Association. This is the only seminar conducted in French in the United States for which credits are given to the participating attorneys in Canada and the United States. Mr. Perrin was also one of the founders of the Continuing Legal Education Seminar with the University of Moncton.
In 1999, Mr. Perrin hosted the French delegation which attended the Louisiana Bar Convention, and was responsible for organizing a series of special events during FrancoFête ’99, including a “Mock Trial” held during the Congrès Mondial Acadien-Louisiane 1999 before a panel of 15 judges representing the United States, Canada, France and Belgium.
In 2000, he hosted a group of 20 French senators and arranged an official “twinning” ceremony between the Louisiana Senate and the Senate of the Republic of France.
Throughout the years, Mr. Perrin has made time in his hectic schedule to personally host many dignitaries, including foreign ambassadors and senators, during their official visits to Louisiana, and to introduce them to Louisiana as only a proud native can.
In 1990, he was the recipient of the “Cajun of the Year” award given by the Cajun French Music Association and CODOFIL. In recognition of his efforts to unite New Brunswick and Louisiana, Mr. Perrin was awarded “L’École de Droit” honor in 1991 by the University of Moncton.
During 1999, Mr. Perrin was awarded the National Order of Merit by the French government, and received an honorary Doctorate of Laws degree from the Université Sainte-Anne in Nova Scotia, Canada after giving a commencement address there. He was also honored by the Cajun French Music Association with the “1999 Heritage Award” and was named 1999’s “Acadiana Businessman of the Year.”
As for his future plans, Mr. Perrin is already deeply involved in the planning of the celebrations to commemorate the bicentennial Louisiana Purchase in 2003, and Louisiana’s participation in the 3rd World Acadian Reunion in 2004.