John Landon, president and owner of Landon Development Company, will speak in a public lecture at Louisiana State University’s E. J. Ourso College of Business Friday, Feb. 2 as part of the Flores MBA Program’s Distinguished Speaker Series. The lecture will take place from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in LSU’s Energy, Coast & Environment Building next to the business college on Nicholson Drive Extension.

Before establishing his business, Landon served as co-chairman and CEO of Meritage Homes Corporation from 1997 to 2006. Under his leadership, Meritage Homes became one of the premier residential home builders in the United States. During Landon’s tenure, the company built more than 40,000 homes, two golf courses and had revenues of $3 billion at the end of 2005.

Meritage Homes was named to the Fortune 1000 and to the Forbes Platinum 400 list of America’s best companies in 2005. Additionally, the company ranked number one in national stock performance in 2004. Landon is also a member of the ownership group that purchased the National Basketball Association’s Phoenix Suns in 2004. He is a graduate of LSU and holds a degree in accounting.

The Distinguished Speaker Series is an integral part of the Flores MBA Program at the

E. J. Ourso College. Through the series, students gain insight into new ideas and forces shaping American and international business from executives who face these issues daily.

J.T. “Tommy” Spinosa, owner and manager of JTS, is the series’ second scheduled guest and will speak Mar. 16. The series will conclude Mar. 23 with Peggy Scott, executive vice president of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana.

All lectures are open to the public and attire is professional. For information about DSS or the Flores MBA Program, contact Jennifer Loftin at jloftin@lsu.edu. For information about the E. J. Ourso College, log on to www.bus.lsu.edu.