BATON ROUGE -- Richard Gill, past president of the Tiger Athletic Foundation, passed away on Thursday morning at the age of 64. Gill had been hospitalized for the past two weeks with an illness. 

Gill was president of the TAF from 1995 to 1996.  In addition to this position, he also served at co-chair of the Eastside and Westside Tiger Stadium committees.  

Gill, whose current position was that of president of Shaw Group’s power group, held a number of high-ranking roles for the company. Gill also served as Shaw’s COO and chairman of the company’s executive committee. 

Before joining Shaw Group, Gill founded Merit Industries, which included Merit Environmental Services and Merit Industrial Constructors. Shaw acquired Merit Industrial Contractors in 1997. Gill spent more than 30 years in the industrial construction and maintenance industry.

A former president of the Baton Rouge Country Club, he also was an active alumnus for LSU and University High School and was inducted into halls of fame at both schools.

Visitation will be from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday in the Chapel on the Campus, and funeral services will be at 2 p.m. in the chapel.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Chapel on the Campus, LSU Tiger Athletic Foundation and the LSU Foundation.  Donations to TAF in memory of Richard will be used to establish and endowed athletic scholarship in his name.