Doctor of Science, D.Sc. – LIEUTENANT COLONEL (US Army, Retired) Associate Professor and Director, Public Safety Training Center, University of North Alabama
Wayne is a native of Houma, Louisiana. He is an alumnus of Nicholls State University; Thibodeaux Louisiana with a bachelor’s degree in political science and criminal justice earned in 1988 when he was commissioned into the Regular Army as a Military Police Officer. He was originally assigned to the 16th Military Police Brigade (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina where he served the bulk of his 23-year career in Airborne and Special Operations Units.
In 1995 LTC Bergeron became qualified in both Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations and received a master’s degree in international relations from Troy State University in 1996. He has commanded units at every level from Platoon to Battalion, with his final assignment as the Chair and Professor of Military Science and Commander at the University of North Alabama ROTC program where he retired from active duty in May 2011. He currently is an Associate Professor teaching Criminal Justice and Security and Emergency Management and serves as the founding Director for the North Alabama Public Service Training Center at UNA. He completed his Doctor of Science in Emergency Management at Jacksonville State University in 2016.
Over the course of his career, LTC Bergeron has been assigned, deployed to, or worked in over thirty-five countries on four different continents and has served multiple combat tours in Panama, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan. He is a Master Parachutist, Jumpmaster, and is Air Assault qualified.
Additionally, he has served as an instructor and presenter at the Joint Special Operations University, the U.S. Army Special Warfare Center and School, The US Army and Marine War Colleges, the US Naval Post Graduate School, the National Defense University, the NATO School, the Koffi Annan Peace Training Center in Accra, Ghana and various other international defense academies. He has also worked extensively with the US Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and various International and Non-Governmental Organizations. He has also served as an associate faculty member with the US Naval Post Graduate School’s Center for Civil Military Relations – Countering Terrorism Program.
Wayne is an Eagle Scout and serves as a volunteer leader with the Boy Scouts of America. He enjoys running, working out, scuba diving, boating, and the outdoors. His wife, Dr. Peggy Bergeron is an Associate Professor of Nursing at UNA and they have three children; Joshua (31) a graduate from LSU and a Newspaper Editor, Lauren (21) a junior at LSU, and Connor (19) a Sophomore at Auburn University. They currently reside in Florence, Alabama on the Tennessee River.
