Mississippi State Alumnus Spring 2005 by MSSTATE

Mississippi State Spring 2005 | Volume 81 | Number 1 USPS 354-520

features Graceland’s Vet | page 2

President

Memphis veterinarian and MSU alumna Dr. Susie Taylor says that one of the best

J. Charles Lee

things about her work at Graceland is that “the animals know who I am.” And it’s

Vice President for External Affairs

clear to anyone around her that her career is her passion.

Dennis A. Prescott

Alumni Association Executive Director John V. Correro (’62)

Six Sigma program helping students kick-start careers | page 8 Six Sigma is not one of the martial arts, but earning a black belt in the methodology may help Mississippi State engineering students kick-start their careers and chop

Mississippi State Alumnus is published three times a year by the Office of University Relations and the Mississippi State University Alumni Association at Mississippi State, Miss. Send address changes to Alumni Director, P.O. Box AA, Mississippi State, MS 39762-5526; telephone 662-325-7000; or e-mail fcarr@alumni.msstate.edu.

Editorial offices: 102 George Hall, P.O. Box 5325, Mississippi State, MS 39762-5325. Telephone 662-325-3442; fax, 662-325-7455; e-mail, snowa@ur.msstate.edu www.msstate.edu

Editor Allen Snow (’76)

their way to success in the workaday world of private industry.

‘About Children’ provides snapshot of issues facing America’s youth | page 10 When a number of the nation’s leading pediatric researchers, academicians, and child care advocates sat down more than two years ago with research scientists at MSU’s Social Science Research Center, they asked themselves, “What are the most compelling issues involving the health and well-being of children?” The answers in some cases surprised them.

An opportunity of a lifetime | page 16 Alumna Page Austin’s enthusiasm for the political process has led her to a coveted position at the White House, where she helps plan and coordinate policy events for first lady Laura Bush.

‘Just a mom who has a store’ | page 20 Can you name a Mississippi gift company that sells state-made products and has been featured in Southern Living magazine and USA Today? Here’s a hint: It’s owned and managed by a 1993 Mississippi State graduate from Starkville.

Associate Editor Kay Fike Jones

Designers Becky Smith Erin Norwood (’98)

Photographers Russ Houston (’85) Megan Bean

Mississippi State University Alumni Association National Officers Keith Winfield (’70), national president; Joe L. Bryan (’63), national first vice president; Betty L. Black (’74), national second vice president; David W. Jones (’81), national treasurer; Gary A. Blair (’81), immediate former national president.

Cover photo and this photo by Megan Bean.

ALUMNA

Dr. Susie Taylor

{ Graceland’s } Vet Memphis veterinarian and MSU alumna Dr. Susie Taylor says that one of the best things about her work as veterinarian for Graceland is that “the animals know who I am.” Story by Maridith Walker Geuder | Photos by Megan Bean

“When you die, you want to come back as one of Elvis’

“Because of Elvis’ love and compassion for animals,

horses,” laughs Alene Alexander, stable supervisor at Elvis

Graceland has chosen to give horses who are physically

Presley’s Memphis mansion, Graceland.

impaired a home,” Alexander explains. “These horses would

A lifelong Elvis fan and a longtime chemistry teacher in

be put to sleep in most cases were they not retired to Graceland.”

the Memphis area, she assumed supervision of the stables in

To care for the special needs animals, the vivacious, out-

1982, when five animals occupied the 1938-era barn behind

going stable supervisor depends on a professional staff that

the mansion that is a major tourist attraction.

includes veterinarian Susanne Taylor, a 1983 graduate of

While millions of worldwide visitors troop through the Jungle Room, the Trophy Room and the Meditation Gardens

Mississippi State’s College of Veterinary Medicine. “She’s been my savior with these horses,” Alexander

yearly, in the barns behind the house life is much quieter on

says, as Taylor quietly strokes Old Ebony, a 31-year-old

Elvis Presley Boulevard.

Tennessee walking horse Elvis bought in 1975, two years

Animals, Alene says, are the reason the King bought

before his death. The horse, whose official name is Ebony’s

Graceland in 1957, and the barn was one of his favorite

Double, was the last animal Elvis ever acquired and shares

retreats. Elvis Presley Enterprises today continues a policy of

the stables with “New” Ebony (officially, Ebony’s Secret

always having horses at the mansion, maintaining as much as

Threat), bought by Priscilla Presley in 1983, and Sun’s

possible the original look of the animals Elvis left behind.

Reflection, a quarter horse born in 1984.

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Dr. Susie Taylor, foreground, and Alene Alexander have teamed to provide tender loving care for the horses stabled at Graceland.

“Because of Elvis’ love and compassion for animals, Graceland has chosen to give horses who are physically impaired a home,” Alexander explains. 4

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Dr. Susie Taylor

ALUMNA

covered?” Despite the strange look, the horses can see and

“They were referred to me”

don’t appear to object to the masks, she explains. The horses are a big part of her love of Graceland, but

Alene Alexander and Dr. Susie Taylor met by accident,

Taylor said there also are the occasional unexpected requests.

but the two have forged a lasting friendship through their

“We once had a flying squirrel loose in the Jungle Room,”

mutual love of animals.

she recalls. “It took us hours to get it out with fishing nets.”

It all started because the Graceland veterinarian was out of town.

And, with a slight pause and slight smile, she jokes, “It’s hard to find a flying squirrel in that wall of ivy.”

“At the time, I was operating a large animal practice out of the back of a truck,” Taylor recalls. “I was doing some relief work at Dr. Pinkerton’s clinic on Raines Road, and

“I always wanted to be a vet”

Graceland had a problem with one of the horses. The regular vet was out of town, and they were referred to me.” The problem was with Memphis, a Tennessee walking

Away from Graceland, Taylor has an active practice in a private clinic that currently maintains 10,000 patient records.

horse and one of the 20 original Graceland animals. “He’d

The single practitioner, she works 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. six

knocked the top off a garbage can of sweet feed and eaten the

days a week, including Saturdays. She’s looking for an

whole thing,” Taylor said.

assistant, preferably a Mississippi State graduate.

A serious case of colic resulted, and then Memphis

At her meticulous Germantown clinic recently, a mother

foundered. “Either of these is a fundamentally challenging

cat and kittens were in the ICU unit, along with a diabetic

situation,” Taylor said. After a touch-and-go week, Memphis

dog. A neutered black Lab was in recovery, and various cats

recovered and lived out his 35 years at the stables. Taylor

and dogs were in different stages of care. The previous day

has been the on-call veterinarian for Graceland ever since,

Taylor had seen an atypical client—a wallaby. “You have

available if needed 24 hours a day.

to have a federal permit to keep a wallaby as a pet,”

In collaboration with the stables staff, she has developed careful diets for the animals. They’re fed a specially formu-

she explains. It’s clear to anyone who’s around her that her career is

lated feed for senior animals, food supplements, sweet feed,

her passion. “I’ve always loved animals,” she says. “I knew

and the finest Bermuda grass hay. Annually, Taylor does full

from the time I was 3 years old growing up on a farm near

examinations of the animals and gives them vaccinations, and

Etta that I wanted to be a vet.”

she’s on call if anything special arises. “If Old Eb has skin trouble, Susie will come out and bring a special soap,” Alexander explained. That’s just one example of the extraordinary care the

She earned an undergraduate degree in animal science at the University of Tennessee before studying veterinary medicine at MSU. “But I’m 99 percent MSU and 1 percent Tennessee,” she laughs. She proudly displays her MSU

animals receive. Each has a stall that is cleaned throughout

affiliation with a stained glass College of Veterinary

the day to ensure there’s no refuse. Each stands on special

Medicine seal incorporated into her clinic design.

mats, and, to protect their legs and joints, the barnyard is

Taylor laughs that she often will remember an animal’s

covered with a dense matting made from recycled roofing

name before she recalls its owner’s name. Her attachment to

materials. They’re groomed every day, and in mild weather

animals is borne out by a story Graceland’s Alene Alexander

may graze in Graceland pastures seeded with Bermuda grass.

likes to tell.

During the colder months, they wear weatherproof blankets.

Traveling to Nashville to present an Elvis Presley horse

Graceland horses also wear special fly protection masks

trophy, Alexander took along her poodle. In the hotel room,

made with soft screen. Alexander says one of the most fre-

the animal began to experience severe distress, and Alene

quently asked questions is “why do you have the horses’ eyes

says she knew only one person to call.

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Dr. Susie Taylor

“I knew from the time I was 3 years old. . . that I wanted to be a vet,” Taylor says. 6

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“Susie drove 250 miles from Memphis to come and

get the dog, and drove back another 250 miles,” she recalls. “She put the dog on portable oxygen, and eventually determined that the animal had separation anxiety.” It’s that love and dedication that have kept Taylor endeared to Alexander, to Graceland, and to countless private clients. But for the modest Dr. Taylor, it’s just part of what she does. “Graceland is the perfect horse client because the staff will do whatever it takes to care for the animals,” she said. And as she stands in the Graceland stables in the late afternoon sun, an ancient Old Eb nuzzling her, Taylor acknowledges one of the great benefits of her job: “The animals know who I am.” Ebony’s Double—Old Eb—the last horse purchased by Elvis in 1975, died on Jan. 14, 2005. Ebony would have been 32 years old on Feb. 14.

A Spring 2005

Engineering student Jason Gill, right, a participant in the Six Sigma program, uses a catapult to demonstrate a Six Sigma statistical method to Ezhil Nachiappan and Hunter Jones.

Six Sigma program helping students

Six Sigma is not one of the

martial arts, but earning a black belt in the methodology may help MSU engineering students kick-start their careers and chop their way to success in the workaday world of private industry.

kick-start careers

MSU’s James Worth Bagley College of Engineering received more than $500,000 from the 3M Foundation last summer to establish a certificate program in Six Sigma—a widely used business process methodology aimed at systematically solving problems, assuring quality control, and achieving high levels of consumer satisfaction. Since Six Sigma levels of accomplishment generally recognized within private industry follow the martial arts example of earning a green belt, black belt and master black belt, students completing the tough 15-credit-hour certificate program at MSU will have the option of pursuing belt certification when they finish.

Story by Phil Hearn | Photo by Russ Houston 8

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“In industry, employers generally look for the belt designations,”

said Larry Dalton, who was hired last fall to direct the MSU

Pensacola, Fla., said she signed up for the program “because

program. “The green belt represents sort of an apprentice

new quality techniques have become so important in the

level and the black belt full attainment of skills in the

engineering and manufacturing industry, and I hope to become

methodology. With a master belt, you really get into deep

a more valuable asset to the company who hires me in the

knowledge and application of Six Sigma, and participate in

future.”

the training of others. “We feel that students who complete the College of

Developed in the mid 1980s, Six Sigma has found a niche in private industry. M.J. “Nick” Niccolai, director of Six

Engineering curriculum in Six Sigma methodology will have

Sigma for Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, which operates

attained the equivalent knowledge of a Black Belt,” added

the giant Pascagoula shipyard formerly called Ingalls, said

Dalton, an MSU alumnus and native of Corinth. “But we’re

the methodology has been a part of the company’s “continuous

planning to offer them an opportunity through the American

improvement philosophy” for the past three years. He called

Society for Quality for additional testing to get the black belt

MSU’s initiation of the program an “excellent idea.”

designation.” Dalton, who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in

“Northrop Grumman places a high value on Six Sigma because of the nature of understanding in both statistical

industrial engineering at MSU in 1976 and 1978, respectively,

techniques and team-oriented decision-making that the ‘belts’

spent last fall developing a Six Sigma program for start-up in

have achieved,” he said. “In addition, Six Sigma imposes a

the 2005 spring semester, and prepared a plan for approval

rigorous data-based approach to decision-making while

through the office of engineering Dean Kirk Schulz and the

engaged in real-world, often difficult problem-solving,” said

university’s Curriculum Committee.

Niccolai, who also is a black belt.

“Six Sigma is known throughout business and industry as

“Hopefully, all new engineering hires will be exposed to

a process for executing and sustaining ideal performance and

Six Sigma and Lean (another production management-based

effectiveness,” said Larry Brown, professor and head of the

approach to increasing performance and eliminating waste)

industrial engineering department, where the program is based.

tools and principles,” he added. “These concepts are funda-

The certificate program consists of five three-credit-hour courses—including two engineering statistics classes, a quality

mental to a systems approach to engineering as required in the ship design and building industry.”

control class and a process improvement class, and a special

Although Six Sigma is heavily based in engineering,

projects class, which focuses on solving a real-world problem

Dalton said principles of the methodology also can be applied

under the guidance of Dalton, a member of the MSU Student

across other academic disciplines.

Engineering Hall of Fame. Seven MSU industrial engineering seniors who previously

“Many of the tools used in Six Sigma are tools we use in economics,” said Gregg Ibendahl, an MSU assistant extension

completed all of the required coursework, except for this

professor of agricultural economics who plans to seek a black

spring’s special projects class, were initial enrollees in the

belt. “This might be something we could incorporate into our

program.

agricultural economics program so our students will have

“Some of the high-achievement students want to do

more to offer employers.”

everything that they possibly can while they are in college,”

Dalton said the university’s Human Resources Management

said Dalton, himself a black belt and a former engineer with

office also may take a close look at the possibility of applying

Eaton Aerospace Corp. in Jackson. “However, a student only

Six Sigma to the MSU administrative structure.

has so many elective courses, so they really have to want to do this when they apply to participate.” One of the seven students who signed up for the program, 22-year-old Michael Hamilton of Sylverena, said he believes

The main beneficiaries of the training, however, will be MSU engineering students who want to better prepare themselves for the competitive job market. “It’s about students getting real-world experience,” said

Six Sigma certification will make him a “more valuable

Dalton. “Our students get more education in statistics than

commodity” in the engineering job market after he finishes

what the black belt certification requires. What’s lacking—

graduate school.

and what the projects course provides—is real-world experi-

Another of the students, 21-year-old Haley Douglas of

ence, going out and solving a real-world problem.”

A Spring 2005

Story by Maridith Walker Geuder Full page photos by Megan Bean Detail photos by © Corbis Royalty Free

‘About

CHILDREN’ provides snapshot of issues facing America’s youth

Children who have so many possessions yet feel

Coinciding with the 75th anniversary of the AAP, “The

deprived. Health concerns related to living in substandard

book is conceived of as a ‘documentary in print,’ ” explained

housing. The effects on children of having a parent in jail.

Arthur G. Cosby, SSRC director and one of the project

Family issues when one parent is in the military. The

editors. “We saw a tremendous need to provide information

ramifications of childhood obesity.

in a usable format,” he added.

When a number of the nation’s leading pediatric

The 284-page “About Children” contains essays written

researchers, academicians, and child care advocates sat

by some of the top authorities in their fields, including a

down more than two years ago with research scientists at

former surgeon general, the former secretary of Housing

Mississippi State’s Social Science Research Center, they

and Urban Development, and the president of the Child

asked themselves, “What are the most compelling issues

Welfare League of America. It is filled with photographs,

that need to be raised about the health and well-being of

maps, and illustrations that present information in a

children?”

compelling and straightforward manner, said Linda Hill

The answers in some cases surprised them. They identified areas as diverse as children and the media to religion among America’s teens, maternal depression to grandparents rearing grandchildren. Expert essays about 40 wide-ranging topics are found in

Southward, director of the SSRC’s Family and Children Research Unit and one of four editors for the project. “Those who care for and about children came to the forefront to produce a volume that illuminates children’s needs in a way that has not been done within one volume,”

a brand-new book, “About Children,” published by the

she said. Its publication was supported by grants from the

American Academy of Pediatrics, produced by Mississippi

Phil Hardin Foundation of Meridian and the Bower

State, and soon to be available through book outlets nationally.

Foundation of Jackson.

The book also can be ordered through the AAP Web site at www.aap.org/aboutchildren/.

“These Mississippi foundations played a tremendous role in making this book a reality,” Southward said.

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A shared commitment

More importantly, he said, “It presents accurate information in a form accessible to a large audience of people

“About Children” was born because of collaboration

vitally interested in our children and our future—parents,

established in 2001 between MSU and the Center for Child

teachers, child advocates, child health providers, public

Health Research, an independent affiliate of the American

officials, legislators, and others.”

Academy of Pediatrics. The mutual goal: bring together

The readable, visual, and easily understandable material

pre-eminent researchers to address issues affecting children’s

will have a profound impact on those who read “About

health.

Children,” Greenberg believes.

Created in 1999 by the 60,000-member American

“It basically says to the readerships: ‘Here are the

Academy of Pediatrics, the child research center is located

facts! Here are the issues! Let others know! Take action

at the University of Rochester. Its executive director, Dr.

based on this information! Changes the lives of children

Michael Weitzman, is a recognized pediatric researcher and

and families in our communities—in our nation!”

one of the “About Children” editors, as well as contributor

The book, which was the No. 7 best-seller at AAP’s

of a chapter on tobacco and health. Dr. Robert Greenberg,

75th anniversary conference in San Francisco, is receiving

professor of pediatrics emeritus at the University of New

initial strong reviews. Doody’s Book Review Service,

Mexico and a former CCHR board chair, rounds out the

which provides a weekly literature update to more than

book’s senior editors.

330,000 health care professionals nationwide, recently gave

To help define topics, the editors enlisted what Southward describes as a “stellar” group of professionals.

“About Children” a three-star rating. “This is a unique book that covers a wide range of top-

Among them:

ics with a very interesting display style using multiple beau-

• Shay Bilchik, president of the Child Welfare League

tiful pictures, graphics, charts, and short chapters,” the review noted. “It is a wonderful resource for a diverse

of America; • William H. Isler, president and chief executive officer of Family Communications Inc., which produced “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood”; • Rebecca Barrera, director of the National Latino Children’s Institute; • Paul H. Wise, professor of pediatrics, Stanford

group of children’s caregivers.” In addition to the text-based information available to readers, those who purchase the book also will also have access to Internet sites and a PowerPoint presentation for each chapter. All have been screened and evaluated by the Center for Child Health Research at the University of Rochester.

University; and • Dr. Robert Haggerty, former president of the W.T. Grant Foundation. “The passion and synergy of this group guided the

“These additional resources provide a wealth of information for those who care for or provide support for children,” Cosby said.

editors in selecting chapter topics and appropriate authors,” Southward said.

Outcomes

A call to action

Like any project based on a compelling need, Cosby feels that “About Children” can be a catalyst leading to

Greenberg said the book breaks new ground in some

improved dialogue about the issues. “There have been so many unanticipated conse-

significant ways. “It defines child health broadly, encompassing child

quences,” he said, including interest from a nationally syn-

well-being and integrating socioeconomic, psychological,

dicated public television program focusing on health. “It’s

environmental, and cultural, as well as biologic determi-

my hope that the ‘About Children’ idea will continue to

nants,” he explained.

evolve as issues change. We envision this as a continuing series of books on the state of childhood today.”

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What the experts say: A sampling of topics in “About Children”

Affluenza John de Graaf, co-producer of the “Affluenza” series on the Public Broadcasting System “From school, television, and numerous other sources, children see about 40,000 advertisements a year. Marketers say it is not a problem and claim they’re only empowering children to be full participants in a material world. But child welfare experts suggest that training children to be caution-free consumers has serious consequences.”

Children of Incarcerated Parents Angie Vachio, co-founder of the Peanut Butter and Jelly Preschools and executive director of PB&J Family Services of Albuquerque, N.M. “Approximately 80 percent of our nation’s prison population consists of parents with children of all ages. Their children are seven times more likely to become involved in the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems than other children.”

Overweight: An Epidemic Dr. William H. Dietz, director, Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity, Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control “Although overweight in childhood is often considered a cosmetic problem, it has substantial health consequences. In one study, over 60 percent of overweight 5- to 10-year-olds had at least one additional cardiovascular risk factor such as elevated blood pressure, elevated cholesterol or triglycerides, or elevated insulin levels; 25 percent had two or more cardiovascular risk factors.”

Children and the Law Shay Bilchik, president and chief executive officer, Child Welfare League of America “In virtually every instance, the courts have ruled that the legal protections afforded to our children can be compromised if the law in question is designed to further our society’s interests in their protection, nurturance, and overall development. To many child advocates, this balancing has been used to deprive thousands of children many of the rights all other citizens in this country take for granted without the corresponding benefits being realized.”

Religion among American Teens: Contours and Consequences John P. Bartkowski, professor of sociology, Mississippi State University author of Charitable Choices: Religion, Race, and Poverty in the PostWelfare Era, author of Promise Keepers: Servants, Soldiers and Godly Men “Given the prominent place of religion in many teens’ lives, what effect does religious involvement have on adolescent development? Research reveals that religious teens typically fare better than their nonreligious counterparts on a wide range of outcome measures that track adolescent development.” A Spring 2005

Page Austin

ALUMNUS INTERVIEW:

An opportunity of a lifetime Alumna Page Austin’s enthusiasm for the political process has led her to a coveted position at the White House, where she helps plan and coordinate policy events for first lady Laura Bush. Interview by Sammy McDavid Austin with first lady Laura Bush and President George Bush. White House photo by Joyce Boghosian.

Six or so years ago, Mississippi State’s John C.

Stennis Institute of Government helped birth a new

usually known, annually sponsors a series of lec-

organization designed to encourage students at the

tures and workshops during the fall and spring

state’s largest university to develop a greater

semesters. It also assists members in applying for

interest in public service and the skills of politics.

Washington, D.C., internships with offices of the

As another way to honor two MSU alumni

Open to all academic majors, the SMA, as it’s

Mississippi congressional delegation. Additionally,

who had gained widespread recognition for their

the most active members are rewarded each year

decades of public service and political acumen

with an institute-sponsored visit to the nation’s cap-

during the 20th century, the group was named the

ital, where they spend a week getting a feel for

John C. Stennis-G.V. “Sonny” Montgomery

government service at the highest level and make

Association.

or renew contacts with potential employers.

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House Office of Political Affairs; the remaining day, she worked at the Republican National Committee office doing a variety of other duties. To put it mildly, for a university student bitten by the “political bug,” this was an experience—and opportunity—of a lifetime. Austin was not one to squander so great an opportunity, recalls Stennis Institute executive director William M. “Marty” Wiseman. “When Page got involved in the Stennis-Montgomery Association, she really got involved in the world of politics,” he said. Page Austin

“By the time she went to Washington on her senior SMA trip, she was armed with a first-rate resume that showed just how prepared she was to work in the Big Time.”

Though she was not a member of the inaugural

After her MSU graduation in May, Austin

group, one early SMA member was Gulf Coast

returned to Washington in June 2002 as a political

resident Page Austin of Diamondhead, a community

appointee in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of

of more than 2,600 near Bay St. Louis.

Fossil Energy. In her role as executive assistant, she

Austin, who graduated in 1998 from the public

handled, among numerous other duties, all aspects of

high school in nearby Mandeville, La., came to MSU

daily scheduling for the assistant secretary of energy

as a freshman initially interested in either an education

and the office’s senior policy adviser. After slightly

degree or a major that might serve her well in law

more than a year at DOE, she took another big step,

school. When she graduated in 2002, Austin had a

this time to America’s most famous house address,

bachelor’s degree in political science and a very

1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

definite idea what she wanted to do next. In 1999, around the time she was finishing her first

In September 2003—just five years after she was volunteer coordinator for the Oktibbeha County

year in the SMA, she began what would become a

Republican Party—Elizabeth Page Austin began work

three-year association with the Oktibbeha County

in the White House with the Projects and Policy Office

Republican organization. As volunteer coordinator and

of first lady Laura Bush. From then until now, she has

assistant to the local county GOP chairman, she was

helped plan and coordinate policy events for Mrs.

especially active during the first presidential

Bush. Her other duties include analyzing and

campaign of presidential candidate George W. Bush,

researching information in preparation for specific

who would go on to win the first of two terms as the

events and preparing briefing papers, policy correspon-

nation’s chief executive.

dence and memorandums as various situations require.

From August to December 2001, Austin’s involve-

Oh, and she also supervises the office’s interns—a

ment in government and Republican Party work took a

group of young women and men in roles similar to

giant step when she was tapped for two internships in

hers just a very few years ago.

Washington. For four days each workweek, she handled a variety of tasks in the White

Recently, Page Austin took time for an interview with Alumnus magazine:

What are the responsibilities of the Office of Projects and Policy? Within the office, what are your duties? The projects and policy office carries out Mrs. Bush’s initiatives. We develop and manage events associated with her initiatives, respond to constituents who write in about Mrs. Bush’s programs, coordinate projects with other White House offices, federal agencies, and outside organizations, and the projects director advises Mrs. Bush on projects and policy issues. Right now, my duties in the office are to assist the director. I help plan the various events; oversee all of the projects correspondence; supervise the interns in our office; conduct policy-related research; prepare briefing materials for Mrs. Bush; and coordinate projects with other White House offices, federal agencies and outside organizations.

As an MSU student in 2001, you were part of the Stennis -Montgomery group whose weeklong visit to Washington coincided with President Bush’s first inauguration. In August of that year, you began work as a White House intern. Did the first occurrence have any direct relationship with the second? There was no relationship. I actually interned with Sen. Trent Lott the previous summer, and throughout the school year was involved with the Bush/Cheney campaign in Mississippi. I had really wanted to intern in the White House if then-Gov. Bush won the presidential election. After the inauguration, I contacted Sen. Lott’s office, and they put me in touch with the appropriate person to obtain a White House internship.

If there is such a thing, how would you briefly describe a “typical day” at work as you carry out your duties? There really is not a “typical day” here at the White House. We have the regular day-to-day office duties, including phone calls and mail. Normally, there are events on Mrs. Bush’s schedule that our office is responsible for, and so we start preparing for those events. We also continue our work on Mrs. Bush’s initiatives. I communicate with other White House offices, federal agencies, and outside organizations, set up meetings for the director and if I am working on that issue then I attend as well. I also read newspapers and other publications to stay informed, especially regarding Mrs. Bush.

Do you anticipate your work in the second Bush term to evolve in any major way? Naturally, many changes come with a second term. This is a time when staff members move around or leave to do something different. I really enjoy working for Mrs. Bush, so I’m hopeful to stay in her office. Still, as in other offices, folks in Mrs. Bush’s office will be moving around and things will change. I don’t know where I will be, but I am willing to serve where ever the President and Mrs. Bush need me.

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You completed two simultaneous, semester-long internships there with the Republican National Committee and the White House. Is that unusual, and how did those dual internships come about? Yes it’s unusual, but it was an opportunity of a lifetime to work at the White House and the Republican National Committee.

You didn’t come to Mississippi State as a freshman with a background in politics. How did your interest in politics evolve as a student? While I did not come to MSU with a background in politics, I was involved in student government in high school and a few local political campaigns. But, I was primarily interested in the study of law and elementary education. My interest in politics came after my first event with the StennisMontgomery Association. I realized that I really enjoyed public service and felt that politics is something that is very important and has an effect on everyone. The rest of my time at Mississippi State was focused on learning and getting involved in the political process.

ALUMNUS INTERVIEW:

Looking back, how much impact did your participation in the Stennis-Montgomery Association help achieve your immediate post-graduation goals? I would venture to say that if I had not have been a part of SMA then I would not be in Washington, D.C., today. SMA sparked something in me that I did not know existed. I was exposed to so much over the course of my four years at MSU that it changed the direction in which I was going. SMA allowed me to come to Washington, meet the Mississippi congressional delegation and interact with fellow Mississippians who worked in D.C. My involvement in SMA also allowed me to make those important contacts so that I could obtain an internship and eventually a job. I am very thankful for this organization and feel that it does a great job at reaching college students, showing them that politics

Page Austin

I think that, while I am still single, I really would like to stay in D.C. for a while longer and work on issues that I feel passionate about. I really have enjoyed working in Mrs. Bush’s office because her initiatives are something that personally interests me. I think I would enjoy doing something where I could make a difference, maybe in the private sector. Additionally, I love politics and would like to work with state governors or do some sort of intergovernmental work, or work with the National Republican Committee on political education projects. I do not know what the future holds or where I will be or what I will be doing. I believe that public service is a noble career, one that is worth pursuing and as long as I am working toward that end I know I will be happy. I trust that God has a plan for me and he will lead me where I can serve Him best.

isn’t just something you study but something that you can get involved in and make a difference.

Is it true that you were so organized as a political science major that you had resumes and business cards ready to leave with potential employers? That is partially true. I did have resumes ready, but I did not have business cards. I knew that I wanted to come to D.C. and intern and then work, so I wanted to have resumes on hand. I didn’t have connections or family that was involved in politics or had an abundance of money. If I was to succeed, I knew I had to work hard and make the contacts myself.

What advice do you have for current or future Mississippi State students who may have aspirations of working in public service at the highest levels? College is the time to gain experience and to learn from those who have gone before you. I would encourage all interested Mississippi State students to get involved in the Stennis-Montgomery Association. Dr. Wiseman is such a wise and great mentor to have and he has much to offer. I would encourage involvement with their political party, whether it is Democrat or Republican. Be active both on and off campus. I learned so much from the folks in the Oktibbeha County Republican Party. College is a great time to do internships—the office experiences, research and writing are very beneficial.

Looking to the future, do you have specific goals beyond the next four years? I would like to eventually settle down and raise a family while working at the local level doing political education and/or political campaigning. I think that

Finally, I would say: You can succeed if you apply yourself and are willing to learn. Also, I would urge students to read, read, read news of current events. Reading and the knowledge you gain from it are very important.

you can make such a difference working at the local level. But that is an interest I have for down the road.

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CindyTyler

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Story by Kay Fike Jones Photos by Megan Bean

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MSU graduate Cindy Tyler has built a unique and successful business while keeping her priorities in order.

a mom who has a store’ C

Can you name a Mississippi gift company that sells

state-made products and has been featured in Southern Living magazine and USA Today? Here’s another hint: it offers more than 1,200 food and gift items produced by some 120 merchants from every part of the Magnolia State. Another? OK, it’s owned and managed by a 1993 Mississippi State graduate from Starkville who’s married to a 1989 MSU graduate from Greenwood. One more? All right. It’s a trick question; the company’s name is in the first paragraph. Based in Greenwood, The Mississippi Gift Company is the brainchild and successful business founded by Cindy and Tim Tyler. “We started in 1993 as a fund-raising company for Mississippi students to sell Mississippi-made products to raise money for their schools,” Cindy explained. “We then began offering gift baskets and moved our office to a retail space and added about 25 or 30 food items and the gift shop just took off. In 1995, we added a free mail order cat-

alog and Web site, www.TheMississippiGiftCompany.com, and sales grew,” she added.

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“We remained true to our niche, which is to offer only the finest food and gift items made in Mississippi.” Due to the demand, the only exceptions to this are select Mississippi State University, Ole Miss and Mississippi souvenir items. These unique Mississippi-made gift items range from Vicki Carroll and other local pottery to gourmet foods and the No.1 food seller—cheese straws, which are produced by the Mississippi Cheese Straw Factory in Yazoo City. While catalog sales remain popular, Cindy said the Internet business has seen a significant increase. “We receive orders from all over the United States,” she explained. We have regular customers in all of the 50 states. In January, we shipped product to several inaugural parties in Washington, D.C. This past year, we shipped gift baskets to various Mississippi-born celebrities and also to writers of television shows in Hollywood,” she added. In 1994, Greenwood-based Viking Range Corp.—which was founded and is led by major MSU benefactor Fred Carl Jr.—lured Tim away from the couple’s fledgling business with the offer of a marketing position. That left Cindy totally in charge of the operation. So, how’s she done since then? Well, consider that, in addition to the original downtown Greenwood store, The Mississippi Gift Company now has a second location in Jackson’s Fondren shopping district. The Mississippi Gift Company also has been recently named as a featured merchant on Amazon.com with the likes of Harry & David and other national gift companies.

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In addition, Cindy has begun a franchise program that offers others a chance to open a Mississippi Gift Company location in their city. The response has been tremendous, and Cindy currently is in negotiations with several interested parties. While all this keeps Cindy very busy, she is adamant about “putting God and family first.” She and Tim are the parents of a 4-year-old son, Cole, who definitely keeps his folks hopping. Balancing a business and a family are never easy, and, not unexpectedly, Cindy said the toughest time is during the holiday season. “My staff and I are at the store 15-18 hours each day filling and shipping out the Christmas orders,” she said. Given his young age, Cindy has learned that “our son doesn’t understand where his mom is and why she isn’t at home” during this time. As a retail veteran, Cindy has long appreciated that there are times of the year merchants have to bite the bullet. “When I was a Mississippi State student, I worked at Mullins Department Store in Starkville,” she said. “The Mullins family was great to work for and taught me so much about the retail business.” And while Cindy has learned “the retail business” from every angle, she hasn’t allowed herself to become overwhelmed by entrepreneurial success. “I feel like I’m helping my state by keeping Mississippi dollars at home, plus I just enjoy this,” she said, matter-offactly. “I enjoy offering our customers the most interesting and unique food and gift items that our state has to offer, with the ability to ship them anywhere.” Her measured decisions have led to some honors, including being named to the “Top 40 Under 40” by the Mississippi Business Journal; one of the “Top 50 Leading Business Women” by the Delta Business Journal; one of “Mississippi’s Top 50 Women in Business” by the Mississippi Business Journal; “Retailer of the Year” by the Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce; and “Mississippi’s Outstanding Downtown Merchant of the Year” by the Mississippi Downtown Development Association. Cindy tends to downplay any successes she has achieved, and the fact that she has a catalog and Web gift business that specializes in “made in Mississippi” products: “I am not really cut out of that entrepreneurial cloth.” As she sees it, “I’m just a mom and I have a store.” Or two.

true r to ou niche

CindyTyler

NASA recognizes pair for aircraft research Two Mississippi State scientists are receiving national recognition from NASA for devising computer software that is saving aircraft engine manufacturers millions of dollars in new engine developments. Professors Jenping Chen and J. Mark Janus of the university’s ERC/ Computational Simulation and Design Center won NASA’s 2004 Software of the Year Award in their research category while collaborating with the national space agency’s Glenn Research Center. They also received $25,000 for finishing second overall in competition with other category winners. Chen and Janus have been working in collaboration with NASA and private industry over the past 18 years on turbomachinery simulation software.

MSU police receive stamp of approval When approved this year, the Mississippi State Police Department will become the first at a Mississippi institution of higher learning and just the third law enforcement unit statewide to hold national accreditation. Based on a campus visit and the assessment of a team of law officers, the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies is recommending that its membership grant the

CAMPUS news Schulz named new dean of engineering Mississippi State scientist, professor and administrator Kirk Schulz became the new dean of the James Worth Bagley College of Engineering in January. Schulz previously served as director of the Swalm School of Chemical Engineering and was holder of the school’s Earnest W. Deavenport Jr. Chair since 2001. The dean’s position became vacant in June with Schulz the retirement of A. Wayne Bennett, who had held the job for eight years. A Norfolk, Va., native, Schulz has been an MSU faculty member since 2001.

Alumnus now leading forestry department An alumnus who most recently was sustainable forestry program manager for a nonprofit research institute is the new head of the forestry department. After 15 years with the North Carolina-based National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, Shepard James P. Shepard returned to his alma mater to lead the 50-year-old department. In his position with the North Carolina institute, Shepard developed and implemented programming focused on environmental topics of interest to the forest products industry. Established in 1943 by the pulp and paper industry, the council is recognized as a leading source of reliable data on environmental issues.

MSU accreditation follow-up completed Mississippi State has received notice it has met all follow-up recommendations resulting from the university’s 2003 reaffirmation of accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. MSU accreditation was reaffirmed in December 2003 following a two-year selfstudy. A follow-up report in response to specific recommendations related to planning and assessment was submitted last fall and accepted at the December 2004 SACS annual meeting. No further reports are required. The self-study, required every 10 years, involved 13 campus committees and about 200 committee members and was headed by physics professor Leslie Bauman. The follow-up process documented MSU assessment processes and changes made as a result of assessment in academic programs, research and service functions, administrative and educational support services, and instructional programs. MSU’s next reaffirmation of accreditation is scheduled for 2014, with the internal review process to begin in 2011.

University attracts more Merit Scholars Mississippi State enrolled 31 entering freshman National Merit Scholars in fall 2004, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation’s annual report. The figure is up from 24 in the previous year. Other Mississippi institutions enrolling National Merit Scholars last fall were the University of Mississippi, with 29; University of Southern Mississippi, with seven; and Millsaps College and Mississippi College, with one each. MSU has led the state in Merit Scholars for five of the past six years.

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CAMPUS news McGee new director of sponsored programs

Starkville resident Mary Ann Templeton (second from left) and MSU President Charles Lee (second from right) were joined at the campus appreciation ceremony by Templeton’s son Chip and daughter Mary Beth Langston.

Music collection finds new home Oktibbeha County businessman Charles H. Templeton Sr. is being memorialized with a permanent music museum in his honor at the university’s main library. Templeton, a keen businessman and avid music lover who died in 2000, was a 1949 MSU accounting graduate who played both oboe and piccolo during his student days in the Famous Maroon Band. At a recent campus ceremony, his wife Mary Ann Templeton was formally thanked for funding the renovation of an existing room in Mitchell Memorial Library to permanently house the massive collection. Expected to open this spring, the Charles Templeton Music Museum will be located on the fourth floor. Dating from approximately 1897 through the 1940s, the 22,000 pieces of Templeton’s sheet music have been, since 2001, in the process of being digitized so they may be accessible instantly for online researchers around the world. Together with some 200 musical instruments, the collection represents what Templeton called “the business of music”— the popularization of music that ranges from ragtime and blues to Irving Berlin ballads and a generation of tunes documenting World War I.

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A former outreach coordinator in the office of Mississippi State’s research vice president is the university’s new director of Sponsored Programs Administration. Marc McGee, who was research outreach and development coordinator from 1998-2003, began work in his new position McGee in December. He had served since January 2003 as vice president for property development and research for the Greater Starkville Development Partnership/ Oktibbeha County Economic Development Authority. McGee succeeds former SPA director Jim Peterson, who left the job in August 2003. Lynda Tuck and Jonathan Pote, associate vice president for research, directed the office on an interim basis during the transition.

Jones is executive director of facilities A Mississippi State alumnus who most recently oversaw a major facilities services contract for the U.S. Naval Academy is the university’s first executive director of facilities. James A. Jones is heading a new unit composed of three formerly separate offices: Physical Plant, Custodial Services, and Campus Landscape and Grounds. Jones is a 1981 MSU electrical engineering Jones graduate who went on to receive a master’s in management from the Naval Postgraduate School. He is a registered professional engineer. In his new role, Jones will oversee operations of all campus facilities and grounds, as well as the utilities system. He also will coordinate all new campus capital improvement projects.

designation to MSU. Formal approval will be made at CALEA’s national meeting this spring. Johnson said accreditation requires a local department to comply with more than 440 standards that represent the best practices of law enforcement. Participation is voluntary.

Gilbert named head of engineering group Mississippi State associate provost Jerry Gilbert— widely known for his studies of the aging process— became president of the Institute of Biological Engineering Jan. 1. A faculty member at the university since 1988, Gilbert will preside over the national professional organization’s 2005 annual meeting this spring in Athens, Ga. As president-elect, he has worked this year to help IBE develop relationships with major professional engineering societies that have member ties to biological science. Gilbert came to MSU from the University of North Carolina, where he was an assistant professor of orthopedic surgery and biomedical engineering.

Economists among publication elite Mississippi State is in the top 10 for the level of research articles published by academic faculty members in the world’s leading economic education journal. continued

Listed at No. 10, the university ranks ahead of such larger institutions as Princeton, Duke, and Georgia for inclusion in the Journal of Economic Education. Vanderbilt, third on the list, is the only other Southeastern Conference school in the upper tier. Since being founded in 1969 by the American Economic Association and National Council on Economic Education, the journal has deemed only about 1,000 articles worthy of its pages. Submissions come from more than 400 universities and colleges around the world. MSU actually moves up to sixth place when the analysis is restricted to just the last 15 years of publication. The department is a part of the College of Business and Industry.

Prof develops hurricane guide Pat Fitzpatrick, an associate research professor at the Stennis Space Center office of Mississippi State’s GeoResources Institute, is the author of a new book on hurricanes set for release this spring. Fitzpatrick’s book, Hurricanes: A Reference Handbook, is a follow-up to his earlier work, Natural Disasters: Hurricanes, which was published in 1999 while he was an assistant professor of meteorology at Jackson State University. The books are designed primarily for students, teachers, emergency managers, public officials, journalists, and meteorologists, as well as “hurricane buffs.”

CAMPUS news Project SMART boosts science, math teachers

Thompson elected aeronautics fellow

Mississippi State will partner with nearby Red Hills Mine this summer to help science, math and technology teachers in a 12-county area acquire real-world skills and high-tech resources they can pass on to their students. Utilizing a grant of $197,600 from the Appalachian Regional Commission and another $21,500 from the Choctaw County mine, the university’s Center for Science, Mathematics and Technology will conduct Project SMART July 11-22. Project SMART—Science and Mathematics Advancement and Reform utilizing Technology—will allow eight teams of three teachers each to participate in intensive technology training during a two-week workshop on the MSU campus and at the Ackerman-based mine, which is operated by Mississippi Lignite Mining Co. Targeted for participation in the program will be teachers in grades 7-12 from school districts in a dozen ARC-designated counties in Northeast Mississippi.

Longtime aerospace engineering professor Joe F. Thompson is a newly elected Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. A William L. Giles Distinguished Professor in Aerospace Engineering, the university alumnus will be inducted formally during the AIAA’s annual Fellows Dinner and awards cerThompson emony in Washington, D.C., in May. AIAA Fellows are persons who have made notable and valuable contributions to the arts, sciences or technology of aeronautics or astronautics, according to a letter notifying Thompson of the honor bestowed by professional colleagues. An authority on numerical grid generation and computational fluid dynamics, Thompson was founding director of what originally was named the Engineering Research Center for Computational Field Simulation at MSU.

First African-American student honored Mississippi State will commmorate the enrollment of the university’s first AfricanAmerican student in conjunction with several campus events to take place during the year. Physician Richard E. Holmes, whose enrollment in 1965 ended segregation at the university, grew up in Starkville. In 2003, he returned to his alma mater as a member of the medical Holmes staff at the John C. Longest Student Health Center after practicing emergency room medicine for many years in Birmingham, Ala. In 1991, Mississippi State recognized his campus achievements and medical career by naming its cultural diversity center for him.

Grzybowski again directs laboratory Mississippi State electrical and computer engineering professor Stanislaw Grzybowski is returning as director of the university’s High Voltage Laboratory, considered one of the largest academic research facilities of its kind in the nation. A member of the MSU faculty since 1987, Grzybowski headed the lab from 19932000 and has remained actively involved in the facility’s management. Known as the largest high voltage lab among North American universities, the facility helps meet testing and evaluation needs of industry and utilities, and provides a basic academic environment for high-voltage engineering.

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CAMPUS news Landscape architecture Lee honored with ranked 15th in nation N.C. State alumni award Mississippi State’s undergraduate program in landscape architecture is listed among the top 15 programs in the country by a national publication that promotes quality design education. DesignIntelligence, a monthly journal for the Design Futures Council, released the rankings in its sixth edition of “America’s Best Architecture and Design Schools.” MSU was 15th out of 66 programs the publication ranked, with Ohio State University topping the list. DesignIntelligence America’s complete listing of its 15 best landscape architecture schools include, in order, Ohio State, Georgia, Kansas State, Pennsylvania State, Louisiana State, Cornell, Purdue, California Polytechnic-San Luis Obispo and Michigan State (tie), Ball State and California State Polytechnic-Pomona (tie), Iowa State and Massachusetts-Amherst (tie), Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and Mississippi State.

Highway security center announced U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., recently announced a $2.3 million federal contract to Mississippi State to establish and manage the Highway Watch Program’s Emergency Planning and Education Center. The center will be located at the university’s Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems Engineering Extension Center in Canton. Cochran said the CAVS Engineering Extension Center “will be the national center for a research and training program that will help ensure a safe and secure transportation system and a safer America.” The EPE Center will conduct exercises with the highway industry’s leading companies and organizations to assess readiness and capabilities, and to assist the sector in developing response plans for terrorist attacks and significant national emergencies 26

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Mississippi State President Charles Lee is among 16 distinguished alumni honored during the first “Evening of Stars” celebration sponsored recently by the North Carolina State University Alumni Association. Lee was the honoree of the College of Natural Resources, from which he received a bachelor’s degree in forest management in 1964 and a doctorate in forestry genetics in 1972. N.C. State Alumni Association Executive Director Lennie Barton said the event “begins a new tradition.” “We salute the winners of the College Distinguished Alumni Awards and the Alumni Association Awards with a ceremony that truly befits their professional and personal achievements,” Barton said. “These are individuals who have made what you might call a ‘State’ment in their careers, in their communities and on the campus of their alma mater.”

Administrator to head student affairs group The director of housing and residence life at Mississippi State is the president-elect of the Southern Association for College Student Affairs. E. Ann Bailey will lead the organization of more than 900 members this year. SACSA, whose membership is spread Bailey among 15 states and the District of Columbia, provides programming and resources to promote professional development and research in the student affairs area. Bailey, who has led one of the MSU divisions’ largest units since 2000, earlier served as the office’s assistant director and an area coordinator.

Calendar, note cards capture music art Capturing a turn-of-thecentury transition to the “modern” era, a new Mississippi State calendar and note card set is drawing from a unique collection of antique sheet music. Made available by Mitchell Memorial Library, the Charles H. Templeton Sheet Music calendars and note cards replicate a variety of artwork represented in some of the more than 20,000 pieces of sheet music donated to the university by the late Starkville businessman. Calendars are available for $12 each; a collection of 12 note cards, for $7. Proceeds will go toward future projects relating to the Templeton Collection. To order online, visit library.msstate.edu/ templeton. Telephone orders may be placed at 662-3250813.

English prof earns Fulbright honor A longtime Mississippi State University professor and humanities scholar is among fewer than 40 U.S. educators receiving a 2005 honor from the Fulbright Scholars program. Nancy D. Hargrove, a Giles Distinguished Professor of English at MSU, has been named a Fulbright Distinguished Chair, considered one of the most prestigious appointments by the international exchange program. A three-time Fulbright Fellow, Hargrove now will hold the Fulbright-University continued

of Vienna Distinguished Chair in Humanities and Cultural Studies. A faculty member at Mississippi State since 1970, Hargrove is the author of two books, Landscape as Symbol in the Poetry of T.S. Eliot, and The Journey Toward Ariel: Sylvia Plath’s Poems of 19561959. Hargrove is an awardwinning classroom teacher, having been recognized with the MSU Outstanding Teaching Award and the John Grisham Master Teacher Award, among others.

Teachers invited to summer institute Officials in the College of Business and Industry are announcing the university’s second Insurance Education Summer Institute, to be held on campus this summer. Organized by the Peter K. Lutken Chair of Insurance and the College of Education, the July 17-22 program is designed for educators who teach insurance either as a specific course or as part of another subject. The cost of tuition, room and board and educational material expenses will be covered by a grant from the Insurance Education Foundation. The MSU training begins with a three-week period of online introductions to classroom topics, followed by on-campus classroom sessions and guest speakers. Successful completion of the program will provide participants with three credit hours of graduate-level MSU coursework. For more information about the institute, telephone 662-325-2341, or e-mail triddle@cobilan.msstate.edu.

CAMPUS news Foil enters national ag hall of fame

‘TummySafe’ seeks food safety approach

R. Rodney Foil of Starkville, retired vice president for MSU’s Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine, is among the first inductees into a newly created U.S. Department of Agriculture hall of fame. The Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service at USDA recognized 10 individuals nationwide for their support of research, education and extension in advancing knowledge for agriculture, the environment, and human well-being. In 1994, as chair of the CSREES Board on Agriculture, Foil worked to transform CSREES from a subdivision of the Agriculture Research Service into a separate and strengthened agency. At MSU, Foil also served as head of the Department of Forestry then dean of the School of Forest Resources, as well as associate director of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. He was named director of MAFES in 1978 and vice president in 1986.

Two Mississippi State units and the state’s top health office are working together on a new program to help child care centers adopt a series of simple steps that can prevent foodrelated illnesses. “TummySafe” is the title of a food-safety certification effort being coordinated by the MSU Extension Service, the university’s Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems and the state Department of Health. Using computer delivery and a software platform developed by CAVS research scientists, it offers self-paced instruction in an interactive format. The new curriculum was developed with a $280,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Poultry association honor goes to prof Poultry science professor J. Paul Thaxton recently received a national professional organization’s highest honor. Thaxton is among three named a Fellow by the Poultry Science Association. The honor recognizes professional distinction and contributions to the field of poultry science. Thaxton has written for more than 300 publications, Thaxton owns 11 patents and has trained 32 graduate students. He is a member of Poultry Science Association, Southern Poultry Science Society, World Poultry Science Association, Society of Experimental Biology and Medicine, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Society of Sigma Xi, and Gamma Sigma Delta.

Jones named CASE Professor of Year A 20-year wildlife and fisheries teaching and research veteran at Mississippi State has been recognized by two nationally prominent education-support organizations. Associate professor Jeanne C. Jones received the 2004 Mississippi CASE Professor of the Year Award from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. Created in 1981, the Professors of the Year Program is the only such initiative specifically designed to recognize excellence in undergraduate teaching and mentoring. Jones is among 46 winners selected from a total of nearly 300 nominations. Jones is the fifth MSU professor to receive the honor over the past decade. Jones earlier received several MSU teaching awards, including three from her department and two from the College of Forest Resources. She holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Southern Mississippi and master’s and doctoral degrees in wildlife ecology from MSU.

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SPORTS talk University begins NCAA recertification self-study Mississippi State has begun a scheduled yearlong effort to continue certification of its NCAA Division I athletics programs. President Charles Lee said specific areas of the study include academic integrity, governance and commitment to rules compliance, as well as a commitment to equity and student-athlete welfare. The project is being led by Sandra H. Harpole, interim associate vice president for research, and Donna S. Reese, interim associate dean of the Bagley College of Engineering. A 15-member steering committee will lead broad campus participation in studying each area. Institutional self-studies were instituted by NCAA member institutions in 1993 and are required approximately every five-10 years. MSU undertook its initial NCAA self-study in 1997. “The purpose of certification is to help ensure rules compliance in the institution’s athletics operations,” Harpole said. “It opens up athletics to the rest of the university community and to the public.”

The resulting examination confirms strengths of the program and promotes plans to improve areas of concern, she observed. The self-study committee includes faculty, administration, student, and staff representatives, as well as athletics department personnel. Members will evaluate athletics programs in accordance with NCAA operating principles. “Once the university concludes its study this year, an external team of reviewers will conduct a two-day evaluation site visit to Mississippi State,” Reese said. Composed of peers from other universities, the site team will report to the NCAA Division I Committee on Athletics Certification, which may decide that the institution is certified, certified with conditions, or not certified. The steering committee also includes Jimmy Abraham of the Division of Student Affairs; outgoing Athletic Council faculty representative Kirk Arnett of the College of

Business and Industry; and Julie Berry of the Student Support Services Office, chair of the Professional and Support Staff Advisory Council. Others include Art Cosby of the Social Science Research Center, Maridith Geuder of the university relations office, Sue Minchew of the College of Education, Student Association President Adam Telle, and incoming Athletic Council faculty representative Steven Turner of the agricultural economics department. Athletic department members include director Larry Templeton; associate director David Boles, who also heads the university’s Academic Advising Center; associate director Samye Johnson, who directs the women’s sports programs; and men’s basketball player Shane Power, representing the Student Athlete Advisory Council.

‘Maroon to the Max’ available online

“Maroon to the Max,” Mississippi State’s new extreme access Internet experience, is available as part of the official athletic Web site, www.mstateathletics.com. The subscription-based service promises to provide a new way for MSU

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fans to follow the Bulldogs in years to come. “Maroon to the Max” subscribers will enjoy live and delayed video streaming of a comprehensive menu of Bulldog men’s and women’s sports on either a live or delayed basis. Many other features will be implemented as part of the “Maroon to the Max” experience in the future, including live chats with MSU coaches and athletes,

great moments in MSU sports history and bonus coverage of the Bulldogs. “Maroon to the Max” is available to any MSU fan for $100 per year. Bulldog Club members who are donors in the Maroon Division and above may receive the service for just $50 per year. For more information on “Maroon to the Max,” visit www.mstateathletics.com and click on the “Maroon to the Max” logo on the top of the site’s front page.

SPORTS talk MSU extends Croom’s contract A contract extension for Bulldog head football coach Sylvester Croom was approved by the State Board of Trustees, Institutions of Higher Learning. The extension carries Croom through the 2008 football season. “This contract extension demonstrates the university’s recognition of the outstanding job that Coach Croom has done in just one year as the head of our football program,” Director of Athletics Larry Templeton said. “It also fulfills our commitment to him, as it relates to our NCAA sanctions. “We are proud of the work that Coach Croom and his staff have done, building a foundation for the future of our football program,” Templeton continued. “We are excited about the direction our program is headed and confident that he will be the leader of our football program well into the future.” Croom inherited a football program that had won just eight games in the previous three years. In just his first season, he nearly matched the number of Southeastern Conference wins achieved during those previous three years with back-to-back victories over Florida and Kentucky.

Diamond Dog co-captains earn honors Junior outfielder Brad Corley and senior pitcher Saunders Ramsey have been accorded preseason All-SEC honors and MSU is tabbed for a fourth place divisional finish by the college baseball Web site SEBaseball.com. The MSU veterans will serve as team captains in the upcoming season. Corley, from Louisville, Ky., was named to the All-SEC first team. He compiled a teambest .380 batting average with 19 home runs last season and already has earned All-America team honors from both Collegiate Baseball newspaper and Baseball America. Ramsey, a third-team all-conference selection from Starkville, registered four saves and compiled a 7-2 record and 3.50 earned run average, all team-leading totals. SEBaseball.com tabbed Mississippi State for a fourth-place finish in the SEC Western Division behind Louisiana State, Mississippi and Arkansas. South Carolina, the pick for the top spot in the SEC East, also was projected as the league’s overall champion.

Men’s, women’s sports reach all-time grade-point high Mississippi State’s men’s and women’s student-athletes matched the program’s all-time best grade-point average during the 2004 fall semester, assistant athletic director for academics Ray Berryhill said. MSU scholarship student-athletes achieved a 2.90 GPA this past fall, tying the 2.90 mark set during spring 1998. The men posted an all-time high 2.72 GPA, while the women recorded their second-best average at 3.19. The men’s (3.54) and women’s (3.64) tennis programs recorded the highest individual sport GPAs. Of the 282 scholarship student-athletes wearing maroon and white, 67 (or 24 percent) made either the Dean’s or President’s Scholar lists, while 146 (or 52 percent) earned a 3.00 GPA or better. The football team posted a 2.39 GPA during the 2004 fall semester, a three-year high for student-athletes in that program. Of the 84 football players who were on the roster at the beginning of the fall semester, 22 (or better than 25 percent of the team) finished the term with a 3.00 GPA or better.

SEBaseball.com’s

SEC projections EAST 1. South Carolina 2. Georgia 3. Vanderbilt 4. Florida 5. Tennessee 6. Kentucky

WEST 1. LSU 2. Ole Miss 3. Arkansas 4. Mississippi State 5. Alabama 6. Auburn

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SPORTS talk Palmeiro helps break ground on indoor training center Rafael Palmeiro will be remembered in major league baseball as one of the game’s all-time great hitters, a durable player with the ability to hit for average and a capacity for delivering the long ball. The combination of more than 550 home runs and a near-.300 career batting average will likely land Palmeiro, now with the Baltimore Orioles, in the Hall of Fame when his playing days come to a close.

Lynne and Rafael Palmeiro, who were accompanied by sons Preston and Patrick. “For me to give something back to the school, I felt it needed to be something special and it had to be the right time,” said Palmeiro at the groundbreaking ceremony. “This is the right time and the right thing to do, and it’s a pleasure and an honor to be able to do whatever I can. I’m thrilled to be a part of this, and hopefully I can come back and see it when it’s done before spring training.” The building, which will be located just west of Dudy Noble Taking part in groundbreaking ceremonies are, from left, Bulldog baseball coach Ron Polk, President Charles Lee, Rafael Palmeiro and his youngest son Preston. Looking on are Lynne and Patrick Palmeiro and Larry Templeton.

Palmeiro will long be remembered at Mississippi State for a standout three-year career which culminated with the Diamond Dogs’ third-place showing at the 1985 College World Series. During his playing days at State, he became the Southeastern Conference’s first triple crown winner, leading the league in home runs, runs batted in and batting average in 1984. While “Raffy’s” exploits on the playing field have assured his name in baseball history books on the college and professional level, now his name will be cemented on the MSU campus because of his generosity. During November ceremonies in Starkville, Mississippi State formally broke ground on the Palmeiro Center, a $3.8 million practice facility for baseball and football. The lead gift toward completion of the project was provided by

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Field, Polk-DeMent Stadium, will serve as an indoor practice area for both sports and will be air-conditioned and heated. The interior playing area will measure 185 feet wide and 368 feet long, and will have a ceiling height of 60 feet. The 68,000-square-foot floor area will accommodate a complete baseball infield within the context of a full football playing field. Retractable batting cages, which may be lowered Artist’s rendering from the of the Palmeiro ceiling, and Center football goal posts also will be included in the facility. The project’s price tag also includes a baseball coaches’ office complex, which will be located between the indoor facility and the current baseball stadium. It will allow coach Ron Polk and his staff to headquarter closer to their baseball

facilities. A by-product of that move will free additional office space for the women’s athletic program in Humphrey Coliseum. Initial site preparations occurred in September, and the building materials arrived in late December. The building should be ready for occupation by midApril. A planned second phase of construction at the Palmeiro Center will be the development of the parking area just west of Humphrey Coliseum, which will service the new practice facility and provide additional paved parking for basketball and football. Born in Havana, Cuba, Palmeiro came to the United States as an elementary student, and earned three letters in baseball at Jackson High School in Miami, Fla. A three-time All-American on the college level, he lettered at MSU 1983-85. He entered professional baseball following his junior year at MSU after the Chicago Cubs made him the 22nd player selected in the first round of the 1985 draft. He has played 18 seasons at the major league level, breaking into the big leagues in September of 1986. He is just 78 hits short of the magical 3,000-hit barrier and needs only 49 home runs to reach 600 in his career. Rafael met the former Lynne Walden of Tupelo when the two were students at

MSU, and they were married Dec. 14, 1985. They have two children, Patrick Ryne and Preston Conner. The Palmeiros reside in Colleyville, Texas.

ALUMNI news Weatherly honored as Alumnus of the Year A veteran employee of the Mississippi State University Alumni Association has been chosen as 2005 National Alumnus of the Year. Charles E. “Charlie” Weatherly of Starkville received the association’s highest honor in February at the annual awards banquet on campus. Weatherly, a 1959 industrial management graduate and Bulldog football standout came to work for his alma mater in 1962 as the first full-time field representative for the association. In 1967, he was appointed the association’s executive secretary, and became director of alumni affairs in 1976. Ten years later, he became coordinator of special projects for the association and the MSU Foundation. In that role, he was instrumental in completing the Eugene Butler Guest House. He also helped organize the constituency-based fundraising programs and served as director of the first constituency based fund drive. Weatherly remained with the MSU Foundation in various capacities until he retired in 1997 as director of development for Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine. But, true to form, retirement didn’t slow him down—he continues to serve on the board of directors of the MSU Alumni Foundation, which provides scholarship assistance to deserving MSU students. Since 1998, he has worked part-time as senior development officer for the colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Forest Resources, and Veterinary Medicine. Active in civic affairs, he has served as president of the Starkville Kiwanis Club, was charter treasurer of that organization in 1964, and in 1978 was named Kiwanian of the Year.

National Alumnus of the Year Charles E. “Charlie” Weatherly, center, is congratulated by MSU President Charles Lee, left, and MSU Alumni Association President Keith Winfield

Outstanding alumni chapters announced The Alumni Association named outstanding chapters for 2004 at the annual alumni banquet in February. The recipients were selected from among chapters throughout the state and nation. In-state chapters recognized for excellence in giving, chapter membership and activities, and leadership were: Category I, selected from chapters with membership potential of under 325— 1. George-Greene County, and 2. Covington County. Category II, selected from chapters with membership potential of 325 to 749.— 1. Tippah County; 2. Lincoln County; and 3. Union County. Category III, selected from counties with membership potential of 750 or more— 1. Oktibbeha County; 2. Central Mississippi; and 3. Southeast Mississippi. Outstanding out-of-state chapters for 2004 were—1. Houston, Texas; 2. Mobile, Ala.; and 3. Atlanta, Ga. Chapters meeting their membership quotas and accumulating a minimum of 400 points according to the Chapter Recognition Point System were the Desoto, Lee, Leflore-Carroll, Warren, and Washington chapters within the state, and Baton Rouge, La., Birmingham, Ala., Memphis, Tenn., Nashville, Tenn., New Orleans, La., and West Tennessee chapters out of state. Each chapter receives an honor banner in recognition of service. First- second- and third-place winners receive $1,000, $750, and $500, respectively, designated toward their local alumni chapter scholarship programs.

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Kieu-Anh Tran

College Alumni of the Year named College Alumni of the Year for 2005 were announced at the February alumni awards banquet. The group includes, from left, William A. Gillon of Germantown, Tenn., attorney with Butler, Snow, O’Mara, Stevens, and Cannada, College of Arts and Sciences; Rebecca Melton of Jackson, accepting for her late husband Jobie. T. Melton, who was a partner with the Horne CPA Group, College of Business and Industry; Gary A. Blair of Brookhaven, senior vice president with the Federal Land Bank of South Mississippi, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; Alicia D. Anderson of Washington, D.C., chief of surveillance activities for the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps, College of Veterinary Medicine; Henry W. Faulkner of Destin, Fla., founder and principal of the Advanced Sales Institute, Bagley College of Engineering; Sheryl Fox of Jackson, senior interior designer for Canizaro Cawthon Davis, College of Architecture, Art, and Design; and David “Boo” Ferriss of Cleveland, retired Delta State University baseball coach and former Major League pitcher, College of Education. Not pictured is Ruth J. Cook of Seminary, director of strategic planning for Molpus Timberlands Management, College of Forest Resources.

Show your pride in

MSU!

Alumni and friends of Mississippi State can support the university and show their Bulldog pride at the same time by ordering an MSU license plate through their county license office. Proceeds from the sale of the MSU collegiate tags fund priority programs at the university. Promoted by the Mississippi State University Alumni Association, P.O. Box AA, Mississippi State, MS 39762-5526, 662-325-7000, www.msubulldogs.msstate.edu. 32

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Tran named Outstanding Young Alumna Kieu-Anh Tran of Tucker, Ga., a 1996 civil engineering graduate and vice president for Q Solutions consulting firm, has been named the 2004 Outstanding Young Alumna at the recent Alumni Association awards banquet. She previously has served as project manager for two engineering companies. Extremely active on behalf of her alma mater, she is student recruiting chairperson for the Atlanta Chapter of the MSU Alumni Association, and earlier served as an officer for the Central Mississippi and Nashville chapters. The Vietnam native is a registered professional engineer in Mississippi and Georgia. She holds membership in a number of professional organizations, including the American Society of Civil Engineers, Society of Women Engineers, and National Society of Professional Engineers.

ALUMNI news Make plans for Mississippi in the Park

Distinguished Service Awards presented From left, Emery Dale Skelton of Winterville, Archie E. Cammack of Mobile, Ala., and Jack Ware of Lucedale have received Distinguished Service Awards for their years of service and dedication to the Mississippi State University Alumni Association. They received the honors at the annual awards banquet in February. Skelton earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in 1964 and 1965, respectively, and is a farmer and president of Huntington Plantation. Cammack is a 1964 business graduate and is a senior field representative for Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. Ware, a 1962 electrical engineering graduate, is retired general manager for Singing River Electric Power Association.

Class ring tradition continues

Mississippi State is bringing a little Southern hospitality and a lot of Bulldog spirit with us to the Big Apple in June. Join us for a taste of home in New York City at the 26th annual Mississippi in Central Park picnic Saturday, June 11. From fried catfish to blues music, you’ll find many things uniquely Mississippi right in the heart of New York. President J. Charles Lee and head football coach Sylvester Croom will headline the festivities for Mississippi State. There also will be booths set up by other Mississippi universities. Fair Winds Travel of Starkville has arranged a special package for alumni and friends of Mississippi State who wish to travel to New York for the event. Sightseeing or theater tickets at market cost may be arranged by Fair Winds upon request. Contact Fair Winds Travel at 662323-5007 or 888-678-7708 for complete details, or make your own arrangements to join us in New York for Mississippi in the Park. For event times, contact the MSU Alumni Association at 662-325-3659 or visit www.msubulldogs.msstate.edu.

Travis L. Klima of Starkville and Julia A. Tubby of Philadelphia were among those receiving their class rings from President Charles Lee in recent campus ceremonies. The Alumni Association sponsors the event to commemorate the institutional ring developed in 1935. The presentation ceremony takes place in April and December. Klima is an aerospace engineering major and Tubby a sociology major.

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ALUMNI news ALUMNI ASSOCIATION CALENDAR OF EVENTS APRIL 22-23 25 26

Former Alumni Association National Presidentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Weekend Atlanta, Ga., Chapter Bulldog family celebration with Coach Croom Lauderdale County Chapter, Bulldog family celebration Faculty Awards reception, Hunter Henry Center Class ring ceremony, Hunter Henry Center

MAY 7 10

Commencement Southeast Mississippi Chapter, golf tournament and Bulldog celebration with Coach Croom New Orleans/Baton Rouge Chapters, Bulldog celebration with Coach Croom Mississippi Coast, Bulldog celebration with Coach Croom Memphis, Tenn., and DeSoto County Chapters, Bulldog celebration with Coach Croom Alumni Association Executive Committee and Board of Directors meetings, Hunter Henry Center Birmingham, Ala., Chapter, golf tournament and Bulldog celebration with Coach Croom Houston, Texas, Chapter, golf tournament and Bulldog celebration with Coach Croom Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, Chapters, Bulldog celebration with Coach Croom Lee County Chapter, Bulldog family celebration with Coach Croom

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Mississippi in the Park Picnic, New York, N.Y., noon Passage of Peter the Great aboard M/S Repin, sponsored by the MSU Alumni Association. For details, contact Dianne Jackson at 662-325-3444 or djackson@alumni.msstate.edu. Retirement reception for John V. Correro, Hunter Henry Center, 2-4 p.m. R.S.V.P. to Dianne Jackson at djackson@alumni.msstate.edu or 662-325-3444.

JULY 21

Central Mississippi Extravaganza, Mississippi Coliseum, doors open at 5:30 p.m., program at 7 p.m.

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Alumni have e-mail forwarding option The Mississippi State University Alumni Association is proud to offer a new service: free, permanent e-mail forwarding. Via the MSU Online Community, alumni can now sign up for a permanent e-mail forwarding address. The address never changes, and is affiliated with Mississippi State University. Even when alumni change jobs or e-mail providers, their MSU e-mail address remains the same. When alumni change e-mail providers, all they have to do is log on to the MSU Online Community and change their forwarding e-mail address. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s as simple as that. Go to https:// www.alumniconnections.com/olc/pub/ MIU/register.html to sign up today!

Grab your clubs for golf outing Enjoy a day of golf and renew friendships at the School of Accountancy alumni golf outings. A scramble format allows players of all skill levels to participate. The first event is scheduled for June 10 at Plantation Golf Club in Olive Branch; the second, on June 17 at Caroline Golf Club in Madison. Both events begin with a shotgun start at 9 a.m. and conclude with lunch at 1:30 p.m. The $60 entrance fee includes green fees, cart, range balls, lunch, snacks, and prizes. For more information or to register, contact Mark Lehman at 662-325-1641 or e-mail mark.lehman@msstate.edu.

FOUNDATION news Bulldog Calling Center finds new home The Bulldog Calling Center, part of the Fund for Excellence Annual Giving Program, has found a new home. The center, formerly located on North Jackson Street in Starkville, has moved into the recently renovated basement of the Hunter Henry Center. The center also is under new management. In the past, the MSU Foundation had worked with an outside vendor who handled the daily operations of the Bulldog Calling Center. The center now will be managed and run completely by the MSU Fund for Excellence. “We are thrilled to have the calling center in the same building as the rest of the MSU Foundation staff,” said Laura Kitchens, director of the Fund for Excellence. “This program is a key part of the Fund for Excellence Annual Giving Program, and this change allows us to work more closely with the calling center on a daily basis.” The Bulldog Calling Center employs about 50 MSU students who make phone calls on behalf of the university. The

students call in the evening on SundayThursday of each week seeking gifts and updating address records. “We have a great group of student callers who are excited about the opportunity to talk with so many alumni and friends of MSU,” said Mandi Alexander, coordinator of Telefunding Programs. “All of our callers are current Mississippi State students, so our alumni are able to relate well to them. They have a lot in common with the alums.” To some, a calling center may seem like a minor part of a fund-raising effort. However, when all of the individual contributions made through the calling center are combined, they have a major impact on the university. “Overall, funds raised through the calling center touch every aspect of campus—something we’re very proud of,” Kitchens said. “Each year, we call for contributions to advancement and scholarship funds within each college, as well as any special project they may have going on.”

MSU deans Phil Oldham and Sara Freedman talk with student caller Amy Lofties, a junior from Gulfport, about what alumni from their respective colleges, Arts and Sciences and Business and Industry, find interesting about the university.

Since the center opened in late 2001, it has helped secure funds for several major campus projects. Some of these include the renovation of McCain Hall, home of the Bagley College of Engineering, and the Hunter Henry Center. Efforts also have been focused toward securing gifts to build a new practice facility for the Famous Maroon Band. Kitchens credits the success of the center in previous years to the attitude and willingness of alumni and friends of MSU to contribute to the university. She also believes the Fund for Excellence will continue to grow because of the way those alumni and friends respond to student callers.

MSU first lady Pat Lee, center, led a cord-cutting ceremony for the recently relocated Bulldog Calling Center that also included, from left, center coordinator Mandi Alexander and foundation leaders John Rush, Dennis Prescott and Laura Kitchens.

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STATE OF THE FUTURE silent phase highlights CAMPAIGN GOAL: Endowed Scholarships and Fellowships

CAMPAIGN GOAL: Endowed Chairs and Professorships

The Asbury Foundation committed $1 million for a new student scholarship program at Mississippi State. The scholarships benefit entering students from specific counties in Mississippi.

Ergon Inc. has established a distinguished professorship that will provide leadership in electrical and computer engineering education and research, as well as outreach to industry. The Ergon-Diversified Technology Inc. Distinguished Professorship will enable MSU to attract and retain nationally recognized faculty.

A $1.5 million gift from best-selling novelist and alumnus John Grisham and his wife Renee is supporting the university’s Presidential Endowed Scholars program for freshmen. The number of scholarships available will grow along with endowment earnings. The gift also supports faculty awards for undergraduate teaching. A $25 million commitment from James and Jean Bagley of Trophy Club, Texas, is the the largest single financial gift in Mississippi State’s history. Their contribution endows the James Worth Bagley College of Engineering and creates fellowships for graduate education in engineering. A $5 million gift from Dave C. Swalm will support scholarships for Brookhaven students. The contribution was instrumental in putting the State of the Future campaign over the halfway mark just prior to public launch. Proceeds from a $1 million bequest from C.W. “Tex” Ritter Jr. and his wife Carolyn will one day support several areas of the university. The generous deferred gift will create a Presidential Endowed Scholarship fund for outstanding students and an endowed memorial scholarship in honor of the Kosciusko couple’s grandson. The gift also will support programs of the MSU Libraries.

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With a commitment of $1.5 million, Bill and Carolyn Cobb of Dallas, Texas, have established an endowed chair in the Bagley College of Engineering to be filled by a faculty member from either the chemical engineering or mechanical engineering department. Cobb is an MSU engineering graduate who carved out a successful career in petroleum engineering and geological consulting. A $2 million gift from Earnest W. Deavenport Jr. and his wife Mary Ann will establish a chair within the Bagley College of Engineering. Earnings from the endowment will provide a salary supplement and additional financial support for all future engineering deans. Deavenport, a Macon native and 1960 MSU chemical engineering graduate, is the retired chairman and chief executive officer of Kingsport, Tenn.-based Eastman Chemical Co.

STATE OF THE FUTURE will continue through 2008.

CAMPAIGN GOAL: New and Renovated Facilities

CAMPAIGN GOAL: Educational Program Enhancements

Davis Wade Stadium at historic Scott Field was enlarged in 2001 to incorporate sky boxes and new club-level seating. The $30 million expansion project, the largest in MSU athletic history, was initiated largely due to a private contribution in excess of $8 million from the late F. Davis Wade Sr., along with self-generated funds.

A $2.5 million gift from Fred E. Carl Jr. of Greenwood and Viking Range Corp. is supporting increased small town design research and education in the College of Architecture, Art and Design. The commitment endows the college’s Small Town Center, renamed the Carl Small Town Center, and provides resources to expand the scope and depth of the center’s involvement and to increase the number of communities it serves.

Another sizeable contribution of $1.4 million for the Davis Wade Stadium expansion came from alumnus Charles “Cullis” Wade. A charitable remainder trust of more than $800,000 from Wade and his late wife Gladys will provide a welcome center for MSU athletics. A $1 million gift from Hassell Franklin supplemented $3 million in state funding to build the new Franklin Center for Manufacturing and Management. The center houses the Institute for Furniture Manufacturing and Management, a new interdisciplinary program for the colleges of Business and Industry, Engineering and Forest Resources, as well as the College of Architecture, Art and Design and MSU’s Extension Service. A $3 million commitment from 1950 chemical engineering alumnus Hunter W. Henry Jr., a Canton native now of San Marcos, Texas, and the retired president of Dow Chemical USA made possible the new alumni and foundation center that bears his name. All gifts to the $12 million Hunter Henry Center were counted in the silent phase of the campaign. To date, Henry has given $8 million to State of the Future. A $1 million commitment from Rafael and Lynne Palmeiro will build a new sports facility for the university. Construction will begin soon on the new Rafael Palmeiro Indoor Baseball Practice Complex, named for the former MSU baseball standout and major league baseball player who is now with the Baltimore Orioles. The Riley Foundation provided a lead gift of $10 million as funding for the renovations on the 1890 Grand Opera House of Mississippi and the adjacent Marks-Rothenburg Building in Meridian. The restored opera house will become a performing arts venue and the Marks-Rothenburg Building will be an education and conference center housing programs from MSUMeridian and others.

A $1 million commitment from Nancy and Richard Adkerson will create an endowed fund in the College of Business and Industry that will benefit its School of Accountancy. The Bagley College of Engineering is receiving more than $500,000 from St. Paul, Minn.-based 3M to establish a Six Sigma Certificate Program, designed to provide students with industry’s latest customer satisfaction training through quality control. The College of Education received a $100,000 gift to establish the Martin Fund for Excellence in Education from E.B. Martin Jr. in honor of his parents. The gift is helping improve faculty and student environments, update computer-based laboratories, and strengthen research programs in the college. A gift of $1.5 million from Joe Ann Ward is funding a critical care unit for small animals in the College of Veterinary Medicine. The unit will provide a unique laboratory for students to learn important medical concepts in intensive and critical care delivery, as well as greatly enhance the hospital’s ability to care for small animals. The income earned from this endowment will be used to maintain equipment and supplies as well as add much-needed salary support for the veterinarians and technicians that oversee the unit.

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A $2 million boost from the Robert M. Hearin Support Foundation is supporting biotechnology research at MSU. The grant provides support for university scientists whose research includes human and animal health, disease-and insect-resistant crop development, natural resources protection, and computational biology. Robert V.M. Harrison and Freda W. Harrison of Madison have committed a gift of $75,000 to establish a lecture series within the College of Architecture, Art and Design. The Harrison Visiting Lecture Series will include four to six lectures each semester from a broad range of nationally recognized architects, educators and artists. Visits will be scheduled to allow interaction with students beyond the formal lecture.

Get on board with State of the Future Anyone wishing to learn more about State of the Future: The Mississippi State Campaign may do so online. The State of the Future Web site recently was activated. To find out more about the campaign and its goals, simply click on the State of the Future icon on the MSU home page or visit www.msufoundation.com. Visitors to the site can discover how they can become a

Mississippi natives Fred and Sara Jean Burke are giving engineering students an opportunity to participate in a special study-abroad program. The Burkes’ endowment provides an annual income to operate the program and provide study-abroad scholarships. The couple wants to financially assist young people in experiencing a different place and culture while encouraging them to return and put their knowledge to work in Mississippi. Through planned gifts, the legacy of Dr. Harry C. Simrall and his wife Mary Virginia will live on at MSU. Proceeds from their estates have created endowed funds in the Bagley College of Engineering and the Department of Chemistry. Simrall spent 44 years on the MSU faculty before retiring as dean of engineering; his wife was an assistant professor in the chemistry department for many years.

part of State of the Future by giving to any area of the university. Individuals also may learn about some of the options they have in making deferred gifts to the university. If you would like to make a gift or pledge to support Mississippi State through State of the Future, the site provides an option to do so online in a secure environment. Through the “Make a Gift” link, you will have the option to contribute using a credit card, or you may choose to print a pledge form, which you may complete and return to the MSU Foundation, P.O. Box 6149, Mississippi State, MS 39762. The site also provides users with a listing of tele-

Financial support from the Bower Foundation, a Jackson philanthropic organization whose mission is to improve the health of all Mississippians, is at work at MSU. A gift from the foundation supports the Mississippi Health Policy Research Center and its Bower Seminar Series. The center is a major unit of MSU’s Social Science Research Center, which is a nationally recognized organization engaged in the analysis and study of important social and economic issues facing the state, region and nation.

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phone numbers and e-mail connections for the MSU Foundation’s central staff, as well as for the fund-raisers of each academic unit. Any member of the Foundation team may be contacted by calling toll-free 877-677-8283.

The following individuals, corporations and foundations have made commitments of more than $50,000 from July 1, 2004, through December 31, 2004, for State of the Future: The Mississippi State Campaign. 3M; William Adams Estate; Mr. and Mrs. Richard C. Adkerson; Richard C. Adkerson Family Foundation; ADTRAN Inc.; ALCOA Inc.; Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Alexander; American Furniture Manufacturing Assoc.; AmFed Companies LLC; AmSouth Bank; Scarvia B. Anderson Ph.D.; Dr. and Mrs. Lester Andrews; Asbury Foundation; The Ayco Charitable Foundation; Mr. and Mrs. James Worth Bagley; J.W. Bagley Foundation; James T. Baird Estate; Mr. and Mrs. Johnny H. Baker III; Mr. and Mrs. Robert B. Barker ; BancorpSouth; Mrs. Viola G. Bardsley; BASF Corp.; Bayer Crop Science; BellSouth; Mark W. Bentley Estate; *Mr. and Mrs. M. Hays Biggs; Mr. and Mrs. Clarence D. Blaine; Mr. and Mrs. Gary A. Blair ; Mr. Peter E. Blum; *Mrs. Madrina D. Bokenkamp; Michael Bowen PA; The Bower Foundation; Edwin B. Bridgforth Estate; Mrs. W.W. Brunson; Mr. and Mrs. James D. Bryan; Bryan Foods Inc.; Miriam B. Bryant Estate; Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Bullock; Mr. and Mrs. William W. Bunker Jr.; Mr. and Mrs. Fred P. Burke; Burlington Resources Inc.; Burlington Resources Foundation; Mr. and Mrs. Fred E. Carl Jr.; Cellular South; Ms. Renee’ S. Chandler ; *Dr. Robert B. Channell Charitable Gift Fund; Mr. and Mrs. Hollis C. Cheek; Hotel Chester ; ChevronTexaco Corp.; Citicorp; Mr. and Mrs. Albert C. Clark; Tony and Christa Clark; Mr. and Mrs. William N. Clark Jr.; Dr. and Mrs. William M. Cobb; Mr. and Mrs. Lamar A. Conerly Jr.; Kelly G. Cook Sr. Foundation Inc.; Dr. Fred G. Corley Jr.; Mr. Rubel P. Cowart Jr.; Mr. and Mrs. Johnny Crane; Mr. Johnny L. Crane II; Create Foundation; Mrs. Barbara H. Criswell; Mr. Steve Davenport; Mr. and Mrs. Thomas L. Davis; The Day Foundation; Mr. and Mrs. Earnest W. Deavenport Jr.; Delaney Foundation Inc.; Delta Gamma Foundation; Delta Lambda of Delta Gamma; Delta Rice Services Inc.; Bonnie DeMent Estate; Design Integrations Inc.; *Hon. and Mrs. Glen S. Deweese; Mr. and Mrs. John N. Dowdle; Dow Chemical Co.; Mr. Richard Draudt; Mr. and Mrs. Tommy Dulaney; Durward Dunn Inc.; The Dupont Energy Co.; Eastman Chemical Co.; Dr. and Mrs. John P. Elliott; Mr. Robert T. Elmore; Eloise, Enoch & Margery Norton Foundation; England Motors; Mr. Ray B. English; Entergy Mississippi; Ergon Inc.; Mrs. Maxine C. Estess; Ethicon Endosurgery Inc.; Exxon Education Foundation; ExxonMobil Corp.; Mr. and Mrs. John S. Ferretti; Mrs. June M. Files; W.D. Fisher Estate; Foil-Wyatt Architects and Planners P.A.; Mr. James C. Forbes; Mr. Hassell H. Franklin; Mr. and Mrs. W. Bruce Franklin; Mary E. Frederic Estate; Freeport-McMoRan Foundation; Furniture Brands International; Mr. Russell Gaines; Gallagher Farm Inc; Mr. Frank F. Gallaher Jr.; Mrs. Mary J. Gardner ;

Charles K. Garmon Estate; Mr. and Mrs. James E. Garrison; Mr. and Mrs. E.M. “Hoot” Gipson; Gipson Steel Inc.; Mr. and Mrs. Steve Golding; Golightly Foundation; Goodman Associates; Mr. and Mrs. Bryce Griffis; Dr. and Mrs. Larry R. Grillot; Mr. and Mrs. John R. Grisham Jr.; *Mrs. Lucile G. Gulledge; Ms. Gretchen Gulmon; The Hall Foundation Inc.; Hancock Bank; Phil Hardin Foundation; Mr. and Mrs. Thomas H. Harris Jr.; Mr. and Mrs. Robert V.M. Harrison; Mrs. Winifred B. Har twig; Mr. and Mrs. John W. Head; Robert M. Hearin Support Foundation; Mr. and Mrs. Harold Heaster; Mr. and Mrs. Hunter W. Henry Jr.; Mrs. Winafred M. Herndon; *Mr. and Mrs. Ben Hilbun Jr.; Hill’s Pet Nutrition Inc.; Mr. and Mrs. Mickey Holliman; Mr. and Mrs. Larry E. Homan; Mr. and Mrs. Tad A. Honsinger ; Hood Farms & Gin; Mr. and Mrs. Frank Hopper ; Wallace Hosmer Estate; Mr. and Mrs. Billy W. Howard; Mr. and Mrs. William D. Howell Jr.; Mrs. Louise Howell; Drs. William and Karen Hulett; Mr. and Mrs. Alvis T. Hunt; Mr. Louis A. Hurst Jr.; Mr. and Mrs. John L. Hyland III; ITT Industries Inc.; Dr. James H. Jarratt and Dr. Ann F. Jarratt; Jillco Farms; Mr. and Mrs. Bill R. Job; Mr. and Mrs. Richard H. Johnson; Col. Kenneth “K. D.” and Mrs. Catherine Johnson; Mr. Charles W. Johnson; Johnson Bailey Henderson McNeel Architects; Emily Jones Pointer Trust; Mr. and Mrs. Mark S. Jordan; Mr. and Mrs. M.F. Kahlmus; Mr. and Mrs. George P. Kappler Jr.; W. K. Kellogg Foundation; Doris S. Lacey Estate; Lane Furniture; Mr. and Mrs. Bobby L. Latham; Mr. and Mrs. Richard A. Linder ; Mr. and Mrs. Steve Lindsay; Mr. and Mrs. Rober t E. Luke; Mr. Malcolm H. Mabry Jr.; Mr. Paul Gurner Maholm; Mr. and Mrs. Lewis F. Mallory Jr.; Mr. and Mrs. Bobby P. Martin; Mr. and Mrs. E.B. Martin Jr.; Bryant Mather Estate; Dr. and Mrs. R. Burt Maxcy; *Mr. Charles H. Maxwell; MBNA; Mr. T.W. McCloud; Mr. and Mrs. Cur tis E. McCollough; Mr. and Mrs. William T. McGuire; Mr. James F. McKinnis; *Mr. Fred K. McNeel; McNeil Nutritionals; Mr. and Mrs. John W. McPherson Sr.; Mr. and Mrs. James L. McRae; Community Foundation of Greater Memphis; Merial Limited; Mississippi Power Co.; Mississippi Power Foundation; Mississippi Rural Rehabilitation Corp.; Mitchell Distributing Co.; Henry Mize Foundation; Molitor Angus Ranch; Monsanto Co.; Mr. and Mrs. Roderick A. Moore; Morgan Keegan Inc.; Mr. and Mrs. Alton C. Morris; Mr. and Mrs. H. David Morris; Mr. and Mrs. Davis K. Mortensen; Dr. and Mrs. Niles R. Moseley; MSU Alumni Association; Georgia Murphy Estate; Mr. and Mrs. Michael G. Naylor ; NBC of Mississippi; Mr. and Mrs. Thomas B. Nusz; Dr. Shirley F. Olson and Mr. Walter Olson III; Mr. and Mrs. Rafael Palmeiro; Mr. and Mrs. Hal Parker Jr.;

Parker & Associates; Mr. and Mrs. Claude Parker ; Mr. and Mrs. Rayburn Parks; Jane T. Perry Estate; Mr. Henry C. Pilkinton III; Plum Creek Technologies; Mr. Ronald G. Polk; Mr. and Mrs. W. Stan Pratt; Premier Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Inc.; Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Pritchard; Procter & Gamble; RW Distributors Inc.; Dr. and Mrs. J.M. Randle M.D.; The Riley Foundation; Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. Ritter Jr.; Revit Technology Corp.; Mr. Bob G. Rober ts; Mr. Joe D. Robison Jr.; Mr. and Mrs. I. Alfred Rosenbaum; Mr. and Mrs. James Rouse; Charles H. Russell Jr. Estate; Mr. Michael J. Ryan; Mr. and Mrs. Michael W. Sanders; Mr. William R. Sanderson; Mr. and Mrs. Joe F. Sanderson Jr.; Mr. and Mrs. Robert Sanford; Mrs. Helen A. Sawyer ; J.R. Scribner Estate; Mr. and Mrs. Leo W. Seal Jr.; Mr. and Mrs. Bobby S. Shackouls; Shady Brook Angus; Dr. Kay R. Shirley; Mr. and Mrs. W.C. Shoemaker ; Dr. and Mrs. Allen K. Sills Jr.; Mr. and Mrs. Wilson D. Simmons; Harry C. Simrall Estate; Mr. and Mrs. James B. Skewes; John Bentinck-Smith Trust; Lorena J. “Rockie” Smith Estate; Southeast Chapter APCA; Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance Co.; Southern Ginners Association; Spirco Manufacturing; Dr. and Mrs. John Walter Starr Jr.; Charles E. Steele Estate; Charles E. Strahan Estate; Mr. and Mrs. Quentin Stringer ; Structural Steel Services Inc.; Mr. and Mrs. Dave C. Swalm; Syngenta Crop Protection; Charles D. and ZonaDale Taylor; Mr. Rowan H. Taylor ; Mrs. Mary A. Templeton; James S. Therrell Estate; James M. and Luvie C. Thomas Foundation; Mr. William Lakin Thomas; Mr. and Mrs. J.F. Thompson Jr.; Three Trees Ranch Inc.; Tigrett & Williams; Tippah County Alumni Chapter ; Tower Loan of Mississippi Inc.; Trim Joist Corp.; Dr. and Mrs. Glover B. Triplett Jr.; Trustmark National Bank; Twin Hills Farm; Van Zyverden Inc.; Vicksburg Hospital Medical Foundation; Viking Range Corp.; Floyd D. Wade Sr. Charitable Lead Trust; Mr. Charles Cullis Wade; *Mr. and Mrs. Wenton R. Walker; Dr. Clinton E. Wallace; Walton Family Foundation Inc.; Mrs. Joe Ann W. Ward; Mr. David L. Watson; Dr. and Mrs. Vance H. Watson; Dr. and Mrs. A. Randle White; Mr. and Mrs. James T. White; Mr. and Mrs. Robert M. Whitehead; Mr. Joseph B. Whiteside; Charles R. Whitfield Charitable Foundation; Mr. H. Lewis Whitfield; Mr. Francis Whitfield; Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Wile; Dr. R.E. Williams; Mrs. Daphine Williamson; Mr. and Mrs. Randy Wilt; Mr. Ben Wilt; Mr. and Mrs. Dean K. Wingo; W.G. Yates & Son Construction Co.; and Dr. Oskar H. Zernickow. *deceased

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FOUNDATION news Armstrong, Rush take on new Foundation assignments Two Mississippi State University alumni and fundraising veterans are assuming new roles with the MSU Foundation. Richard Armstrong is filling the newly created Armstrong position of regional director for State of the Future: The Mississippi State Campaign. As regional director, Armstrong will support State of the Future campaign activities in the Southern region of Mississippi, and will have responsibilities outside the state as well. Armstrong was most recently executive director of the

MSU Foundation. He will be based at the Mississippi State-Meridian Campus. Armstrong joined the university fundraising team in 1993 after 25 years of active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps. He is a 1968 general business administration graduate and a native of Meridian. John P. Rush is the university’s new director of major gifts. He will lead efforts to obtain nonpublic funds, Rush including constituency-based major fund raising, planned giving, and corporate and foundation support. He moves to the central office from the Bagley College of Engineering

where he was senior director of development. Rush, a Leakesville native, is a 1994 political science graduate who went on to complete a master’s in public policy and administration at his alma mater. He became the engineering college’s development director in 2002 after serving four years as assistant director. “We have great confidence in the ability of Richard Armstrong and John Rush to move the university’s State of the Future campaign forward,” said Dennis A. Prescott, vice president for external affairs. “These two men have established a great relationship with donors, friends of the university, and board members, as well as the rest of our fund-raising team.”

Mississippi State seeks funds for Cochran endowment MSU is seeking to build a $3 million endowment to honor and expand the work of U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) through State of the Future: The Mississippi State Campaign. Through the years, numerous universitybased research projects have been funded with Cochran’s assistance, including energy, agriculture and forestry facilities at Mississippi Cochran State. The university, in cooperation with local government entities and established private sector technology-related busi-

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nesses, will create and support an organization devoted to promoting entrepreneurship among university students while supporting economic development in the Thad Cochran Research, Technology and Economic Development Park, the Golden Triangle region, and the State of Mississippi. “The Thad Cochran Endowment will seek to partner with successful private businesses to further expand opportunities for emerging entrepreneurs,” said Dennis Prescott, vice president for external affairs. “The endowment also will assist new and developing technology-related businesses by providing seed grants and bridge funding,” he added.

The endowment, which will seek private funding for support of its programs, will be administered by MSU’s Office of Research with the advice of an external board. Cochran was elected to the Senate in 1978, becoming the first Republican in more than 100 years to win a statewide election. He has won re-election every term since. He is a native of Pontotoc. To date, major commitments toward the endowment include $1 million from Northrop Grumman Corp., $250,000 from Entergy Mississippi, and $250,000 from Mississippi Power. For more information on the project, contact Trish Hughes of the MSU Foundation at 662-325-7000.

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Class news '51 SIM COOLEY (M.ED. ’63) of Ellisville has been recognized with the naming of the football field at Jones County Junior College in his honor. The recent ceremony designating the Sim Cooley Football Field at Bobcat Stadium pays tribute to Cooley’s 27 years as the school’s head football coach, during which he was named Mississippi Junior College Coach of the Year five times. He also has been inducted into the Mississippi Coaches Hall of Fame and the National Junior College Hall of Fame.

'59 HASSELL FRANKLIN of Houston, president and CEO of Franklin Corp., has received the prestigious Tozzoli International Leadership Award at the Mississippi World Trade Center’s 2004 annual meeting. He was honored for his international business leadership and for demonstrating the trade center’s mission of promoting peace and stability through trade. Franklin Corp. is the state’s largest privately owned furniture company and the nation’s third largest producer of reclining chairs.

'63 JIM CORLEY of Lucedale has received the Outstanding Volunteer of the Year award from the Greater George County Economic Development Foundation and Chamber of Commerce. The awards ceremony, sponsored by BellSouth, honored a number of local community volunteers and civic leaders.

'69

DOUGLAS T. LUCE JR. of Lucedale, president and CEO of Century Bank, has received a Volunteer of the Year plaque from the Mississippi Economic Development Council in recognition of his

leadership and contributions economic development in George County and Lucedale.

'71 JUDY SANDERS of Liberty has received a 2005 Mississippi Arts Commission Literary Arts Mini-Grant to further her work as a writer of Southern fiction. She also is one of two writers in the state to receive a literary fellowship in fiction. Both grants were funded by the state Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.

'72

KENNETH C. STEWART JR. has been named director for the Georgia Forestry Commission, where he will be responsible for the agency’s $40 million budget and 675 employees. He previously was vice president for retail and specialty business for Unisource Worldwide.

'73

ALLEN D. BROWN of Houston, Texas, has joined Sterling Bank as regional CEO. He will oversee the bank’s wealth management, international banking, small business administration lending, and energy lending departments.

'74 JACK BULLMAN of Madison, Ala., has been named director of the Spacecraft and Vehicle Systems Department in the Engineering Directorate at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville. Bullman began his NASA career in 1981 and most recently served as manager of the Avionics Department in the Engineering Directorate.

'75 MICHAEL B. BALLARD (M.A. ’76, PH.D. ’83) of Ackerman, Mississippi State University archivist and coordinator of the Congressional and Ballard Political Research Center at MSU, has written Vicksburg: The Campaign That Opened the Mississippi, recently published by the University of North Carolina Press. Ballard is the author of six previous books, including Pemberton: A Biography and A Long Shadow: Jefferson Davis and the Final Days of the Confederacy.

'76 SHARON Y. EUBANKS of McLean, Va., is head of the U.S. Department of Justice’s tobacco litigation team. She has been a lawyer with the department since 1983.

Say ‘CHEESE’ Mississippi State Alumnus is pleased to publish photos of our graduates in Class News, along with word of their accomplishments. To ensure that your photo submissions for Class News are usable, please provide us with studio-quality prints or electronic files in JPEG or TIFF format. Electronic submissions (via e-mail or CD) should be 300 dpi minimum and generated on PC-based equipment. We cannot use Macintosh files, laser prints, or photos clipped from newspapers, magazines, or other publications.

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CLASS news '79

'81

CALVIN T. HULL JR. has been named senior vice president for The Staubach Company in Addison, Texas, an international real estate strategy and services firm. JAMES P. SHEPARD (‘PH.D. ’85) has been named head of the Department of Forestry at Mississippi State. He previously was sustainable forestry program manager for the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, a nonprofit research institute based in North Carolina.

DON MUNDIE of Eads, Tenn., managing partner of Delta Capital Management, has been named to the Board of Directors of Smart Furniture Inc.

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CHARLIE GERRETSON of Lucedale is president and CEO of First National Bank of Lucedale.

'85 CHARLES KENT COOK has been promoted to lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army. He is a G3 digital training officer with the XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg, N.C.

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RHONDA NEWMAN KEENUM of Alexandria, Va., has been appointed by President George Bush to serve as assistant secretary for trade and promotion and director general of the U.S. Foreign Commercial Service in the Department of Commerce. FERNANDO PALACIOS (M.S. ’85) has been named executive vice president of feed for Land O’Lakes Inc. He previously

was the company’s vice president of dairy foods operations and supply chain.

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Class news '87

PAULA B. THOMAS of Murfreesboro, Tenn., chair and Advisory Board Distinguished Professor of Accounting at Middle Tennessee State University, has begun a three-year term as a member of the board of directors of the American Institute of Thomas CPAs. She is the only academic member of the 23-person board.

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RENEE COTTON of Jackson, director of Corporate Health Services, Mississippi Baptist Health Systems, has been selected to participate in the 2004-05 Leadership Mississippi program sponsored by the Mississippi Economic Council’s M.B. Swayze Educational Foundation. DALE HANCOCK of Jackson, customer service center manager for Entergy Services Inc., has been selected to participate in the 2004-05 Leadership Mississippi program sponsored by the Mississippi Economic Council’s M.B. Swayze Educational Foundation.

'89

PAUL FIELDS of Dallas, Texas, is now co-owner and president of Lambert’s landscape architectural contracting and maintenance services firm. LOURIE N. FORMBY III, a major in the Mississippi Army National Guard, is serving as battalion executive officer of the 298th Corps Support Fields Battalion in Al-Fallujah, Iraq. The 298th CSB was deployed from

Philadelphia, Miss., in December 2003 to serve in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. TOM KENDALL of Vicksburg, vice president of commercial lending for Trustmark National Bank, has been selected to participate in the 2004-05 Leadership Mississippi program sponsored by the Mississippi Economic Council’s M.B. Swayze Educational Foundation.

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JAY DAVIS of Lucedale recently organized “Praise in the Park,” an all-day praise, worship and music celebration at Lucedale City Park. KIM DAVIS of Lucedale, formerly assistant principal at George County Middle School, has been transferred to George County High School as assistant principal. ROBERT JARMAN has been appointed associate dean of the Katherine Reese Pamplin College of Arts and Sciences at Augusta (Ga.) State University.

'93

TIM JOSEPH has joined Gulf States Paper Corp. as first assistant golf professional for NorthRiver Yacht Club in Tuscaloosa, Ala. He previously was golf professional for Searcy (Ark.) Country Club.

'94

'95 DAWN WALLACE of Leakesville is a training supervisor for the livestock judging teams of the Greene County Jr. FFA. MATT YARBOROUGH of Asheville, N.C., is an oncology product specialist for Ortho Biotech, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.

'97

JOHN M. SHAPPLEY of Hattiesburg, senior vice president and chief credit officer for The First, A National Banking Association, has been selected to participate in the 2004-05 Leadership Mississippi program sponsored by the Mississippi Economic Council’s M.B. Swayze Educational Foundation. THOMAS WALLACE of Leakesville is adviser to the Greene County Jr. FFA, which recently won first place at the State Fair livestock judging competition.

'00

AMIEE MOCK METHVIN of Huntsville, Ala., is a professionally licensed, self-employed architect.

'02

JOSH SHOEMAKER of Meridian has joined Rea, Shaw, Giffin and Stuart CPA as an accountant.

RONALD R. WILSON of Pascagoula, research and development program director for Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, has been selected to participate in the 2004-05 Leadership Mississippi program sponsored by the Mississippi Economic Council’s M.B. Swayze Educational Foundation. CAMILLE YOUNG (M.S. ’96) of Jackson, public relations representative for the Watkins Ludlam Winter & Stennis law firm, was named to the 2004 class of the Top 40 Under 40 by the Mississippi Business Journal.

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BIRTH announcements Collin Ray Adair, Aug. 16, 2004, to J. AUBREY ADAIR (’90) and wife Cindy of Columbus. Warren Ellis Ammons, Nov. 12, 2004, to JENIFER DIXON AMMONS (’97) and JAY B. AMMONS (’00) of Madison. Taylor Reid Bennett, July 8, 2004, to AMELIA EZELLE BENNETT (’92) and husband Don of Tupelo. Nina Delise Bokenkamp, adopted Nov. 5, 2004 by MADRINA STROUP BOKENKAMP (’94, ’97) and husband Dane of Katy, Texas. Thomas Andrew Bongiolatti, June 1, 2004, to NICK BONGIOLATTI (’98) and MELISSA KORTE BONGIOLATTI (’97, M.S. ’99) of Memphis, Tenn. Tate Daniel Chatham, June 14, 2004, to DAVID L. CHATHAM (’92, M.B.A. ’94) and TRICIA LISTER CHATHAM (’94) of Moseley, Va.

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Perry Reese DeLoach, Aug. 9, 2004, to APRIL HEATH DELOACH (’99) and TREY DELOACH (’99, M.S. ’01) of Madison. Laighton Brooke Green, Dec. 1, 2004, to TERRY GREEN (’96) and KIMBERLY GREEN (’99) of Starkville. Brennan Elizabeth Henderson, Feb. 19, 2004, to JENNIFER HARTWELL HENDERSON (’96) and husband Matthew of Halls, Tenn. Kathryn Pharr Keenum, Everett James Keenum, and Mary Phillips Keenum, Sept. 17, 2004, to MARK KEENUM (’83, M.A. ’84, PH.D. ’88) and RHONDA NEWMAN KEENUM (’83) of Alexandria, Va. Elizabeth Claire Lawrence, Aug. 16, 2004, to TODD LAWRENCE (’95) and SHANNON PETERSON LAWRENCE (’95) of Oconomowoc, Wis.

Garrett Denson Reid, May 13, 2004, to ASHLEY SMITH REID (attended) and ALLEN REID (attended) of Atlanta, Ga. Jayden Mykel Rockingham, Dec. 7, 2004, to CHARITY AUSTIN ROCKINGHAM (’01) and husband Roshon of Brandon. John Jenkins Wells, Nov. 4, 2004, to JACK D. WELLS (’88) and AUBRE J. WELLS (’97) of Belden. Andrew David Wigginton, April 14, 2004, to DAVID RANDALL WIGGINTON (’97) and JENNIFER WHITE WIGGINTON (attended) of Brandon. Chloe Jean Woodall, July 28, 2004, to KARIE CRAVEN WOODALL (’97) and BRAD WOODALL (’90) of Meridian. Andrew Rhettson Yarborough, Aug. 3, 2004, to MATT YARBOROUGH (’95) and wife Michelle of Asheville, N.C.

IN memoriam Bradley D. Carter

former associate provost Bradley D. Carter of Lexington, Ky., director of the University of Kentucky’s Center for Visualization and Virtual Environments, died Jan. 15 after a long illness. He was 61. Carter was associate provost and chief information officer at Mississippi State from 2000 to 2003. He also served for three years as interim executive director of the National Science Foundation’s Engineering Research Center at MSU, and prior to that, he was coordinator of the engineering college’s computational engineering program. Carter joined the engineering faculty in 1971 as an assistant professor and rose to full professor in 1980. An Olive Branch native, he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in industrial engineering at MSU in 1967 and 1968, respectively, and a doctorate at the University of Arkansas in 1972.

HUBERT B. DUCKWORTH (’33)—93, Jackson; retired general manager of the Jackson division of the Borden Co. and past president of the MSU Alumni Association, Nov. 1, 2004. RICHARD W. ELLIOTT SR. (’33)—94, Oxford; retired funeral home director and mayor of Oxford for 16 years, Dec. 3, 2004. MOSES MCWILLIE COLE (’34)—95, Gainesville, Fla.; retired University of Florida entomologist and professor and World War II and Korean War veteran, July 22, 2004. ALBERTA FRANCES WEEMS (’35)—89, Reno, Nev.; homemaker and former U.S. Department of Agriculture employee, July 20, 2004. CHEVIS RAYMOND BOONE JR. (’38)—89, Kosciusko; retired electrical engineer for South Central Bell and World War II and Korean War veteran, Aug. 31, 2004. MATTHEW MANUEL MITCHELL (’38)— 88, Southaven; retired businessman and World War II veteran, Oct. 2, 2004. DONALD M. DOCKERY III (’40)—85, Ridgeland; partner in the Mississippi Bottled Water Co., retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve and World War II veteran, Sept. 7, 2004. ELMER W. GWIN (’41)—Lafayette, La.; manager for Pennsylvania Life Co., Aug. 16, 2004. JOHN HENRY MURPHY (’41)—85, Ridgeland; retired plant quarantine inspector for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and World War II veteran, Sept. 13, 2004. JOHN BRICE KERR JR. (’43)—80, Oxford; retired construction superintendent and World War II veteran, Jan. 11, 2004. CHARLES HARDING WELLS (’43)—81, Greenwood; retired draftsman for Bowman & Bowman and World War II veteran, Oct. 10, 2004. CLIFTON D. HUNTER (’47)—85, Agricola; retired from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, farmer and World War II and Korean War veteran. JOHN MCCALL NORSWORTHY (’48, M.S. ’52)—81, Hattiesburg; retired associate professor of special education at the University of Southern Mississippi, Oct. 29, 2004. RICHARD EDWIN CAMPBELL (’49)—81, Gloster; retired senior adjuster for General

Adjustment Bureau and World War II veteran, Oct. 2, 2004. WILLIAM HOWARD EAST (’49)—85, Brookhaven; retired engineer with McMullen and son, former pharmacy owner, and World War II veteran, Sept. 19, 2004. DOUGLAS S. GOFF (’49)—81, Lucedale; retired manager for Sperry Marine Systems and World War II veteran, Nov. 2, 2004. JULIUS JOHN HAYDEN JR. (’49, M.S. ’50)—84, Pass Christian; retired president of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and World War II veteran, Oct. 10, 2004. HARPER STEWART JOHNSON JR. (’49)— 78, Weatherford, Texas; retired salesman for Stauffer Chemical Co. and World War II veteran, Aug. 19, 2004. GEORGE FRANK OAKES (’49)—76, McComb; retired Pike County economic development professional and community volunteer. J. LARRY SHOOK (’49)—79, Keystone Heights, Fla.; retired prison system chaplain and World War II veteran, Sept. 24, 2004. MORRIS G. BLOCKER (’50)—80, Benoit; farmer and manager at Dahomey Plantation and World War II veteran, Dec. 11, 2004. WILLIAM G. MCKEITHEN (’50)—Garland, Texas; retired senior electrical engineer for Brown & Root Inc., Oct. 2, 2004. CAROLYN BYRD NYMAN (’50)—78, Lucedale; retired English teacher at George County High School, Oct. 6, 2004. JAMES LEWIS GARNER (’51)—78, Pascagoula; retired vocational teacher for the Pascagoula City School District and World War II veteran, Oct. 8, 2004. DANIEL MARSTON BONNEY (’52)— Quitman; retired owner of Standard Cotton Gin Co. and Quitman Bonded Warehouse and World War II veteran, Sept. 9, 2004. RICHARD A. LEWIS (’52)—67, Starkville; retired dairy farmer, former Oktibbeha County supervisor, and World War II veteran, Nov. 21, 2004. CHARLES WESLEY BOUCHILLON (’53)— 73, Starkville; retired Mississippi State mechanical engineering professor and Korean War veteran, Sept. 13, 2004.

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IN memorium ROBERT VERNON RILEY SR. (’53)—73, Newhebron; self-employed in the timber, cattle, and oil and gas businesses, Dec. 18, 2004. JOHNNIE SARTOR (’53, M.S. ’60, PH.D. ’74)—80, Starkville; retired head of the Agricultural Economics Department at Mississippi State, retired brigadier general in the Mississippi Army National Guard, and World War II veteran, Dec. 12, 2004. WILL HOYT OWEN JR. (’54, M.S. ’58)—72, Starkville; retired assistant professor of accounting at Mississippi State, Nov. 20, 2004. WILMER C. DAWS JR. (’55)—71, DeKalb; retired president of Kemper County Farm and Building Supply, Sept. 11, 2004. IRENE R. MAYFIELD (’55, PH.D. ’73)—89, Jackson; retired principal of McLeod Elementary School, Oct. 9, 2004. DAVID L. LANGFORD (’57)—69, Tupelo; retired travel editor for The Associated Press, Oct. 12, 2004. HUGH E. ADAMS (’58)—Southaven; retired field representative and agent for Mill Mutuals, Nov. 16, 2004. WENTON ROBERT WALKER (’59, M.S. ’62)—73, Ridgeland; retired president of Diversified Technology for Ergon Inc. and MSU Foundation board member, Nov. 28, 2004. ANDREW JOHN BOND SR. (’60, M.S. ’62)—73, Florence, Ala.; retired assistant director of placement at the University of Georgia and former dean of students at Mississippi State, Nov. 24, 2004. JAMES NEWTON CROWE (’60)—75, Kosciusko; CEO of Central Mississippi Office Supply and Korean War veteran, Oct. 13, 2004. CHARLES WALDEN (’64, ED.S. ’69)—66, Booneville; former state senator and businessman. GEORGE D. VAN DEVENDER II (’68)—59, Meridian; owner of Van Construction Co., Oct. 19, 2004. KENNETH F. WISSNER (’68)—58, Richmond Hill, Ga.; systems analyst for VerSIGN in Savannah, Ga., Oct. 22, 2004. 48

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ALFRED M. SEARS JR. (’71)—55, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; owner of Wyatt B. Hodges Properties, July 29, 2004. BRENDA DENSON MELOHN (’72)— 53, Brandon; associate vice chancellor for administrative affairs at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, Oct. 17, 2004. SUZY MARTIN HERNANDEZ (’73)— 52, Blum, Texas; teacher and basketball coach, Aug. 20, 2004. CHARLES B. GRIMM JR. (’78)— Dallas, Texas; golf course superintendent, Oct. 3, 2004. MARTHA MAGEE ROYALTY (’78)— 50, Madison; owner of Graphic Reproductions printing company, Sept. 16, 2004. KATHLEEN WILHITE MANSFIELD (’84)—Creve Coeur, Mo.; assistant city administrator.

WILLIAM DAVID HICKEY (’85)— 53, Cedar Park, Texas; electronic engineer for Motorola Semiconductor, Dec. 24, 2004. CHARLES R. BLOUNT (’89)—56, Madison; health administrator for state Department of Health, Oct. 13, 2004. HELEN WILKERSON SKELTON (’90)—61, Winterville; former high school and elementary librarian and English teacher at MSU, Sept. 11, 2004. LANCE ALLAN MONROE (’92)—34, Huntsville, Ala.; medical sales representative for Guidant Corp., Sept. 23, 2004. KEN SMITH (’98)—30, Terry; engineer for Milwaukee Electric Tools, Aug. 7, 2004. STEPHANIE RENEE JAMES (’02, M.S. ’04)—26, Starkville; mathematics teacher at Pickens (Ala.) High School, Oct. 22, 2004.

Fred Howard Bounds (attended)— 88, Lucedale; retired U.S. Army colonel and World War II and Vietnam War veteran, Sept. 29, 2004. Willis Terry Hinton Jr. (attended)— 69, Jackson; retired sales representative, Sept. 7, 2004. Joseph Samuel McNair (attended)—74, Magee; retired captain in the Mississippi Army National Guard, Sept. 5, 2004.

Department of History at Mississippi State and World War II veteran, Nov. 9, 2004. Ann E. Wiltrout (former employee)— Starkville; professor emerita of foreign languages at Mississippi State and the university’s 1998 Outstanding Humanist of the Year. Frances Rice Bartran Windham (former employee)—Starkville; retired human nutrition research scientist at Mississippi State, Oct. 6, 2004.

Timothy Pendleton McCullough Jr. (former employee)—93, Springfield, Va.; retired research physicist, former instructor of physics at Mississippi State, and World War II veteran, Nov. 19, 2004. William Franklin Miller (former employee)—72, Starkville; retired forestry professor and director of the Mississippi Remote Sensing Facility at Mississippi State, Nov. 5, 2004. Glover Moore (former employee)— 93, Birmingham, Ala.; retired history professor and former head of the

Daniel “Kirk” Fordice (friend)—70, Madison; former governor of Mississippi from 1992 to 2000, Sept. 7, 2004. Vadie Lorene LeCroy Gholston (friend)—83, Starkville; homemaker and gardener, Sept. 14, 2004. Hortense Pachter Leveck (friend)— 95, Pensacola, Fla.; former piano teacher, Sept. 5, 2004. Louie Glynn Wright (friend)—80, Quitman; former Quitman mayor, funeral director, and World War II veteran, Aug. 5, 2004.