Viewpoint

MSU weathers challenges, forges ahead with impact

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges for our university community and our world. In addressing the risks and uncertainty surrounding the disease, Mississippi State University leadership has made many difficult decisions, including delivering all coursework online or through other remote instruction for the remainder of the semester. By restructuring the spring graduation ceremony, MSU helps ensure the safety of all students, faculty, and staff. Although the graduation ceremonies for our 2020 graduates will be much different than initially planned, the significance of their accomplishments is no less deserving of such recognition. MSU is considering ways to honor these graduates. As we navigate this new, unfamiliar territory, I am grateful for the enduring spirit and cooperation of the MSU community.

In reflecting on past events of this new decade, I ponder on the meaning of the word "commencement." We typically associate the word with the end of a student's journey toward a degree, but the actual definition implies the beginning of something. Likewise, the official close of the semester will mark a momentous milestone in the lives of our spring graduates as they trade their role as "student" for that of "alumnus." The end of one path marks the beginning of another path.

This thought also brings to mind the impact of Jim and Jean Bagley, two Bulldog faithfuls that I am blessed to have considered dear friends. Like many, I was deeply saddened to learn of their passing earlier this year. I had the great opportunity to work closely with Jim and Jean for many years and learn why they chose to invest in the future of MSU and the students who would attend here. Jim possessed strong feelings that MSU provided him with the tools to embark on an amazingly successful career.

Aside from being very generous, Jim and Jean were very precise about their gifts and the longtime impact of those gifts. As a result, most of their gifts established endowments, and because of their strategic giving, their legacy lives on through the investments they poured into our campus. I am glad to know that future generations embarking on new chapters at MSU will benefit from Jim and Jean

Bagleys' dedication.

Like Jim and Jean, the generosity of every loyal benefactor has helped transform the trajectory of this institution over the years. It is a clear reminder of the new beginnings we all have the power to create. The soon-to-be alumni who will graduate in May are perhaps the most immediate outcome of such support. I look forward to seeing how their gratitude will be put into action, forging a new wave of benevolent patrons who believe in the future of Mississippi State.

Similarly, another commencement is approaching with the completion of Infinite Impact. It is truly outstanding to see all that has been accomplished throughout this ambitious endeavor, thanks to the strength and shared vision of the Bulldog family. Yet, as we continue on this journey toward the campaign close, I hope your commitment and passion remain steadfast because the impact is only just beginning.

Engineering a legacy

BAGLEYS LEAVE LASTING IMPACT

It’s been almost two decades since James and Jean Bagley positively altered the course of engineering education at Mississippi State University. Through careful planning, their monumental gift elevated the level of the engineering college’s prestige and gave it a mark of distinction as the James Worth Bagley College of Engineering. The transformational $25 million endowment further defined Jim’s legacy as an engineer, an entrepreneur, and a visionary. The gift also created a legacy for the Bagley family name that will withstand time.

Earlier this year, the MSU community joined the Bagley family in mourning the loss of the couple. Jean Bagley passed away February 6 at age 80; Jim Bagley died February 17 at age 81.

The Bagleys are former Jackson residents who met while attending Forest Hill High School. After marriage, they lived for many years in Los Altos, California, where Jim was longtime executive chairman of the board of Lam Research Corporation in nearby Fremont. Following retirement, the couple resided in Coppell, Texas.

Over their lifetime, they were devoted to their family of three children, their grandchildren, and the causes they held dear, including education on all levels. At Mississippi State, Jim’s university, the pair extended their generosity to an unprecedented level.

The Bagley investment was more than making the single largest gift in MSU history—$25 million. It was about financially supporting the college over time with a cornerstone commitment—advancing the competitiveness of the large academic unit nationwide. The James Worth Bagley College of Engineering became MSU’s first named academic college when the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) Board approved the naming upon its 100th anniversary as a formalized college.

“The Bagley impact is astounding. The endowment has fueled total engineering

enrollment growth by 88 percent, allowing the college to more than double the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded annually and swelling Ph.D. production by more than 500 percent,” said Jason Keith, Bagley College dean. “We are forever grateful for the generosity and steadfast involvement of the Bagleys.”

At the time of Jim’s initial involvement with MSU in the late ’90s-early 2000s, Wayne Bennett was engineering dean. He recalls the caliber of person the college hoped to find for a unique investment—eventually the charge led them to Jim, a member of the college’s advisory board who realized there was a need to philanthropically forge the lead with a collegewide endowment to

Jim Bagley was longtime executive chairman of the board of Lam Research Corporation in California.

generate earnings for strategic areas of growth.

“Jim Bagley addressed needs identified in the college’s strategic plan as critical for moving to the next level of excellence. His action of creating an endowment carried a double impact: It brought the enhanced recognition of a named college and the resources to accomplish major change,” said Bennett. “Jim and Jean will forever be remembered for their Maroon and White spirit of giving.”

In making his investment, Jim realized there was great potential for the university, the state, and the engineering industry. Jean, of course, was a pillar of support behind him once he outlined his plan, and he thought there was “real wisdom on her part to take a long-term view.”

Leaving a legacy at his alma mater struck a chord with Jim, who declared, “My interest was not so much in naming the school for the family or for me, but to see that it got done. The Bagley College will be part of my family history, and Jean said, ‘think about what this will mean to your children and grandchildren.’ Naming the college became more compelling than something else I could do.”

For the engineering students and faculty, the Bagley endowments reap rewards every day. Jim’s vision and generosity were instrumental in enabling future engineers to pursue topnotch undergraduate and graduate education at Mississippi State and strongly impact the engineering industry they will enter as graduates.

“It was a dream come true to help bring this endowment to our university,” said John P. Rush, a former engineering fundraiser and two-time alumnus who now serves as vice president for Development and Alumni and CEO of the MSU Foundation. “My life is forever changed by working with the Bagleys, who taught me about generosity and making giving bigger than recognition on a personal level.”

He continued, “The Bagleys are a wonderful example of how contributions heighten the impact of giving because an endowment creates substantial opportunity.”

Over time, the Bagleys significantly supported Mississippi State with nearly $36.4 million, including support for endowed chairs to attract high-caliber faculty, graduate fellowships to expand research activities, undergraduate scholarships for talented students, the Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District Partnership School at MSU, and resources for facility preservation and renovation. Jim

understood the importance of private support from serving multiple terms on the advisory boards of the Bagley College and the MSU Foundation and voluntarily helping guide the university’s successful capital campaigns.

An obligation to the state of Mississippi was important to Jim, who was a firm believer in hard work and perseverance. Growing up, he delivered newspapers and later worked at a gas station, but his boyhood dream of becoming an engineer brought him to Mississippi State. The first-generation college student attended with a student loan and through the co-op program, working for Mississippi Power and Light for two years and earning a scholarship from the company for his junior and senior years.

Upon completion of his bachelor’s in electrical engineering in 1961, Jim began his career with Texaco. Later, with a graduate assistantship at the now Paul B. Jacob High Voltage Laboratory, Jim returned to obtain a master’s degree from MSU in the same academic field in 1966.

After graduation, Jim joined Texas Instruments where he spent 16 years. Next, he was president, COO, and vice chairman of the board for Applied Materials Inc. He then steered OnTrak Systems Inc. and merged the company with Lam Research Corporation, where he advanced the nation’s semiconductor industry over four decades. Jim

Jim and Jean spent their later years living in Coppell, Texas.

retired as executive chairman of the board of Lam Research Corporation, a California-based leading supplier of wafer processing equipment and services.

Mississippi State acknowledged Jim multiple times for his achievements. For the engineering college, he was a 1991 Distinguished Engineering Fellow and 1994 Alumnus of the Year. In 2009, he was saluted as the university’s National Alumnus of the Year. In 2005, Jim was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science from MSU and gave the commencement speech.

At MSU, the Bagley impact will continue because Jim engineered his gift in a way to create a chain reaction. Because of his inspiring example, engineering education and research at the university is forever transformed and poised for the future.

Margaret Taylor and Evelyn Phillips

ALUMNA CONTINUES MOM’S TEACHING LEGACY WITH SCHOLARSHIP

As Margaret Dodd Taylor reflects on her life this Mother’s Day, she’ll find joy in knowing the scholarship she lovingly created as a memorial for her late mother will have its first recipient. The $100,000 endowment she established at Mississippi State University will enable her to bring scholarship opportunities to future generations of teachers in honor of her mother’s passion for education.

Doris Haddix Dodd was a first-generation college graduate and lifelong educator, influencing more than 700 students, ages 8-9, throughout her career. The MSU alumna was a third-grade teacher in Florida for 30 years, teaching at Oakland Heights Elementary School and Elliott Point Elementary School. She graduated from Mississippi State in 1957 with a degree in industrial education and later earned her teacher certification from the institution.

“When I think of my mother, I think of her as a thirdgrade mother to all those little lives she touched,” said Taylor. “I know over three decades she impacted many lives, and I’m grateful she was able to share her talents and her giving nature with others.”

The inaugural holder of the Doris Haddix Dodd Endowed Scholarship will be Evelyn Phillips of Louisville, a sophomore who will receive $4,000 for the coming academic year. Phillips’ major field of study is special education and following graduation she’ll teach at the K-12 level. Phillips loves to write, having interned with the Winston County Journal and now as a student employee for the MSU Office of Agricultural Communications. She’s

also a member of Reformed University Fellowship and the Association of Educators at Mississippi State.

“I am honored and thankful to be the first recipient of this scholarship because it gives me an extra reason to continue this physically and emotionally challenging career path. I find myself growing to love teaching and special education more every time I interact with the students at my practicum sites,” Phillips said. “I hope to continue Mrs. Dodd’s legacy not only by educating my future students and discovering more ways to help each one, but by caring for them in every way I know how and serving an important need in my community wherever I teach.”

Phillips anticipates the additional obstacles ahead of her in the classroom.

“A teacher’s job is not limited to making sure students know every piece of information in their textbooks. I want to demonstrate patience, respect, and a sense of understanding to each person that will walk into my classroom and inspire them to use all their abilities to succeed,” said Phillips, who also receives an Academic Excellence Scholarship and a federal Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant that commits her to teach in a high need field and low income area for four years.

Over time, the Doris Haddix Dodd Endowed Scholarship will assist more full-time students like Phillips during their junior and senior years of majoring in elementary or special education with demonstrated financial need and a minimum 3.0 GPA. Preference will be given to students in the College of Education from Winston or Monroe counties in Mississippi.

Taylor understands the importance of scholarships firsthand, having received the E.B. and Ines McCool Scholarship as she followed her mother’s footsteps at MSU. She graduated with three degrees from the land-grant

institution—a 1982 Bachelor of Science in Special Education, a 1983 Master of Science in Education, and a 1985 Education Specialist. She taught for several years before home schooling her children.

She and her husband William A. “Lex” Taylor III, a 1977 Bulldog general business administration graduate, met while she was attending Mississippi State. He is chairman and CEO of the Taylor Group Inc. and president of Taylor Machine Works Inc. They reside in Louisville with their three children—daughters

Alexis and Bailey, and son Alex, a freshman studying business at

Mississippi State.

Taylor affectionately recalls how her mother always encouraged others, including the way she lovingly showered her children and grandchildren with wonderful books.

“Our home libraries began with childhood books she gave me and my brother Wesley and then her grandchildren. She would always write the date and a note on the inside cover in the perfect cursive penmanship she taught to her students,” said Taylor.

Over her life, Taylor has passed along that devotion to education, particularly to her daughter Bailey. “Bailey has now joined Grace Christian School in Louisville, becoming the third generation of Dodd family women to become teachers, and I have tremendous pride in that,” Taylor said.

Taylor also has a compelling desire to assist students in her area. She substitutes as a teacher locally, and she volunteers with the Mississippi Scholars, an initiative managed by the Public Education Forum of Mississippi, an affiliate of the Mississippi Economic Council, and often arranges and accompanies prospective students on MSU visits. She also serves on the MSU College of Education Advisory Board.

“To me, teaching is a vocation, a calling to serve that

The Dodd family: Albert, Doris, Wesley and Margaret—all MSU graduates

Dodd with her parents

Dodd (back, left) poses with her third grade class at Oakland Heights Elementary in Florida.

remains with you throughout your life. A teacher must have a servant’s heart. I know sometimes looking at the whole village is overwhelming; however, touching one life and making a positive difference is key, and I try to do my part in my community, having learned that from my mother,” Taylor said.

Born in the Louisiana town of Shreveport, Dodd grew up in Aberdeen, Mississippi. She graduated from Aberdeen High School and married Albert W. Dodd, an MSU 1958 electrical engineering graduate, also from Aberdeen. After college, the couple briefly lived in Mobile, Alabama, where Albert worked for Brookley Air Force Base. They later settled in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, and Albert enjoyed a long career with Eglin Air Force Base.

A great emphasis on education was always present in the Dodd family home. Along with teaching in the local school district, Dodd was a longtime second-grade teacher for both Sunday School and Vacation Bible School at her local church.

“Growing up, I remember Mama’s students riding their bikes to our house to give her a picture they had drawn or a small trinket. She clearly was loved,” said Taylor. “However, if you were a student with inappropriate behavior you had met your match with Mrs. Dodd because she was a very determined teacher who expected the best effort of every individual.”

Taylor vividly recalls staying after school to help her mother. “I literally grew up in a third-grade classroom. When I was in elementary school, I spent afternoons in her room cutting out letters for bulletin boards, cleaning chalk boards, shelving books, and straightening the room because she stayed after school an hour or two every day. Many, many days during summer break, Wesley and I were at school preparing the classroom while Mama worked on lesson plans,” Taylor said.

In her later years, Dodd returned to Mississippi since Wesley, also an MSU alumnus, and his family reside in Madison. She died in 2017, and her husband preceded her a decade earlier.

“I’m very happy to remember Mama by setting an example that scholarships enable MSU to produce great teachers who will be exceptionally prepared to lead their classrooms and inspire their future students,” said Taylor. “I know my mother would have been proud to have her name perpetually associated with her vocation, and I know my father would be proud that she is forever connected to our university. The Dodd family legacy will always be a part of teaching through the MSU endowment.”

STORY AMY CAGLE PHOTOGRAPHY/DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED