Ole Miss Alumni Review - Winter 2019

OLE MISS ALUMNI REVIEW

WINTER 2019

ALUMNI REVIEW

Engineering the Future ALUMNA WORKS ON THE FOREFRONT OF SUSTAINABLE ENERGY SOLUTIONS AT TESLA

WINTER 2019 VOL. 68 NO. 1

Mixed-reality teaching experience delivers real advantage for education majors

Alumna turns to UMMC for liver transplant

CHILDREN’S OF MISSISSIPPI

IS REACHING NEW HEIGHTS. Every child deserves the chance to grow up strong and healthy, so we’ve launched a landmark project to expand and modernize the state’s only children’s hospital and our pediatric specialty clinics. Offering state-ofthe-art technology, kid-friendly design, and all under one roof, this expansion will help us reach our goal of growing a healthier future for Mississippi.

HELP US GROW

SO THEY CAN GROW.

Give today at growchildrens.org

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©2019 UMMC. All rights reserved.

Architectural rendering of the new Children’s building

1/29/19 1:02 PM

Features ALUMNI REVIEW

22 Engineering the Future

Alumna works on the forefront of sustainable energy solutions at Tesla

BY ANNIE RHOADES

28 A New View on Teaching

Mixed-reality teaching experience delivers real advantage for education majors

BY SARA MCALISTER

34 Worth the Wait

Alumna turns to UMMC for liver transplant

BY RUTH CUMMINS

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Contents VOL. 68 NO. 1

Departments

2 Chancellor’s Letter

WINTER 2019

ON THE COVER

4 President’s Letter 6 From the Circle

18 Calendar

40 Ole Miss Sports

Soccer’s Kizer selected by Houston Dash Caracci tabbed as preseason All-American

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46 Just Published

48 Rebel Traveler 52 Alumni News

Nicole Cook at the Tesla facility in Fremont, California Photo courtesy of Nicole Cook

O le M iss A lumni R ev iew Publisher Kirk Purdom (93) Editor Jim Urbanek II (97) jim@olemiss.edu Associate Editor and Advertising Director Annie Rhoades (07, 09) annie@olemiss.edu Editorial Assistant Bethany Fitts Contributing Editor Benita Whitehorn Art Director Amy Howell Contributors Kevin Bain (98), Stella Connell, Jules Cook, Marlee Crawford (18), Ruth Cummins (82), Jay Ferchaud, Thomas Graning (17), Robert Jordan (83, 90), Sara McAlister, Joshua McCoy, Andrew Nail (09, 11), Michael Newsom (05), Kendall Patterson, Sarah Sapp (04, 09), Pamela Starling (03), Christina Steube (11, 16), Caroline Stewart, Shea Stewart (00), Cynthia Wall, Megan Wolfe, Joe Worthem (01) Officers of the University of Mississippi Alumni Association Augustus L. Collins (82) president Matt Lusco (79) president-elect Lampkin Butts (73) vice president Candie Simmons (02, 15) athletics committee member Andy Kilpatrick (74) athletics committee member Alumni Affairs Staff, Oxford Kirk Purdom (93), executive director Joseph Baumbaugh, systems analyst III Allie Bush, graphic web designer Clay Cavett (86), associate director, campaigns and special projects Anne Cofer (07, 08), accountant Martha Dollarhide, systems programmer II Sunny Eicholtz (09, 11), coordinator of student engagement Annette Kelly (79), accountant Brian Maxcy (00), assistant director Steve Mullen (92), assistant director for marketing Annie Rhoades (07, 09), assistant director for communications Anna Smith (05), assistant director Scott Thompson (97, 08), associate director, engagement Jim Urbanek (97), associate director, communications and marketing Torie Marion White (07), assistant director Rusty Woods (01), associate director for information services Warner Alford (60, 66), executive director emeritus The Ole Miss Alumni Review (USPS 561-870) is published quarterly by the Ole Miss Alumni Association and the Office of Alumni Affairs.

Alumni Association offices are located at Triplett Alumni Center, 651 Grove Loop, University, MS 38677.

Telephone 662-915-7375.

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ALUMNI REVIEW

C hancellor from the

Dear Alumni and Friends,

It’s an honor to write to you as interim chancellor of Ole Miss, a place that I love. As an Oxford native, graduate of our nationally ranked Patterson School of Accountancy and UM administrator for more than two decades, this university has played a central role at all stages of my life. In fact, my Ole Miss degree laid the foundation for the opportunities and successes that brought me full circle to lead my alma mater as interim chancellor. It’s a great responsibility, and I will do my best to serve as an effective steward and facilitate a smooth transition period until we welcome our next chancellor.

First and foremost, we remain committed to our mission to provide access to a worldclass education to qualified Mississippi students while continuing to build our national profile and attract a geographically diverse student body. This commitment starts with our efforts to attract the best students as the next generation of Ole Miss Rebels.

Today’s students are in the early wave of Generation Z, born in the mid-1990s to 2010 and quite a bit different from your generation and mine! Our Office of Admissions is working diligently to reach this audience in new and more creative ways. Over the last few months, the admissions staff has worked with leaders across our campus to cast a wider net for potential applicants and build campaigns designed to increase the percentage of applicants who ultimately enroll at Ole Miss.

Of course, you — our alumni and friends — are some of our best and most enthusiastic recruiters. You are in the best position to share with prospective students in your family and your community how special this place is and the many ways it can help them build a bright future. We recently launched olemiss.edu/alumnivip where you can recommend a prospective student, so we can share Ole Miss with him or her.

Another important part of the university’s mission is how we improve the quality of life in Mississippi and beyond. We recently commissioned a study by a nationally recognized economic consulting firm to measure the economic impacts and benefits that the university generates for Mississippi. The study revealed that the university added $2.9 billion to the Mississippi economy during the analysis year 2016-17. It also showed that students enrolled in 2016-17 will generate $1.8 billion in higher future earnings over their working lives as a result of their UM education and training.

Our alumni also contribute mightily to our impact: UM alumni generated more than $900 million in added income for the state economy, which is equivalent to supporting almost 15,000 jobs. Although we know the university has a great impact on the state, it’s nice to put a concrete number to it.

I love this university and all that it offers. Every day on our campuses, we are educating our future workforce, leading the way for innovation and opportunities, and fostering ties to Mississippi that last a lifetime. I’m excited about our future and can’t wait to see what great things are in store for the coming year.

Hotty Toddy!

Larry D. Sparks Interim Chancellor

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President from the

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ALUMNI REVIEW

Over the past three months, I have received many calls, emails or text messages from members of the Ole Miss family thanking me for serving in this capacity. Well, no thanks are necessary. I consider serving as your president an honor and a privilege. When I consider the amount of talent we have on our alumni staff and the alumni board, I am convinced that the sky is the limit as to how far we can take this association.

That makes my job easy.

As I write this letter, our men’s basketball team is gaining national attention. Coach Kermit Davis has infused a degree of hope into the fan base.

A sold-out Pavilion has become commonplace for home games, which makes for a great game-day experience for players and also paints a great portrait for potential recruits. That gives me hope that our basketball program is on the rise. Let’s continue to support the team and make Oxford the place where opposing teams dread to play.

Since my last letter, Coach Matt Luke has added coaches Mike MacIntyre and Rich Rodriguez as defensive coordinator and offensive coordinator, respectively. They are quality finds for our football program with impressive resumes. Although the program lost some outstanding players to graduation and the NFL draft, we return a number of seasoned players and will add to that what could be a top 20 recruiting class.

Now, with Interim Chancellor Larry Sparks firmly in the saddle, it is easy to see why he was selected for this position. He has hit the ground running by establishing expectations for himself and the university and is committed to advancing the interests of the students, faculty and staff. Having served as vice chancellor for administration and finance, he brings a wealth of knowledge about the business of the university. Let’s support him as he leads our flagship university.

We continue to work hard to reach our goal of 30,000 members in our alumni association. I have formed a subcommittee, headed by Johnny Maloney, to develop programs where we can assist our graduates gain employment once they graduate and to increase our membership.

We are also looking at a possible renovation of the original section of The Inn at Ole Miss. Stephen Johnston will chair a subcommittee to explore how we move forward with that project, as well as how we implement the new authorization to serve alcohol on the property and the possible renovation of the McCormick Café.

This year’s BancorpSouth Rebel Road Trip is scheduled for April 14-19, beginning in Atlanta. Events are scheduled for Chattanooga, Nashville and Booneville on April 15. We will stop in Hattiesburg and Ocean Springs on April 16. Louisville (Mississippi) and Tupelo will be held on April 17, followed by stops in Houston (Texas) and Clarksdale on April 18. We will conclude with a breakfast in Oxford on April 19.

Washington, D.C., Jackson (Mississippi) and Memphis stops will be held this summer. Mark your calendars, and make your plans to attend.

There are so many great, grand and glorious things going on at Ole Miss. I am excited. So, why am I excited? Because I believe in our students! I believe in our alumni! I believe in Ole Miss!

Fins Up!

Augustus L. (Leon) Collins (BBA 82)

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Circle from the

THE L ATES T ON OLE MISS S TUDENTS, FACULT Y, S TAFF AND FRIENDS

Politics as Unusual

NEW BARBOUR CENTER FOCUSES ON BIPARTISAN POLITICS

T Photo by Kevin Bain

he University of Mississippi soon will be home to a bipartisan center named after alumnus Haley Barbour (JD 73), a major architect of national politics who served two terms as governor of Mississippi. The Haley Barbour Center for the Study of American Politics will be part of the Department of Political Science. The center focuses on the study of American campaigns and elections, and its first class was taught in the winter term.

Barbour says he is honored to have a second center at his alma mater named after him, in addition to the Haley Barbour Center for Manufacturing Excellence. The Center for the Study of American Politics will be designed to attract students

“There will be campaign managers, but also a lot of physicians, lawyers, nurses and accountants who will understand the importance of government and become hard and effective workers for good government.”

The Barbour Center will draw from the faculty of the Department of Political Science, College of Liberal Arts and the rest of the university, as well as connections to those working in politics. The goal is to eventually have a dedicated space on campus, and the IHL board has approved the university’s plan to create a department chair for the center.

The Barbour Center’s mission will be two-pronged. The first focus will be academic, including an endowed chair and a series of courses to advance students’ knowledge and interest in campaigns and elections. A second focus will be on outreach, including bringing high-profile speakers to campus as well as hosting national conferences and summer outreach programming. The center will also provide some funding for graduate students.

The Department of Political Science has seen an increase in majors, which is counter to national trends where majors in this field are on the decline, says Lee Cohen, dean of the College of Liberal Arts. He believes the addition of this center will lead to even more interest.

“The current climate of American politics suggests the need for young people to engage in the elecThe university soon will be home to the Haley Barbour Center for the Study of American Politics, tion process and be prepared for which is named after the former governor (third from right). the reasoned, respectful political who will enter many fields and will provide opportunities to debate that supports a healthy democracy,” Cohen says. learn about American politics and civic responsibility through “The University of Mississippi is already producing these classes, work with advocacy groups and internships, he says. kinds of engaged, knowledgeable citizens, and the addition of “We don’t think that everyone who comes out of the the Haley Barbour Center for the Study of American Politics Haley Barbour Center for the Study of American Politics will will provide more unique, focused experiences and courses of become a congressman, or even an alderman,” Barbour says. study to take this training to the next level.”

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from the Circle

Croft Scholarships Awarded SCHOLARS RECEIVE $4,000 PER SEMESTER TO FURTHER STUDIES

PHI BETA KAPPA RECEIVES ‘OUTSTANDING’ RECOGNITION

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he University of Mississippi chapter of Phi Beta Kappa honor society has been recognized as one of two outstanding chapters nationwide administered at a public university.

A Certificate of Recognition is given to just six “outstanding chapters” nationally every three years: two public universities, two private universities and two liberal arts colleges. Only 10 percent of U.S. colleges and universities shelter PBK chapters.

Officers of the UM chapter attribute the award to high levels of faculty participation, as well as a strong website.

“Receiving this certificate, being honored as an outstanding chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, really shows how great a job our chapter is doing,” says Luanne Buchanan, instructional associate professor of Spanish who serves as the chapter’s secretary and treasurer.

“One thing we have is a really committed group of faculty. Our faculty involvement in the chapter, I think, is very high compared to other universities.”

Sandra Spiroff, associate professor of mathematics who serves as the chapter’s president, echoed Buchanan’s statement.

“The diligence of former President William Schenck and Secretary-Treasurer Luanne Buchanan in identifying and following up on students who qualify for membership has given us one of the highest acceptance rates among chapters nationally,” Spiroff says.

Phi Beta Kappa, the country’s oldest undergraduate honors organization, was founded in 1776 at the College of William and Mary in Virginia. Since 2001, Ole Miss has been home to the organization’s Beta of Mississippi chapter.

Students cannot apply for membership; instead, they are identified by faculty for nomination based on their outstanding academic records in liberal arts classes.

“It helps that we’ve received tremendous support from the chancellor’s office and the College of Liberal Arts,” Buchanan says. “It’s an indication of the value that the university places on academics.”

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Photo by Joe Worthem

ight students at the University of Mississippi’s Croft Insti- until their sophomore year.” tute for International Studies are recipients of the 2018 Of more than 217 applicants to the Croft Institute this distinguished Croft Scholarships. year, 128 were admitted, and from that pool, the admissions The prestigious scholarships pay up to $32,000 over four committee selected 29 prospective students to interview for years, and the funds can be combined with other scholarships. Croft Scholars retain the funds as long as they stay in the international studies major and maintain a 3.4 grade-point average both in the major and overall.

The eight students are Jess Cooley, Ava Cooper, Olivia Jaramillo, Emma Lane, David McDonald, Reed Peets, Delaney Smith and Akshaya Vijayasankar.

For their international studies major, Croft students typically select a regional concentration from among East Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, and a related foreign language before their first semester in the program. Students later select a thematic concentration from among global economics and business, global health, international gov- The 2018 UM Croft Scholars are (front, from left) David McDonald, Emma Lane, ernance and politics, and social and cultural Akshaya Vijayasankar and Delaney Smith, and (back) Jess Cooley, Olivia Jaramillo, identity.

Reed Peets and Ava Cooper.

“We are very excited about this group of Croft Scholars,” says Oliver Dinius, Croft executive director. the scholarships. They answered follow-up questions about “Their chosen foreign languages represent all of Croft’s four their application essays and questions about current affairs, regions, and they have already expressed broad thematic inter- their intellectual interests and their motivations for pursuing a ests, although they will not have to declare that concentration bachelor’s degree in international studies.

from the Circle

UM STUDENT AWARDED NASA GRANT FOR CONFERENCE IN BIG APPLE

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rawford Moore (BA 17) is not only studying law to make a difference in his home state and country, but also the world — and beyond.

The second-year student at the University of Mississippi School of Law earned a NASA Space Law Network grant to attend the International Law Weekend conference and learn from the world’s leading practitioners and legal educators about the importance of Crawford Moore international law.

Moore, a Meridian native, earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from

Ole Miss. He is pursuing a concentration in remote sensing, air and space law, which is a large part of the discussion pertaining to international legal issues.

The conference was held Oct. 18-20 in New York City and hosted by the American branch of the International Law Association. Moore was among 16 students selected for the grant, which covered the cost of travel and allowed him to attend special career sessions.

“With growing technological developments in outer space capabilities, many

countries are having to change and update their domestic laws or even create new ones altogether,” Moore says. “Many companies are restricted in what they do with these technologies because of existing legal barriers.

“I’d like to eventually work on the government side of the issue to help streamline the launch and registration process so that it can be done more easily, but in a regulated way.”

Charles Stotler and Michelle Hanlon, UM law instructors and associate directors of the air and space law program, encouraged Moore to pursue more opportunities in this rapidly evolving legal sector.

“No matter what discipline our law students choose to focus on, this next generation of lawyers will work against the backdrop of an international regime,” Hanlon says.

Minority Representation Advocate ASSOCIATE LAW DEAN HONORED WITH DIVERSITY AWARD

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andra C ox-McC ar ty, ass o ciate dean for administration and diversity initiatives in the University of Mississippi School of Law, has been honored nationally for her equality and diversity initiatives in legal education.

Cox-McCarty is among 30 individual recipients of Education, Diversity and Greater Equality, or EDGE, awards by the Council of Legal Education Opportunity. She got involved with the organization as a law student at Mississippi College and has served as a teaching assistant during CLEO’s pre-law institute at the University of Tennessee.

Her involvement and passion for the organization, which aims to increase minority representation in the field of law, led to her bringing the pre-law summer institute to the Ole Miss law school. During the four years it was held 8

ALUMNI REVIEW

on campus, 2012-15, nearly 200 students participated.

“It’s an honor being selected for the CLEO EDGE award,” Cox-McCarty says. “I was just one of the many people behind hosting the program at the School of Law, and it was certainly a collaborative effort.”

The summer institute prepares students for law school by offering professional activities, extracurricular activities, exams and law classes to help smooth the transition and manage issues of anxiety surrounding law school.

CLEO’s mission is to champion education, diversity and greater equality in the legal profession. The organization, founded in 1968, has implemented prelaw programs for prospective students, mentorships, placement assistance, academic support, scholarships and bar exam preparation, among other initiatives.

Sandra Cox-McCarty

from the Circle

A Heart for Helping Others NEW YORK ATTORNEY HONORED FOR MENTORING UM STUDENTS

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undergraduate interns, and he has been actively involved with the program ever since.”

Burke graduated from City College of New York with his bachelor’s degree in 1963. Having never actually set foot in the South before arriving in Oxford, he credits his father with encouraging him to apply to law school. Everything going on at the university during that time had piqued his curiosity, he says.

“I guess you could say James Meredith and my desire to help people played a part in the allure of Ole Miss for me,” Burke says.

Being from a different part of the country, he felt a little out of place at Ole Miss but quickly made friends with international graduate students who had come to the school to complete advanced degrees.

“I took to a group of students from India who became my lifelong friends,” Burke says. “It was the happiest two-anda-half years of my life. I met a number of great people.”

After he graduated from law school and returned to New York, some of his friends from Ole Miss contacted him to inquire about his knowledge of immigration laws.

“There was no such thing as immigration law back then,” Burke recalls. “My friends assumed that since I had graduated law school, I must be knowledgeable about those laws.”

Forty years later, the law firm of Burke, Burke and Burke consists of four attorneys and five legal assistants who have helped thousands of clients from all over the world obtain their permanent residence and U.S. citizenship.

“I feel that my whole practice fell into place because of the people I met at Ole Miss,” Burke says. “I have always felt a Laura Antonow (right), director of the UM Internship Experience Program, presents New York debt of gratitude to the university for my attorney Richard Burke with a plaque honoring him as the program’s inaugural Outstanding Partner. Burke, a 1966 graduate of the UM School of Law, has provided internship opportunities positive experiences there.”

An avid world traveler, Burke has for Ole Miss undergraduate students over the past 10 years. journeyed to 216 countries, with the goal “He has been an amazing mentor for UM students and of visiting every country in the world. a continuous supporter of the opportunities this program “There is no substitute for getting to know people from provides,” says Laura Antonow, director of the Internship other cultures and different parts of the world,” he says. “I like Experience Program. “He was one of the first in the tri- the idea that the students in my office learn how to work with state New York City area that was on board for accepting a variety of people from all walks of life.”

Submitted photo

ince his graduation from the University of Mississippi School of Law, Richard A. Burke (JD 66) has had a heart for helping others achieve the American dream.

Recently, Burke was honored with the inaugural Outstanding Partner Award from the UM Internship Experience Program, reflecting his dedication to providing meaningful career experiences for numerous Ole Miss undergraduate students over the past 10 years.

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from the Circle

APPLIED SCIENCES NAMES NEW DEAN eter W. Grandjean has been named the new dean of the School of Applied Sciences at the University of Mississippi.

Grandjean comes to UM from Baylor University, where he served as associate dean for research collaboration and graduate studies, director of the university’s Division of Health Professions, and as a professor in the Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation in the Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences.

A nationally recognized professor and researcher, Grandjean has more than 30 years of experience in education, beginning as a high school biology teacher in New Braunfels, Texas, in 1986.

Grandjean, who assumed his Ole Miss role Jan. 3, takes the spot of Teresa Carr Carithers, who served as the school’s interim dean since July 2017.

“Dr. Carithers and her leadership team have done a remarkable job in establishing the school’s firm foundation, growth and

trajectory,” he says. “I look forward to building on the great work already going on within the school by fostering an environment where interdisciplinary teams can serve and research together to address major challenges that exist in our world today.”

Established in 2001, the School of Applied Sciences includes the departments of Communication Sciences and Disorders; Health, Exercise Science and Recreation Management; Legal Studies; Nutrition and Hospitality Management; and Social Work, along with an interprofessional degree program for applied gerontology, the Institute of Child Nutrition and the Jackson Heart Study Vanguard Center at Oxford.

As dean of applied sciences, Grandjean will oversee one of the fastest-growing schools on campus. The school, which seeks to improve the lives and conditions of people and communities across Mississippi and the region, also has a growing research imprint at UM, with more than $8.4 million in

Peter W. Grandjean

external funding received in fiscal year 2018.

Carithers will return to the School of Applied Sciences faculty as a professor of nutrition and hospitality management and program director of applied gerontology.

Army ROTC Celebrates Centennial STORIED PROGRAM CONTINUES TO PREPARE FUTURE LEADERS

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his year marks the 100th anniversary of the University of Mississippi’s Student Army Training Corps, which was formed while the nation was preparing future officers who would become part of the more than 2 million U.S. soldiers who fought in World War I. The group is now called the Ole Miss Army ROTC, and its alumni have fought and died in every U.S. war since it was founded.

Sarah Gunnells, a senior paralegal studies major from Tupelo, is a member of the Mississippi Army National Guard.

In December, she received her Army commission as a medical service aviation officer, and after she graduates in June she will enter flight school to fly Blackhawk and Lakota helicopters.

She minors in military studies, as do all members of the ROTC, and is also minoring in music. She’s a violinist with 10

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the LOU Symphony Orchestra.

“We have a lot of opportunities to train with different kinds of cadre members because we are expected to do a lot of different jobs within the Army,” she says. “There’s also the camaraderie of being a student and also in the Army that is so beneficial to morale.”

Training for the ROTC has evolved a lot over the last century to meet the demands of each era of warfare, says U.S. Army Sgt. First Class Anthony Douglas, UM program coordinator for military science and leadership.

Most recently, cadets were being trained to interact with key leaders of villages in the Middle East until about two years ago. The approach since has shifted to be focused on ground operations in wide-open areas, such as the terrain of Afghanistan.

The cadets use Mississippi National

Guard installations for training exercise, including Camp Shelby near Hattiesburg and Camp McCain near Grenada. Once per semester, they attend joint exercises with other universities in Mississippi and neighboring states.

Though the mission often changes, the end goal hasn’t changed much over the last 100 years, Douglas says. It comes down to how the future officers can lead troops when they do lab exercises each Thursday afternoon.

“At the end of the lab when people get hot, tired and not wanting to be there, that’s when the leadership really comes out,” Douglas says. “It’s not so much the competency part, but leading and getting people to do what you need them to do, keeping them engaged and learning to deal with that frustration from subordinates. That part has never changed.”

from the Circle

Awesome Oration

APPLIED SCIENCES STUDENTS TAKE TOP TWO AWARDS IN THREE MINUTES

Photos by Megan Wolfe

atthew Frakes, of Columbus, Ohio, and Prabhdeep Sandha, of Jalandhar City, Punjab, India, won first and second place in the doctoral category in the recent Three Minute Thesis Competition sponsored by the University of Mississippi Graduate School.

This annual competition asks graduate students to present a compelling oration on their research thesis topic and its

to the findings on sports-related concussion recovery, and the impact overall energy intake has on return to baseline recovery time.”

Sandha’s thesis also examined nutrition, but her research interest is in food security.

“One in eight Americans, or 40 million Americans, experience some form of food insecurity in a 12-month period,” says Sandha, also a doctoral student in nutrition and hospitality management.

“My research examined the impact of produce intervention on produce intake and behaviors of parents/caretakers of elementary school students in an economically distressed, highly food insecure, rural Appalachian Mississippi region.”

Three schools participated in the study; two were control schools and one was the intervention school. A six-week intervention was implemented with three important parts: cafeteria tasting station twice a week, nutrition education, and provision of take-home materials and gadgets.

Sandha and her research partners found the perceived willing-

Matthew Frakes delivers his winning presentation on nutrition intervention in concussion treatment at the 3MT Competition.

significance in just three minutes. They are allowed to use one PowerPoint slide.

“My 3MT topic was looking at a nutrition intervention at the time of concussion diagnosis or suspicion of a sports-related concussion throughout the athlete’s concussion protocol until the athlete returns to baseline measurements,” says Frakes, a doctoral student studying sports nutrition in the Department of Nutrition and Hospitality Management.

Frakes says the nutrition intervention helps support overall energy and nutrient intake that Prabhdeep Sandha takes second place in the doctoral category in the 3MT Competition. is potentially diverged due to an athlete’s loss of appetite or nausea symptoms experienced in a concussion. ness to try new fruits and vegetables was significantly higher in “I am also observing athlete symptomology and assessing the intervention group parents, compared to the control group. total calorie intake and overall dietary intake, where these “With this project, we were able to transform the houseobservations and recordings may be related to the return hold food environment to make it more likely that the family to baseline measurements from pre- and post-concussion members have an adequate amount and access to healthy assessments,” he says. “The goal of my study is to contribute foods,” Sandha says.

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from the Circle

New Network

BUSINESS CONNECT LINKS STUDENTS WITH ALUMNI FOR EMPLOYMENT

T Photo by Andrew Nail

Officers for the 2018-19 MBA class at UM ALUMNI REVIEW

Chip Crunk (left) of R.J. Young, incoming president of the business school advisory board; Ken Cyree, business school dean; and Melanie Dowell of Morgan Stanley chat at the Jackson reception.

The participating organizations included C Spire, Trustmark Bank, Butler Snow LLP, University of Mississippi Medical Center, St. Dominic Health Services, Baptist Memorial Health Care Corp., Regions Bank, Sysco, Ergon, Morgan Stanley, Raymond James, Irby, the Molpus Group and BancorpSouth.

RANKS UM PROGRAM NO. 37 AMONG PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES

he University of Mississippi’s Master of Business Administration program was named as one of the nation’s best by Bloomberg . The rankings place Ole Miss at No. 37 among American public universities. For the 2018 edition,

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Photo by Caroline Stewart

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athering leaders from some of the state’s largest businesses for a high-powered reception in Jackson, the University of Mississippi School of Business Administration kicked off a new networking program to connect students with alumni for employment.

The Business Connect program, founded in 2018, seeks to determine the hiring/talent acquisition goals of employers and match them with the school’s “business-ready” students and graduates for placement with permanent career and internship opportunities.

The program officially kicked off Nov. 8 at a reception at the Jackson Yacht Club. The purpose of the gathering was to bring industry leaders and university advocates together to learn about how the program can benefit their organizations with hiring top talent. Some 60 attendees representing 25 companies came to learn about the program’s goals and to connect with one another.

“We were pleased with the response and the turnout for the event,” says Melanie Dowell (BPA 80), president of the school’s advisory board. “We were also particularly impressed by the number of businesses expressing a desire to learn more about the Business Connect program and hire our graduates.”

Bloomberg ranked MBA programs using four categories: Compensation, Learning, Networking and Entrepreneurship.

“We are excited about the success we have enjoyed in our MBA program, and the reflection of the quality of our program as indicated in these rankings,” says Ken Cyree, dean of the School of Business Administration. “These rankings are an indication of the dedicated faculty and staff who make the program successful, and our alumni who add depth with personal development programs for our students.

“We are especially proud of being ranked No. 28 in the area of entrepreneurship, as this is an up-and-coming part of the business school that has existed for less than a decade.”

All schools surveyed were required to submit employment data for the Class of 2017 following standards set by MBA Career Services and Employer Alliance, a trade group founded in 1994 to establish and collect consistent, comparable, peer-reviewed data.

Bloomberg surveyed 26,699 MBA students, alumni and recruiters in 2018 about their goals and experiences. These rankings are based on their responses, as well as compensation and job placement data from each school.

Coming in at No. 71 overall, UM ranked ahead of Auburn, at No. 75; Syracuse, No. 77; Missouri, No. 82; and University of South Carolina, No. 86.

from the Circle

UM’S 26TH RHODES SCHOLAR MAKES HISTORY

J

az Brisack is the University of Mississippi’s 26th Rhodes Scholar, and the first woman in the university’s history to be selected to the elite international academic program.

Brisack, a senior general studies major, is the 2018 Truman Scholar for Mississippi and has a long history as a champion for human, civil and labor rights in Mississippi.

She is president of the College Democrats and a frequent contributor to The Daily Mississippian.

She worked as a teacher-adviser for the Sunflower Freedom Project in 2016 and as a labor organizer with the United Auto Workers on the Nissan campaign. She also helps defend the Jackson Women’s Health Organization, known as the “Pink House,”

Mississippi’s sole abortion clinic.

She was selected after interviews with officials from the Rhodes Trust, held Nov. 16-17, in Birmingham, Alabama.

“I guess this is one small step toward smashing the patriarchy,” Brisack says. “But I think it’s especially important to use this platform to call attention to the way the Jaz Brisack glass ceiling is easier for some women to break through than others.”

The Rhodes Scholarships, which were created in 1902, bring outstanding students

from many countries to the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.

Besides “intellectual distinction,” the selection committee seeks excellence in qualities of mind and of person, which combined offer the promise of effective service to the world in the decades ahead.

Rhodes Scholars receive tuition, travel, room and board, and a stipend for two years of study at Oxford University, with the possibility of being renewed for a third year.

Unified Experience

SPECIAL OLYMPICS TEAM RANKED AMONG TOP 30 IN NATION

T Photo by Kendall Patterson

he University of Mississippi’s Special Olympics College Unified Sports team competed and was recognized on the national level this past summer, providing another example of the positive impact made on the lives of Special Olympics athletes.

The UM Special Olympics Unified

Program, which includes middle schools, high schools and colleges.

Special Olympics College at Ole Miss is one of the highlights for the club’s president, Trey Skocy, who has been involved in Special Olympics since he was in sixth grade. His parents were active in the program when he was a child, but Ole Miss brought his experience to a whole new level.

“Growing up, it was more like being a volunteer,” Skocy says. “I never heard about a ‘unified experience’ until I came here.

“B eing at home is to be there to cheer on the athletes and to coach them. In coming here, you actually get to participate in ‘unified,’ which, I think, is more rewarding. Being a part of the team is something you just can’t create. You can’t just The UM Special Olympics College Unified Sports team, ranked among the nation’s top 30 teams by ESPN, make it up.” takes a group photo before kickoff of its first Unified Flag Football game of the fall season.

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ALUMNI REVIEW

Football team won the bronze medal at the Special Olympics USA Games, held July 2-6, 2018, in Seattle.

Additionally, ESPN ranked the university’s club among the nation’s top 30 schools in the ESPN 2018 Honor Roll as part of its Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools National Recognition

from the Circle

A Real Page Turner

GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE NAMES UM LIBRARY BEST IN THE NATION

T

“It serves as an example of the critical relationship GPO has with the library community in providing the public free access to government information in digital and print formats.”

“UM Libraries are proud to be included among Federal Depository Libraries,” says Cecilia Botero, UM library dean.

“The ability to offer the UM community and the people of Mississippi free public access to these vitally important government documents is a responsibility we take seriously.

We are honored to be chosen as the 2018 Federal Depository Library of the Year.”

The Government Publishing Office is the federal government’s official, digital, secure resource for producing, procuring, cataloging, indexing, authenticating, disseminating and preserving the official information products of the U.S. government.

The office is responsible for the production and distribution of information products and services for all three branches of the federal government, including U.S. passports for the Department of State as well as the official publications of Congress, the White House and other federal agencies in digital and print formats. It provides for permanent public access to federal government information at no charge through govinfo.gov, partnerships with about 1,150 libraries nationwide participating in the Federal Depository Library Program, and its secure online bookstore.

Photo by Kevin Bain

he U.S. Government Publishing Office named the University of Mississippi’s J.D. Williams Library as the 2018 Federal Depository Library of the Year. The library was selected for its creative promotion of government documents through campaigns, exhibits and events.

The J.D. Williams Library became a member of the Federal Depository Library Program in 1883 and is the regional depository library for Mississippi, serving 10 selective depositories in the state.

To coincide with its 135th anniversary in the FDLP, the library hosted a yearlong government documents campaign.

As part of the campaign, the library created a government documents coloring book and bookmark and hosted anniversary-related events featuring various librarians and scholars as guest speakers. It produced seven new LibGuides on government information and displayed six exhibits throughout the library that point users to the depository.

For children, the library developed educational materials and engaged middle school students with direct programming.

“I congratulate the staff at the J.D. Williams Library for its innovative and steadfast efforts in keeping America informed on the three branches of the federal government since 1883,” says Herbert H. Jackson Jr., acting GPO deputy director. “The library has demonstrated a rich legacy of service and learning.

W I N TE R 2 019

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from the Circle

Debunking Unscientific Cancer Therapies UMMC CANCER INSTITUTE ADVISES CAUTION WITH ALTERNATIVE THERAPIES

A

combination of fear of chemotherapy and being bombarded with online advertisements for miracle cures likely is behind results of a recent survey that shows nearly four in 10 U.S. residents think cancer can be cured with alternative therapies.

Those growing numbers dismay cancer care physicians at the University of Mississippi Medical Center Cancer Institute.

“As an oncologist, I find it particularly tragic that patients and their families choose to employ therapies that have no scientific evidence behind them and serve to delay initiation of appropriate therapy,” says Dr. John Ruckdeschel, director of the UMMC Cancer Institute and a medical oncologist specializing in lung cancer.

The numbers come from the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s second annual National Cancer Opinion Survey conducted by The Harris Poll.

Poll respondents included those with cancer experience, such as patients and caregivers, and those without. The results showed 39 percent of those polled believe alternative therapies — such as enzyme and oxygen therapy, diet, or vitamins and minerals — will cure cancer.

Research recently published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute

showed patients with common cancers who choose alternative therapy had a 2.5 times higher mortality rate than patients who received standard cancer treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy, immunotherapy and radiation.

“When questioned by my patients, I tell them I don’t think there is scientific evidence for alternative therapy,” says Ruckdeschel, professor and a medical oncologist in the Interdisciplinary Thoracic (Lung) Cancer Program. “If they want to use the treatment as a complementary therapy in addition to traditional therapy, they can do that. I just want to know all the drugs they’re taking.”

Dr. Shawn McKinney, a surgeon in the UMMC Cancer Institute’s Interdisciplinary Breast Cancer Program, calls the situation “frustrating.”

“I’m very leery when they get their information either from someone else or from something they’ve read,” says McKinney, an associate professor of surgery. “It’s not usually anything of substantive value, and it often doesn’t relate to their cancer type.”

She said patients who choose to use only alternative therapies sometimes return when those tactics don’t work.

“Their cancer is more advanced, and our treatment options are more limited.”

As part of a program that develops individualized treatment plans based on

a patient’s type and subtype of cancer, physical condition and, if feasible, preferences, McKinney advises patients that an anecdotal story about someone else’s experience with alternative therapy won’t fit all patients.

“I’m more an advocate of complementary as opposed to alternative therapies, something that will complement what we do,” she says.

McKinney says she also advises patients and their families to discuss those treatments with their doctors first.

Complementary therapies are activities or medications used along with traditional therapies. Those might include yoga, massage, meditation, acupuncture, vitamins or others. Alternative therapies are medications or activities used in an attempt to cure a disease without using traditional therapies.

Ruckdeschel says the amount of misinformation about alternative therapies is alarming.

“We’ve always had purveyors of alternative therapies preying upon patients and families who are facing a desperate clinical situation,” he says. “This is a problem that’s been made a thousandfold worse by the internet.”

To view the full survey results, visit asco.org/advocacy-policy/asco-in-action/ national-survey-reveals-surprisingnumber-americans-believe.

Photo by iStock

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ALUMNI REVIEW

The Economic Value of the University of Mississippi

REFLECTS FISCAL YEAR 2016-17

Contributing to Mississippi. Supporting its citizens.

ECONOMIC IMPACT ANALYSIS Alumni impact

1 37 out of

14,985 Jobs supported

Impact of the increased earnings of UM alumni and the businesses they work for

$905.1 million Added income

jobs in Mississippi

an economic boost similar to hosting the Super Bowl

3x . . . EVERY YEAR

is supported by the activities of UM and its students

Operations spending impact

2,589

Impact of annual payroll and other spending

$181 million Added income

UM TOTAL ANNUAL IMPACT

. . . EVERY YEAR

Student spending impact

Impact of the daily spending of UM students attracted to or retained in the state

$2.9 billion

6,995

enough to buy families* a year’s worth of groceries

$86.9 million

. . . EVERY YEAR

Added income

Added income

2,137 Jobs supported

43,121 Jobs supported

$25,800

< HS

Research spending impact $117.7 million

Visitor spending impact $19.2 million

The average bachelor’s degree graduate from UM will see an increase in earnings of $20,600 each year compared to someone with a high school diploma working in Mississippi

$32,400

HS

$35,300

Certificate

UMMC Students

13,489

$39,900

Associate Bachelor’s Master’s

$53,000

$60,200

Doctorate

Employees

Analyses performed by the labor market analytics company, EMSI, which specializes in modeling the economic impact of colleges and universities.

Sources: Emsi Economic Impact Study; http://www.cnbc.com/2016/01/29/super-bowl-benefits-host-city-but-by-how-much.html; http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2015/05/04/new-car-transaction-price-3-kbb-kelle y-blue-book/26690191/; http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/05/01/grocery-costs-for-family/2104165/

* family of four

Start-up & spin-off company impact $18.5 million

2018-2019

2,840

=100 jobs

Medical center spending impact $1.6 billion

INVESTMENT ANALYSIS

About the University of Mississippi

23,258 Students

Jobs supported

enough to buy 5,392 new cars

For every $1...

invested by Students

invested by MS Taxpayers

$88,500 invested by MS Society

Students gain

MS Taxpayers gain

*MS Society gains

in lifetime earnings

in added tax revenue and public sector savings

in added state revenue and social savings

$3.30

$4.40

$5.70

* All Mississippians and the MS economy

Calendar 3

Women’s Basketball: UM vs. Tennessee – Senior Day. The Pavilion, 2-4 p.m. Visit olemisssports.com.

6

4

Knit 1: J.D. Williams Library, IDEAlab, noon-1 p.m. Visit events.olemiss.edu.

6

4

Baseball: UM vs. East Carolina.

Oxford-University Stadium, 6:30 p.m. Visit olemisssports.com.

Museum Milkshake Mash-ups: UM Museum, 4:30-5:30 p.m. Visit museum.olemiss.edu.

7

5

UM MSBDC Starting a Business – First Steps: Tupelo campus, 1-2:30 p.m. Visit events.olemiss.edu.

7

5

Performance: Billy Hart and the Academy. Ford Center, 7:30 p.m.

Visit fordcenter.org/events.

Baseball: UM vs. Little Rock.

Oxford-University Stadium, 4 p.m.

Visit olemisssports.com.

8

2

5

2

UM MSBDC Starting a Business – First Steps: Small Business Development Center, 4:30-5:30 p.m.

Visit events.olemiss.edu.

9

5

Men’s Basketball: UM vs. Kentucky – Senior Night. The Pavilion, 8 p.m.

Visit olemisssports.com.

3

6

10

MARCH

1

Men’s Tennis: UM vs. Kentucky.

Palmer-Salloum Tennis Center/ Galtney Courts, 6 p.m. Visit olemisssports.com.

1

First Friday Free Sketch Day: UM Museum, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. (drop in).

Visit museum.olemiss.edu.

1

-3 Softball: UM vs. Pittsburgh. Ole Miss Softball Complex, 6 p.m. Friday; 2 p.m. Saturday; 11 a.m. Sunday.

Visit olemisssports.com.

1

-3 Baseball: UM vs. Long Beach State. Oxford-University Stadium, 6:30 p.m. Friday; 1:30 p.m. Saturday; noon Sunday. Visit olemisssports.com.

Performance: “In the Mood,” a 1940’s Musical Revue. Ford Center, 7:30 p.m. Visit fordcenter.org/events.

-3 Softball: UM vs. Nicholls. Ole Miss Softball Complex, 5 p.m.

Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. Visit olemisssports.com.

Men’s Tennis: UM vs. Vanderbilt. Palmer-Salloum Tennis Center/Galtney Courts, 1-4 p.m. Visit olemisssports.com.

UM MSBDC Starting a Business – First Steps: Southaven campus.

First Regional Library, 6-8 p.m. Visit events.olemiss.edu.

MARCH 6

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ALUMNI REVIEW

Mini Masters: Flower Collages.

Powerhouse, 3:45-4:30 p.m. Visit museum.olemiss.edu.

-10 Baseball: UM vs. UAB. OxfordUniversity Stadium, 6:30 p.m. Friday; 1:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Visit olemisssports.com.

-10 Softball: UM vs. Arkansas.

Ole Miss Softball Complex, 4 p.m.

Saturday; 5 p.m. Sunday. Visit olemisssports.com.

Women’s Tennis: UM vs. Mississippi State. Palmer-Salloum Tennis Center/Galtney Courts, 1 p.m.

Visit olemisssports.com.

Photo by Marlee Crawford

Baseball: UM vs. East Carolina

Softball: UM vs. Austin Peay. Ole Miss Softball Complex, 6 p.m. Visit olemisssports.com.

Calendar

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Softball: UM vs. Arkansas. Ole Miss Softball Complex, 6-8 p.m.

Visit olemisssports.com.

17

26

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Performance: American College Dance Association Adjudication Concert 2. Ford Center, 1:15 p.m. Visit fordcenter.org/events.

18

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Performance: American College Dance Association Adjudication Concert 3. Ford Center, 7:30 p.m. Visit fordcenter.org/events.

19

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UM MSBDC How to Develop a Business Plan: Small Business Development Center, 4:30-5:30 p.m.

Visit events.olemiss.edu.

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13

Softball: UM vs. Memphis. Ole Miss Softball Complex, 6 p.m.

Visit olemisssports.com.

19

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UM MSBDC How to Develop a Business Plan: Southaven campus. First Regional Library, 6-8 p.m.

Visit events.olemiss.edu.

20

29

Performance: American College Dance Association Adjudication Concert 1. Ford Center, 7:30 p.m. Visit fordcenter.org/events.

13

14

Men’s Tennis: UM vs. Auburn.

Palmer-Salloum Tennis Center/Galtney Courts, 6 p.m. Visit olemisssports.com.

-17 Softball: UM vs. Oklahoma State. Ole Miss Softball Complex, 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Visit olemisssports.com.

Women’s Tennis: UM vs.

Auburn. Palmer-Salloum Tennis Center/Galtney Courts, 1 p.m. Visit olemisssports.com.

Brown Bag Lunch: A Women’s History Month lecture with Anne Balay. Barnard Observatory, Tupelo Room, 4-5:30 p.m. Visit events.olemiss.edu.

UM MSBDC How to Develop a Business Plan: Tupelo campus.

Renasant Center for IDEAs, 1-2:30 p.m. Visit events.olemiss.edu.

UM MSBDC Cash Flow Projections: Small Business Development Center, 4:30-5:30 p.m. Visit events.olemiss.edu.

Baseball: UM vs. UAPB. Oxford-University Stadium, 6:30-9 p.m. Visit olemisssports.com.

Brown Bag Lunch: Muhammad Fraser-Rahim lectures on “Spiritual Wayfarers, Enslaved and Indigenous Muslims: Past, Present and Future of American Muslims.” Barnard Observatory, Tupelo Room, noon-1 p.m. Visit events.olemiss.edu.

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20

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Women’s Tennis: UM vs. Alabama. Palmer-Salloum Tennis Center/Galtney Courts, 3 p.m. Visit olemisssports.com. , 17 Softball: UM vs. Samford.

Ole Miss Softball Complex, 6 p.m. Friday; 1 p.m. Sunday. Visit olemisssports.com.

-17 Baseball: UM vs. Alabama.

Oxford-University Stadium, 6:30 p.m. Friday; 1:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Visit olemisssports.com.

UM MSBDC Cash Flow Projections: Southaven campus. First Regional Library (M.R. Davis), 6-8 p.m. Visit events.olemiss.edu.

Honors College Alumni Reception: Nashville. Details TBD. Call 662-915-7375 or visit olemissalumni.com/events.

UM MSBDC Cash Flow Projections: Tupelo campus. Renasant Center for IDEAs, 1-2:30 p.m. Visit events.olemiss.edu.

Men’s Tennis: UM vs. Arkansas.

Palmer-Salloum Tennis Center/Galtney Courts, 6 p.m. Visit olemisssports.com.

Mini Masters: Flights of Fancy: Birds. Powerhouse, 3:45-4:30 p.m.

Visit museum.olemiss.edu.

-30 Law Alumni Weekend: Robert C. Khayat Law Center, various times and locations. Visit olemissalumni.com/events or call 662-915-2322.

Women’s Tennis: UM vs.

Arkansas. Palmer-Salloum Tennis Center/Galtney Courts, 3 p.m. Visit olemisssports.com.

-31 Softball: UM vs. Florida.

Ole Miss Softball Complex, 6 p.m. Friday; 4 p.m. Saturday; noon Sunday. Visit olemisssports.com.

30

Flock Together Family Activity: UM Museum, 10 a.m.-noon.

Visit museum.olemiss.edu.

30

Performance: “Junie B. Jones.”

Ford Center, 10:30 a.m. Visit fordcenter.org/events.

-21 Ole Miss Insurance Symposium: The Inn at Ole Miss, various times and locations. Visit olemissalumni.com/events.

31

Men’s Tennis: UM vs. Georgia.

Palmer-Salloum Tennis Center/Galtney Courts, 6 p.m. Visit olemisssports.com.

APRIL

24

Men’s Tennis: UM vs. Tennessee. Palmer-Salloum Tennis Center/Galtney Courts, 1 p.m. Visit olemisssports.com.

Women’s Tennis: UM vs. Missouri. Palmer-Salloum Tennis Center/Galtney Courts, 1 p.m. Visit olemisssports.com.

1

Museum Milkshake Mash-ups: UM Museum, 4:30-5:30 p.m. Visit museum.olemiss.edu.

W I N TE R 2 019

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Calendar

2

Baseball: UM vs. North Alabama.

Oxford-University Stadium, 11 a.m.

Visit olemisssports.com.

11

24

2

The Art of Identification: David Allen Sibley Meet the Artist Gallery Walkthrough. UM Museum, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Visit museum.olemiss.edu.

12

25

3

Women’s Tennis: UM vs LSU. Palmer-Salloum Tennis Center/Galtney Courts, 3 p.m. Visit olemisssports.com.

12

25

Brown Bag Lunch: Joye Hardiman lectures on her first return trip to Mississippi since Emmett Till’s murder.

Barnard Observatory, Tupelo Room, noon-1 p.m. Visit events.olemiss.edu.

-14 Softball: UM vs. Missouri.

Ole Miss Softball Complex, 6 p.m. Friday; 4 p.m. Saturday; 1 p.m.

Sunday. Visit olemisssports.com.

4

12

5

14

Dialogue Initiative: “The Great Debate.” Bryant Hall, 5:30 p.m. Visit events.olemiss.edu.

-7 Baseball: UM vs. Florida.

Oxford-University Stadium, 6:30 p.m. Friday; 7 p.m. Saturday; 1:30 p.m.

Sunday. Visit olemisssports.com.

5

-14 Baseball: UM vs. Kentucky.

Oxford-University Stadium, 6:30 p.m. Friday; 7 p.m. Saturday; 1:30 p.m.

Sunday. Visit olemisssports.com.

Women’s Tennis: UM vs. Texas A&M. Palmer-Salloum Tennis Center/Galtney Courts, 1-4 p.m. Visit olemisssports.com.

Softball: UM vs. Southern Miss.

Ole Miss Softball Complex, 6 p.m. Visit olemisssports.com.

Dialogue Initiative: “Just Conversations.” Bryant Hall, 5:306:30 p.m. Visit events.olemiss.edu.

Mini Masters: African Art. Powerhouse, 3:45-4:30 p.m.

Visit museum.olemiss.edu.

25

-27 Baseball: UM vs. Texas A&M. Oxford-University Stadium, 6 p.m. Thursday; 6:30 p.m.

Friday; 2 p.m. Saturday. Visit olemisssports.com.

26

Dialogue Initiative: “Policy Talks.” Bryant Hall, 5:30 p.m.

Visit events.olemiss.edu.

26

-27 Performance: “H.M.S. Pinafore,” UM Opera Theatre. Ford Center, 7:30 p.m. Visit fordcenter.org/ events.

First Friday Free Sketch Day: UM Museum, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. (drop in).

Visit museum.olemiss.edu.

14

-6 Pharmacy Alumni Weekend: Various times and locations. Visit olemissalumni.com/events or call 662-915-2345.

5

16

5

-6 Journalism Alumni Weekend: Various times and locations. Visit olemissalumni.com/events.

16

6

Baseball: UM vs. Memphis.

Oxford-University Stadium, 6:30 p.m. Visit olemisssports.com.

Football: Grove Bowl. VaughtHemingway Stadium, 3 p.m. Free admission. Visit olemisssports.com.

17

7

Men’s Tennis: UM vs. ArkansasPine Bluff. Palmer-Salloum Tennis Center/Galtney Courts, 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Visit olemisssports.com.

23

10

6

Brown Bag Lunch: “Saravah!

Trip to the World of Samba de Roda from Bahia.” Barnard Observatory, Tupelo Room, noon-1 p.m. Visit events.olemiss.edu.

23

For a complete and latest listing of Ole Miss sports schedules, visit olemisssports.com.

10

Softball: UM vs. UAB. Ole Miss Softball Complex, 6 p.m. Visit olemisssports.com.

20

Mini Masters: Rainbow Umbrellas. Powerhouse, 3:454:30 p.m. Visit museum.olemiss.edu.

ALUMNI REVIEW

-19 BancorpSouth Rebel Road Trip: Various times and locations. Call 662-915-7375 or visit olemissalumni.com/events.

Softball: UM vs. UT Martin.

Ole Miss Softball Complex, 6 p.m. Visit olemisssports.com.

Brown Bag Lunch: “The Long Southern Strategy.” Barnard Observatory, Tupelo Room, noon1 p.m. Visit events.olemiss.edu.

Honors College Alumni Reception: Birmingham, Alabama.

Details TBD. Call 662-915-7375 or visit olemissalumni.com/events.

Washington, D.C., Law Alumni Reception: Hosted by BGR Firm in the Homer Building, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Call 662-915-1878 or visit olemissalumni.com/events.

24

Brown Bag Lunch: “Jazz at Noon.” Barnard Observatory, Tupelo Room, noon-1 p.m. Visit events.olemiss.edu.

26

-28 Softball: UM vs Tennessee.

Ole Miss Softball Complex, 6 p.m. Friday; 4 p.m. Saturday; 2 p.m.

Sunday. Visit olemisssports.com.

MAY

3

First Friday Free Sketch Day: UM Museum, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. (drop in).

Visit museum.olemiss.edu.

3

-4 50-Year Reunion: Various times and locations. Visit olemissalumni. com/events or call 662-915-2322.

Honors College Alumni Reception: Jackson. Details TBD. Call 662-915-7375 or visit olemissalumni.com/events.

For more Oxford events, news and information, go to visitoxfordms.com or call 662-232-2477.

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Alumna works on the forefront

Photos courtesy of Nicole Cook 22

ALUMNI REVIEW

THE FUTURE of sustainable energy solutions at Tesla

BY ANNIE RHOADES

ike a lot of kids, engineering alumna Nicole Cook (BSME 06) wanted to be an astronaut when she grew up. Though it didn’t take her long to see just how difficult that would be, she never let go of her curiosity for science.

Today, Cook stays on the cusp of cutting-edge technology and groundbreaking sustainable energy solutions as senior technical program manager with Tesla Inc., the American automotive and energy company specializing in electric car manufacturing and, through its SolarCity subsidiary, solar panel manufacturing.

Cook at the Tesla facility in Fremont, California

The daughter of a mathematics and statistics major, Cook attributes her affinity for science to her mother.

“I had a natural aptitude for math and science, and I get a lot of that from my mom,” Cook says. “I also always had a very creative side as well. I thought I wanted to design cars at one point.”

A 2002 graduate of Hendersonville High School in Hendersonville, Tennessee, Cook first found her niche in physics.

“I took a physics class during my senior year in high school and was just over the moon in love with everything about it,” she says. “When I started choosing a college degree program, I knew I wanted to go with mechanical engineering.”

With her older brother, Bobby Cook (BBA 03), enrolled at Ole Miss, the decision to enroll in the University of Mississippi’s engineering program was easy.

“I looked at a few other universities at the insistence of my parents to make sure that it was what I wanted to do, but I always kind of knew it would be Ole Miss,” Cook says. “I didn’t want to stay in state, and Ole Miss had a great small engineering program where I knew I would feel like it was a family kind of atmosphere. That was really important to me.”

According to Cook’s adviser, Marni Kendricks (BE 90, BSCvE 04, MSESC 10), assistant dean for undergraduate academics for the School of Engineering, Cook was among a group of high-achieving, personable, smart and dynamic engineering students.

“It was fun to see Nicole not only academically accomplish her mechanical degree with excellence, but with personality and style in a department of very few women at W I N TE R 2 019

23

Cook inspects a vessel at ExxonMobil in New Orleans.

Cook cheers on the Rebels (top) and spends time with her family (bottom).

that time,” Kendricks says. “We quickly became friends. She has a tremendous skill set of technical education, business mind and outstanding leadership qualities. She makes her alma mater very proud to claim her.”

A member of Pi Beta Phi Fraternity and the Ole Miss Alumni Association Young Alumni Council, Cook excelled in her studies and enjoyed Greek life, serving as vice president of special interest groups. With a desire to serve in a supervisory role in her career, she took an extra semester of courses to earn a minor in business administration.

“I didn’t want to be completely technical; I knew I wanted to make sure I was setting myself up to get to management kinds of roles,” Cook says. “I loved every minute of my time at Ole Miss. I enjoyed having the support system from my classmates within the School of Engineering as well as my sorority sisters. There were only 14 or 15 other kids in my mechanical engineering core class, so it was a very small and tight-knit group. The atmosphere in general was very collaborative.”

It was during her time of late-night studying and networking that Cook received her first job offer with ExxonMobil in Chalmette, Louisiana.

“David Carroll (BSChE 77, MBA 79) was a really active (alumnus) within the School of Engineering,” Cook says. “He

worked for ExxonMobil for, I think, 25 years. When his kids started coming to Ole Miss, he got back into recruiting for Exxon. There were several of us either from the 2006 or 2007 graduating class that ended up receiving offers from ExxonMobil. It was right before the 2008 recession, and there was a lot of hiring going on.”

24

ALUMNI REVIEW

BIG EASY BOUND

In March 2007, Cook moved to New Orleans and began working at the company’s refinery in the project management field.

“I was with them for three to four years, and it was a great experience,” she says. “It’s a wonderful company with so many opportunities to learn, especially for young engineers that really want to get a feel for a large corporation and how they can apply what they’ve learned in school to a real-world scenario.”

With engineers stepping through the ranks pretty quickly, Cook soon moved into project execution with Exxon. “[ExxonMobil] didn’t actually own that refinery anymore; it was a joint venture with a Venezuelan national oil company,”

“It’s just the nature of the industry; people take early retirement,” she says. “I was in my late 20s and early 30s when I was put into a more supervisory role that I typically wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do for another couple of years. I was supervising a group that does the design work and sends out all of the drawings to a construction team that then puts all of the steel work together. I was kind of the lead to take all of those design efforts and put them into hard-copy drawings and send those out to the construction team making sure they were audited and correct.”

CAREER ACCELERATION

Cook serves as a judge for the University of New Orleans Engineering Day (top) and visits a vendor in New Iberia, Louisiana, while working for Shell (bottom).

she says. “They didn’t have a lot of influence on capital projects, which is what I was working on at the time, so there wasn’t a lot of room to grow in my eyes. I ended up leaving and getting a job with Shell Oil.” Cook began working at the company’s upstream North American headquarters in New Orleans in 2010, serving as project design engineer and later as project design lead.

“There was a lot happening in the New Orleans office, so it was a great opportunity for me,” she says.

During her nearly seven years with Shell Oil, Cook worked on several large capital projects.

“That office did the design, operation and support from an engineering side for rigs that go into the Gulf of Mexico,” she says. “I was working on crazy large projects. From the drilling side, it was both onshore and offshore. I got to work with two different projects in the Gulf of Mexico and one that was onshore in the Gulf in Canada for a brief period of time.”

With the cyclical nature of oil and gas, it was common for projects to be placed on hold or cancelled. Cook soon found herself moving into supervisory roles and learning more about the business side of the industry.

Cook felt her work for Shell was near completion, and she began exploring other avenues to pursue within the industry.

As it turns out, Tesla was looking at her on LinkedIn. “When I was searching around for jobs, Reno was not on my radar, and Tesla really wasn’t either,” she says. “When they found me on LinkedIn, I had been looking for jobs out west, mostly in California.”

Cook made the move to Reno, Nevada, and began working for Tesla at Gigafactory 1 in April 2018.

Founded in 2003 by a group of engineers who wanted to prove that people didn’t need to compromise to drive electric, Tesla builds not only all-electric vehicles but also infinitely scalable clean energy generation and storage products. Tesla believes the faster the world stops relying on fossil fuels and moves toward a zero-emission future, the better.

Cory Garvey, technical recruiter for Gigafactory 1, recalls Cook being his very first hire with the company.

“Nicole and I became instant friends when we first met,” he says. “We bonded over life events and our passion for sustainable energy, as well as the need to do more with our professional lives. We wanted to be challenged while serving the greater good.”

Cook began working for Tesla as senior project manager with the Model 3 Battery Module Launch Team. She moved on to her current position as senior technical program manager with the Energy Products Battery Module in June.

To create an entire sustainable energy ecosystem, Tesla manufactures a unique set of energy solutions, Powerwall, Powerpack and Solar Roof, enabling homeowners, businesses and utilities to manage renewable-energy generation, storage and consumption.

Supporting Tesla’s automotive and energy products is Gigafactory 1 — a facility designed to significantly reduce battery cell costs. By bringing cell production in-house, Tesla manufactures batteries at the volumes required to meet production goals while creating thousands of jobs.

“A lot of what happens at Gigafactory is all battery driven,” Cook says. “What my team does currently is make the battery for all industrial- and residential-bound energy products. There are several different products on the line, but it’s kind of for energy storage. My group supports those W I N TE R 2 019

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Cook skis in Lake Tahoe with friends and Tesla engineers.

Cook and other Tesla staff volunteer for ‘Introduce a Girl to Engineering’ day.

energy products by building the battery in an automated sense, so I work mostly with mechanical engineers. We build the equipment that makes that battery in a more automated sense.”

from her beliefs. She is someone you meet and do not forget.

An example of this is that she spent most of her career in oil and gas but picked up her whole life and moved to Reno, Nevada, to work in manufacturing. Not just any manufacturing either — Tesla battery manufacturing. She was placed on one of the most challenging teams, but it did not seem to faze her one bit.”

For her part, Cook is anxious to see what the future holds for sustainable energy — not just within Tesla but for the entire population.

“I see myself really sticking with sustainable energy,” Cook says. “It’s what a lot of the world will be trending towards just from a needs basis. I think over the next 20 years there will be a transitional period from how we source our energy and how we supply it to the entire world.

“There’s a lot of third-world countries where people don’t have power in their home. I’m really excited to open my eyes to those kinds of issues and, over the course of my career as an engineer, see a lot of what can happen in finding those creative solutions. There’s going to be a lot of energy around that — no pun intended. And Tesla’s a great resource for it.”

PART OF A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

Cook enjoys the “hustle” that comes with working at Tesla.

Its mission to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy is “real and alive.”

“It’s a very interesting group of people that I get to work with,” she says. “I’m surrounded by a lot of really smart and passionate people. There’s a lot to do and a lot going on, and we have to get very creative sometimes to make things happen now.”

Garvey can’t think of a better fit for the fast-paced company that requires everyone to think outside the box and constantly stay on their toes.

“Nicole is wildly smart, but even more so, she is filled with grit,” Garvey says. “She never backs down from a challenge or 26

ALUMNI REVIEW

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ALUMNI REVIEW

Mixed-reality teaching experience delivers real advantage for education majors

BY SARA MCALISTER

PHOTOS BY MEGAN WOLFE

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UM senior Bre Comley interacts with student avatars via Mursion.

eet Ava and Dev. They are in middle school.

Ava is quick-thinking and decisive and likes to be challenged with new ideas and concepts.

Dev is a rule-follower who is self-driven with high standards.

Ava and Dev are not your average students.

In fact, they are not even real students at all. They are avatars in a virtual classroom at the University of Mississippi School of Education, where education majors are gaining valuable, handson teaching experience even before their student teaching.

Mursion, originally called TeachLive, is a cutting-edge technology that delivers customized virtual reality training to provide professional challenges that exist in the job every day.

Developed at the University of Central Florida, Mursion is being used at more than 85 campuses in the United States.

Since 2012, Mursion has grown at UM. Last school year, 800 students in the School of Education practiced with the system and are required to use it at least twice as part of their coursework before graduating.

“Through Mursion, the mistakes students used to make in front of real students can now be made in front of avatars,” says Tom Brady, the school’s Mursion coordinator and a clinical associate professor. “This way, a student can watch back for feedback and see themselves teaching for the first time.

“Students are able to see how they miss student avatars falling asleep or on their phone; until this iteration, it may go unnoticed for two or three minutes.”

Mursion is designed so that if a student does not do well, 30

ALUMNI REVIEW

there are no consequences because the avatars just forget and the student can start again. If the teacher does that in the classroom, the kids don’t forget.

Since all the qualities of the virtual classroom are controlled by a faculty member teaching the class, students who feel they did poorly can re-enter the virtual classroom and teach the lesson again without having affected student learning. Depending on the lesson objectives, sessions typically last anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes.

The system works from two ends. From one end, a teacher interacts with a screen showing a classroom with multiple avatar personalities. On the other end, a trained actor candidly speaks through a voice modulator and mimics certain movements through handheld controllers, basing reactions on predetermined personality traits of the Mursion students.

“The actors work very hard on changing their pitch just a little bit, and through the modulator, a 20-year-old woman can sound like a 13-year-old boy,” Brady says.

As of now, two actors provide all the voices. Each session is organic and personal; they are not scripted, but personality descriptions of each avatar are provided for a foundational, yet unique, experience.

Abby Wilson, a senior theatre major from Oxford, learned about Mursion through David Rock, UM education dean, who saw her perform in several high school productions.

Once the Mursion acting job opened up, he reached out to see if Wilson would be interested. She uses her theatre background to help her act out as a middle schooler behind

the screen. But there is a lot more to the job than just acting, Wilson says.

“The job is way more technical than anything else,” she says.

“Before this, I had never even picked up an Xbox controller.”

Much like activating a Kinect or Xbox, the user walks in front of a Kinect cable until the system confirms he or she is identified. The avatars have many controls to react back to the teacher, much like those on an Xbox or Wii controller. Through a wireless connection, the teacher can be heard and seen as he or she interacts with the virtual students on the screen.

Scarlett McCombs, a master’s student in elementary education from Oxford, is another Mursion student actor.

While Wilson’s experience covers acting, McCombs’ covers the classroom.

“Many candidates do not have much experience with public speaking or working with children, and the Mursion experience scaffolds them toward success in both of these areas through providing the most authentic virtual experience we can,” McCombs says.

Together, their qualifications and studies make the perfect fit for a realistic and credible student classroom experience.

By having real humans behind the virtual students, the sessions mimic the everyday parts of being a teacher very well. Specifically, student behaviors are designed to challenge the teachers, occasionally even lashing out or acting inappropriately.

A new dynamic soon will be introduced to the classroom, when UM faculty will add a student who struggles with dyslexia and a friend who mocks that student in class.

“If you see these sorts of things for the first time in a real classroom, you are more likely to crash and burn and let down some real kids, but instead, they are seeing it here first,” Brady says.

The avatars act on three levels. The first level requires student avatars to act relatively obedient; if they “goof off ” and are disciplined by the teacher, they will immediately listen and get back on task.

The second level generates pushback, and avatars may speak inappropriately to the teacher. They may fall asleep, play on their phones or “air drum” on their desks when they are not interested in what the teacher has to say.

The hardest level generates the kids to not let the teacher get anything done; it is not used in either section for the Ole Miss classes.

Larry Christman, aka “Mr. C,” is a retired Oxford Elementary School principal and the Mursion lab facilitator. Christman is usually in the room with the students as a coach and evaluator.

Christman began facilitating Mursion about seven years ago and has dealt with many nervous students over the years.

“Most of my students have never taught a lesson or even stood before a group of peers and made any kind of public

UM elementary education graduate student Scarlett McCombs is also a voice actor for Mursion and controls the student avatars’ reactions to the student teacher.

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UM senior Bre Comley (left) and graduate student Gabby Vogt interact with student avatars through Mursion. Last school year, 800 students in the School of Education practiced with the cutting-edge technology system and are required to use it at least twice as part of their coursework before graduating.

speaking,” he says. “I tell them it’s normal to feel some anxiety.

That, hopefully, it will help them when they go to student teach.”

There is no such thing as a perfect performance in a Mursion session. Christman says his role is to help students learn to be adaptable in the sometimes unpredictable profession of teaching.

“Several years ago, I had a young lady who got up to teach her lesson and started crying,” Christman says. “She just froze up! My graduate assistant and I took her out in the hallway.

We consoled her.

“I told her to go back in the room and complete her lesson.

She then did a wonderful job!”

Mursion is required for all students, but it is not graded. It is used for feedback. This helps create a more realistic and calm environment for students to develop into teachers.

“I learned a lot from the two TeachLive sessions that I completed,” says Lizzy Sloan, a senior elementary education major from New Canaan, Connecticut. “They were both very meaningful experiences. I learned that it is normal to feel nervous before teaching students, especially for the first time, and to work through those feelings.

“TeachLive helped me feel more confident with regards to my teaching abilities because I was able to receive immediate feedback from Mr. C.” The university is helping Mursion grow across state lines, too, specifically to Alabama. Jan Miller, dean of the College of Education at the University of West Alabama, was thrilled to incorporate Mursion into the curriculum after hearing from Ole Miss users.

“Integrating Mursion into our educator preparation program helps to provide opportunities to start teaching on day one with more proficiency in classroom management and more confidence in the pedagogy of teaching,” Miller says.

Using Mursion early in the education program ensures 32

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candidates will be better prepared for future professional experiences, she says. With the help of UWA, UM is continuing to push Mursion expansion efforts across the country.

Mursion also has room to grow at UM. Rooms are available for off-site locations such as Southaven and Tupelo, using the actors in Oxford.

“We can do more … there is room to expand to offering sessions all week long,” Brady says.

Last year, UM faculty added a counseling session with virtual parents. This “parent-teacher meeting” will act as a new dynamic for the students, because teaching not only involves children but also their parents. This will allow students to learn to deal with many different kinds of parent personalities.

“Students are trained on communication strategies they might use for 11 difficult parent types they might encounter in the TeachLive simulation,” says Sara Platt, UM clinical assistant professor of special education. “These parents might be helicopter parents, disengaged parents, intimidating or threatening parents, or parents who are not concerned with school at all.”

Platt and Debbie Chessin, retired associate professor of education, worked on this course to give Ole Miss students opportunities to apply data evaluation and communication skills.

“This is the time for (students) to make the mistakes and receive guidance, so they should have no fear,” Platt says.

A 2018 evaluation from the School of Education found that almost 90 percent of Ole Miss education students believe the Mursion simulation feels like a real classroom and that they are more confident to teach real students after their experience.

Additionally, more than 90 percent of students say they would recommend the Mursion experience to peers who want to be teachers.

“I tell the students that nothing will take the place of fleshand-blood students, but Mursion is a close second,” Christman says.

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Worth the Wait

Alumna turns to UMMC for liver transplant

BY RUTH CUMMINS

Y

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Photos courtesy of Kimberly Cooley

ou could say 2018 was a year of medical firsts for Kimberly Cooley (02): Her first set of stitches. Her first trip to an emergency room. Her first ambulance ride. Her first overnight stay in a hospital.

“I’m usually a one-time-a-year sinus infection girl,” says Cooley, who studied management information systems at Ole Miss and worked for FNC Inc., until health issues with her mother and changing priorities at home forced her to leave school before finishing her degree.

By far the biggest first of 2018 for Cooley, though, was an organ transplant, a liver to replace her scarred, diseased one, allowing her to hold fast to her nieces, nephews and other family who live within a 12-mile radius of her Duck Hill home.

“I want to embrace life,” says Cooley, 37, an independent public relations adviser with clients in New York and Connecticut. “There’s a story to tell.

All of this amazing care happened in Mississippi.”

That would be at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, where she received her transplant Dec. 8, and at UMMC Grenada, where Dr. Timothy Ragland (BA 07, MD 11) was the first to pinpoint why her liver was going south.

Cooley’s first inkling was in December 2017. She had recently moved to Georgia.

“I noticed I’d gained weight, but as women do, I chalked it up to bloating and too many Applebee’s nights,” she says.

Cooley went from handling three flights of stairs with ease to having trouble walking 6 feet. The morning of March 6, 2018, “I took a long stare in the mirror and noticed how extended my belly was.”

Dr. Felicitas Koller (left) and Kimberly Cooley are fast friends following Cooleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s liver transplant.

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S

he went to a local emergency department, where she was told the bloating was the result of a severe fluid buildup in her abdomen associated with cirrhosis, a late stage of scarring of the liver that can be caused by a number of diseases and conditions.

“I booked it to Mississippi,” Cooley says, because her insurance hadn’t yet transferred. “The timing was critical.”

Someone suggested she see Ragland, an assistant professor of radiology.

“They basically saved my life,” Cooley says of Ragland and his team. “He was the first doctor to tell me anything about 36

ALUMNI REVIEW

my condition (autoimmune hepatitis) with confidence.”

He sent her to Dr. Mildred Ridgway, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology, to rule out ovarian cancer. She did; Ridgway connected Cooley with Dr. Mark Earl, associate professor of transplant surgery, and his abdominal team. “It was like a real-life episode of ‘House,’” Cooley says. “They figured it out.”

The constant buildup of fluid made her weight balloon to 340 pounds; her lanky frame normally supports about 220 pounds. Dr. Thomas Amankonah, associate professor of digestive diseases, joined her care team, and through a

Steve Harvey (left), transplant nurse practitioner, Koller and Cooley visit shortly before Cooley is discharged from UMMC.

combination of diuretics and a sodium-free diet, she lost more than 120 pounds of fluid.

Amankonah “got her so ready” for the transplant to come, says Dr. Felicitas Koller, assistant professor of transplant surgery, who with Earl performed the procedure. “She came to surgery very well cared for. This was a team effort.”

But before her transplant, a new life-threatening condition one-upped her liver failure.

“I had some bad tilapia,” Cooley jokes.

She went to the emergency department at UMMC Grenada, then was transferred via ambulance to Jackson where she

stayed for a week and a half with sepsis.

That was August; she couldn’t hope for a transplant until sepsis, an illness caused by the body’s response to an infection, had fully cleared her system. Finally, on Oct. 31, she went on the waiting list.

Her transplant coordinator, registered nurse Anna McGraw, kept up with her care.

“She’s my little firecracker,” Cooley says.

Cooley prepared her home: hand-sanitizer dispensers everywhere and spotless bathrooms. On. Nov. 25, she got the call from her transplant team with the offer of a liver, and she headed to Jackson.

When a donor is identified for a patient waitlisted at UMMC, the hospital contacts the patient, and the patient can accept or decline the organ. A surgeon from the transplant team removes the organ from the donor, whether they’re already at UMMC or somewhere else, and brings it to the OR. “I was locked and loaded,” Cooley says. “But when the liver arrived, Dr. (Christopher) Anderson wanted something better.

“I wasn’t disappointed,” she says. “I was grateful for his wisdom and ability to say no. I knew a better liver would come.”

Anderson is professor and chair of the Department of Surgery and chief of the Division of Abdominal and Hepatobiliary Surgery.

Although an initial assessment of a potential donor organ might look good, “we take an aggressive stance,” Earl says.

“We evaluate the donor and organ based on lab work and circumstances around the donor’s death, and based on that, we make a decision on whether the organ is likely to be suitable. Once we do that, we call the recipient into the hospital.”

But things can change. Surgeons might find that an organ that looked good on paper is not, or an organ that looked marginal on paper is actually excellent.

“If we make the determination that it’s unsuitable, we call it off,” Earl says. “Most recipients are disappointed, because they’re excited about the opportunity to move beyond organ failure.”

However, he says, “I’ve never spoken to a recipient who wasn’t thankful that we were making decisions to keep them healthy.”

Such was the case with Cooley’s second offer, made via a phone call from Earl.

“He said they had a liver that had just come in. A young person. Drug overdose,” she says. “He wanted to have that conversation.”

She declined the organ. They both felt good about the decision.

“Through all of this, I never stopped. I didn’t succumb. I knew what I had to do,” Cooley says.

When the third offer came, at 6:19 a.m. on a Saturday, Cooley was on go. In fact, after she returned home following her first organ offer, she purged a lot from her packed bag before putting it back in the car.

“My transplant coordinator said she was so sorry to wake me up again,” Cooley says. “I said, ‘Honey, I am so over that.’

I told her I was about to start my car. That’s a benefit from the trial run.”

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Cooley’s niece, Seshadrial Miers, is her deputized caregiver.

The two are very close, and Cooley protected her when they traveled to Jackson.

“It was rainy, and I drove,” she laughs.

Not quite four days after her transplant, Cooley and Miers headed back to Duck Hill.

“She has at least tied our record there. Getting home four days after this surgery is remarkable,” says Steve Harvey, a nurse practitioner on the Jackson campus who makes sure Cooley gets regular follow-up care.

“I tell my patients that if you do well, you might never see your surgeon again unless you want to,” Harvey says. “You’ll have a team of 20 people taking care of you. From evaluation for a transplant to pre-op to surgery to follow-up, we’re a big team.”

Cooley, who admits to having worked on her laptop in the throes of sepsis, vows to make them proud. Miers “is the enforcer,” she says.

“I’m thankful that the two campuses of UMMC are under the same university umbrella,” she says. “I want to learn how to listen to people, to chill out and to sit my tail down. I want to get back to hanging out with my nieces and nephews.”

Cooley, Koller says, “is unstoppable.”

Cooley and McKenna Gibson, surgical support technician, pose for a selfie as Cooley is wheeled to the OR for her liver transplant.

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ALUMNI REVIEW

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Sports OLE MISS

Drafted

SOCCER’S KIZER SELECTED BY HOUSTON DASH

O

le Miss’ CeCe Kizer became just the fourth player in program history to be drafted in professional soccer, being taken with the No. 13 overall pick by the Houston Dash in the 2019 National Women’s Soccer League College Draft.

Kizer joins the likes of Rebel greats Jennifer Soileau (BSES 01), Danielle Johnson (BBA 11) and Rafaelle Souza (BSCvE 14), who also heard their names called on draft day. Soileau was chosen in the third round by the Philadelphia Charge in 2001, while Johnson was selected in the fourth round by New Jersey Sky Blue FC in 2010. Meanwhile, Souza was also drafted by the Dash with the 10th overall pick in 2013.

“We are so happy for CeCe,” says Ole Miss head coach Matt Mott. “She has been a great player for us the past four years.

She is ready to become a professional soccer player, and I think big things are ahead for her in Houston. The Dash just gained a great fan base in Rebel Nation.”

The Overland Park, Kansas, native was one of just two SEC players selected in the draft, being joined by Florida Gators goalkeeper Kaylan Marckese who was selected in the

fourth round. Kizer was Houston’s second pick off the board, coming off just minutes after the Dash picked Ally Prisock of USC at No. 12.

With their No. 13 pick, the Dash are getting one of the most prolific players college soccer has seen in recent memory. Kizer scored 48 times in her vaunted career to set the school record for career scoring. A tremendous distributor as well, Kizer’s 23 career assists ranked third all-time at Ole Miss, giving her a record 119 career points. A consistent producer throughout her career, Kizer owns three of the top nine goal scoring seasons in Rebel history.

Over the course of her four seasons in Oxford, the attacker reeled in just about every award imaginable. The winner of the 2018 Senior CLASS Award, Kizer was named a United Soccer Coaches All-American following both her junior and senior seasons, the only Rebel to ever receive the honor. She also became the third player in program history to be named First Team All-SEC three times, capturing All-Region laurels from the USC as well.

Photo courtesy of Ole Miss Athletics

CeCe Kizer 40

ALUMNI REVIEW

INTRODUCING THE 2018

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SUPPORT OLE MISS. BUY THE SHIRT. WEAR THE SHIRT.

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OLE MISS Sports

Former Linebacker Lauded PATRICK WILLIS ELECTED TO COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME

F

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ALUMNI REVIEW

native ended his collegiate career as the Defensive MVP for the South Team in the 2007 Senior Bowl.

Willis matched his on-field success in the classroom, earning Academic All-SEC honors and receiving the 2007 Wilma Rudolph Student-Athlete Achievement Award. A 2015 inductee

Defensive Rookie of the Year during his debut season with the San Francisco 49ers. Willis went on to enjoy an eight-year NFL career in which he made seven Pro Bowls and was voted All-Pro five times.

One of the best defensive players of his era, Willis finished his NFL Photo courtesy of Ole Miss Athletics

ormer Ole Miss All-American linebacker Patrick Willis (BSCJ 07) was elected to the 2019 College Football Hall of Fame class as announced by the National Football Foundation.

Willis becomes the 10th former player or coach to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as an Ole Miss Rebel. Two other members of the Ole Miss family have also been enshrined in the hall.

Willis, along with the 14 other Hall of Fame selections, will be officially inducted on Dec. 10, 2019, at the annual NFF awards dinner at the Hilton Midtown Hotel in New York City.

“On behalf of the Ole Miss family, we are honored to be represented by Patrick on this prestigious platform,” says Ross Bjork, vice chancellor for intercollegiate athletics. “With the countless hardships he overcame, Patrick represents the type of student-athlete we work hard every day to support. Congratulations to Patrick as well as our 11 previous Hall of Fame inductees.”

Willis, a four-year letterwinner for the Rebels from 2003 to 2006, is one of the most decorated defensive players in Ole Miss football history. As a senior, he was a consensus All-American in 2006 when he won the Butkus Award and Lambert Trophy as the nation’s best linebacker.

He twice led the Southeastern Conference in tackles and was selected to the most first team All-American squads (13) ever by a Rebel player in a single season. A first team All-American in 2005 and 2006, he was also a two-time SEC Defensive Player of the Year.

The senior team captain ranks sixth all-time at Ole Miss with 355 career tackles, and he is tied for fifth with 33 career tackles for loss. Willis was the recipient of the 2006 Conerly Trophy as the best college football player in the state of Mississippi and the Ole Miss Chucky Mullins Courage Award. The Bruceton, Tennessee,

Patrick Willis

into the Ole Miss Sports Hall of Fame, he was selected to SI.com’s All-Decade Team of the 2000s.

The 11th overall selection of the 2 0 0 7 N F L d r af t , Wi l l is won N F L

career with 950 combined tackles (732 solo, 218 assists), 20.5 sacks, 16 forced fumbles, five fumbles recovered, eight interceptions and two defensive touchdowns.

OLE MISS Sports

PARKER CARACCI TABBED AS PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN and D1 Baseball and was an honorable mention by Perfect Game after a breakout redshirt-sophomore campaign. He was also named second-team All-SEC and was a midseason All-American, in addition to SEC Pitcher of the Week on April 2.

Caracci totaled 10 saves last year, tying him for the seventh-most in a single season in program history. He also amassed 73 strikeouts in 48.0 innings pitched, compared to just 14 walks for a 5.2 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He allowed just 38 hits and maintained a 2.25 ERA. The outstanding season earned Caracci a spot on the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team for the summer, where he posted a perfect 0.00 ERA in 9.2 innings of action, compiling a pair of saves and a .094 opposing batting average.

Photo courtesy of Ole Miss Athletics

O

le Miss baseball junior closer Parker Caracci earned his fourth Preseason All-American honor of the 2019 campaign, this time earning a third-team distinction from .

Caracci is one of five Southeastern Conference pitchers honored by going into the 2019 season. He is one of 13 total players from the SEC to make the preseason All-American teams.

The redshirt junior out of Jackson was selected in the 37th round of the 2018 MLB Draft by the Toronto Blue Jays, but he elected to return to Oxford for 2019.

The Jackson Prep product earned three All-America nods at the conclusion of the 2018 season. He was tabbed a secondteam All-American by

Parker Caracci

Meet Byron Liles ~ Your New Planned Giving Officer

Byron Liles 662.915.7601 byron@olemiss.edu give.olemiss.edu Spring2019_PlannedGiving_ByronLiles.indd 1

Byron Liles, the University of Mississippi’s new senior director of gift planning, has a passion for helping others leave a legacy of support for education.

“I’m excited to build partnerships on and off campus, and to be an advocate for the life-changing opportunities that supporting Ole Miss can provide for its current and future students.”

The Bartlett, Tennessee, native has a deep respect for what the University of Mississippi means to the nation and its transformational force in the lives of Mississippians.

“My better half, Robin, completed both her graduate and undergraduate work at Ole Miss, which is one of many reasons Oxford is such a special place for us.”

Byron wants to help Ole Miss alumni and friends navigate the planned giving process, and show them how their financial gifts can provide lasting benefits.

“These gifts can be used to support scholarships, athletics, student experiences or any number of other opportunities.”

Byron looks forward to talking with you about becoming a member of the 1848 Society — the designation given to those who include Ole Miss in their estate planning — and how you can make an impact on the University of Mississippi.

1/25/2019 11:00:36 AM

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OLE MISS Sports

Move to Improve

CENTER FOR HEALTH AND SPORT PERFORMANCE EXPANDS

W

of an athlete that has had a concussion,” Singletary says.

“The center is working to provide objective information to the provider that can be used along with other medical information to allow the professional to return the athlete to competition safely.”

The center is implementing ImPACT Testing to test the effects of concussions on Oxford High School athletes.

The center also plans to offer different educational courses, different types of testing and nutritional counseling throughout the community.

Photos courtesy of Ole Miss Athletics

ell known for providing health and wellness research and services to Ole Miss athletes, the University of Mississippi’s Center for Health and Sport Performance is extending its services to the community and settling into its new centralized offices at the South Oxford Center.

With more space and the addition of new staff and more graduate students, the center will offer more testing and consultative services, including concussion testing, to constituents across the region and state.

“The space was much needed,” says Melinda Valliant (BS 88, MS 94), associate professor of nutrition and hospitality management and the co-director of the Center for Health and Sport Performance, or CHSP. “It’s really giving us the opportunity to do things that we were all spread out doing.”

Launched in October 2013, the center is a partnership between the School of Applied Sciences and Department of Intercollegiate Athlet-

South Oxford Center Graduate students studying sports nutrition under leadership from the CHSP are well known for fueling Ole Miss athletes. ics and is co-directed by Valliant and Shannon Singletary (BSES 95, BS 97), senior associate athletics director for health and sports performance and adjunct clinical instructor in health, exercise science and recreation management.

The center recently was featured in statewide news for helping Rebel football players fuel properly for maximum athletic perfor- The CHSP provides research and services for athletes. mance. With more space in its SOC location and expanded staffing, the center is poised to offer more “We feel that across the country, there is a need for objective resources to more people. information to be given to coaches that will allow more of an One of the main projects that the center is working on is evidence-based approach to health and sports performance,” studying concussions in high school athletes, combining both Singletary says. “We will be providing education and best research and service learning. practices to the community that will ensure proper standards “By law in the state of Mississippi, an appropriate health are being met, whether it being in sports training programs, care provider must approve and order the return to play proper nutrition or other injury-prevention strategies.”

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ALUMNI REVIEW

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Published JUST

s ong wr it ing success wit h rhythm and blues singers and country singers who recorded his works. Gladys Knight and the Pips had several hits with his songs. “Neither One of Us” and “Midnight Train to Georgia” were Grammy winners. Weatherly has been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame and the Ole Miss Alumni Hall of Fame.

In 2013, he was recognized at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., during the annual “We Write the Songs” e ve nt . We at he rly l ive s i n Brentwood, Tennessee.

Midnight Train by Jim Weatherly (66)

and Jeff Roberson (BA 83), 336 pages, $22 (Paperback), James D. Weatherly, ISBN: 9780692196212 From the college football stadiums of the South to enshrinement in the Songwriters Hall of Fame in New York, Jim Weatherly tells an uplifting story of perseverance and the discovery of self-worth. He began writing songs as a boy in a small town in Mississippi during the first decade of rock ’n’ roll in the 1950s, a path that would eventually lead to his being inducted into five different music halls of fame.

Jeff Roberson, a Baldwyn native, lives in Oxford and spent 25 years as a sportswriter and editor at the Oxford Eagle, the Ole Miss Spirit and the Oxford Citizen. In 2016, he started a group called “Oxford Writes” for aspiring or published writers to share their stories and ideas. During this time, he worked on the book Midnight Train with Weatherly, his cousin.

Roberson works as an administrator for Families First for Mississippi and the Family Resource Center of North Mississippi in Oxford.

We at h e r ly fou n d h i s g re ate st 46

ALUMNI REVIEW

prosecutor spans a decade of crime fighting and narrow escapes. Charlie Spillers dealt with a remarkable variety of career criminals, including heroin traffickers, safecrackers, burglars, auto thieves and members of Mafia and Mexican drug-smuggling operations.

In this riveting tale, the author recounts fascinating experiences and the creative methods he used to succeed and survive in a difficult and sometimes extremely dangerous underworld life.

Spillers lives in Oxford, is a former Marine and narcotics agent and was an assistant U.S. attorney for 23 years, which included serving three tours in Iraq for the Department of Justice as the justice attaché for Iraq and as an attorney-adviser to the Iraqi High Tribunal. He also served as an adjunct professor at the University of Mississippi.

Confessions of an Undercover Agent: Adventures, Close Calls, and the Toll of a Double Life by Charlie Spillers (BBA 81, JD 86), 268 pages, $18 (Paperback), University Press of Mississippi, ISBN: 9781496818539 This true story of an ex-Marine who fought crime as an undercover cop, a narcotics agent and finally a federal

The Man Who Punched Jefferson Davis: The Political Life of Henry S. Foote, Southern Unionist (Southern Biography Series) b y Ben Wynne (PhD 00), 336 pages, $47.50 (Hardback), LSU Press, ISBN: 9780807169339 Regarded as one of the most vocal, well-traveled and controversial statesmen of the 19th century, antebellum

JUST Published politician Henry Stuart Foote played a central role in a vast array of pivotal events. Despite Foote’s unique mark on history, a comprehensive biography did not exist until now. Ben Wynne fills this gap. From Foote’s failed attempt to broker an unauthorized peace agreement with the Lincoln government and his exile to Europe, to the publication of his personal memoir and his appointment as director of the U.S. mint in New Orleans, Wynne constructs an entertaining and nuanced portrait of a singular man who constantly challenged the conventions of Southern and national politics.

Author and historian Ben Wynne earned his doctorate in history at the University of Mississippi and serves as professor of history at the University of North Georgia in Gainesville. He is the author of a number of works on the American South and has written new introductions for several works in the Barnes and Noble Library of Essential Reading series.

Hurtin’ Words: Debating Family Problems in the Twentieth-Century South b y Ted Ownby, 352 pages, $29.95 (Paperback), University of North Carolina Press, ISBN: 9781469646994 When Tammy Wynette sang “D-I-VO-R-C-E,” she famously said she “spelled out the hurtin’ words” to spare her child the pain of family breakup. In this innovative work, Ted Ownby considers how a wide range of writers, thinkers, activists and others defined family problems in the 20th-century American South.

Ownby shows that it was common for both African-Americans and whites to discuss family life in terms of crisis, but they reached very different conclusions about causes and solutions.

In the civil rights period, many embraced an ideal of Christian brotherhood as a way of transcending divisions.

Opponents of civil rights denounced “brotherhoodism” as a movement that undercut parental and religious authority.

Others, especially in the African-American community, rejected the idea of family crisis altogether, working to redefine family adaptability as a source of strength.

Rather than attempting to define the experience of an archetypal “Southern

family,” Ownby looks broadly at contexts such as political and religious debates about divorce and family values, Southern rock music and autobiographies to reveal how people in the South used the concept of the family as a proxy for imagining a better future or happier past.

Ownby is a professor of history and Southern studies and director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi.

Indeed, it is a mother’s persistence and a father’s legacy that will ultimately turn one Beekman brother against the other, a struggle with moral consequences that may extend far beyond Georgia.

Set amid 2004’s polarizing election fears — immigrants and job takeovers, terrorists in waiting, the homosexual and outsider agendas — Shirtless Men Drink Free makes vivid the human soul’s struggle in a world bedeviled by desire and the fears that leave us all asking — Why? Dwaine Rieves was born and raised in Monroe County, Mississippi. Following a career as a research pharmaceutical scientist and critical care physician, he completed a Master of Arts degree in writing from Johns Hopkins University. His poetry has won the Tupelo Press Prize for Poetry and the River Styx International Poetry Prize. His writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun, Virginia Quarterly Review, The Georgia Review and other publications.

Shirtless Men Drink Free b y

Dwaine Rieves (BS 76, MD 79), 326 pages, $16.95 (Paperback), Tupelo Press, ISBN: 9781946507044 In a vision above her mother’s deathbed, Dr. Jane Beekman sees her dying mother’s soul — a soul struggling with a decision, some undone task, something in this world too noble to leave. The sight is brief, but surely a lesson. The lingering question — Why? — prompts a shift in the doctor’s priorities.

For in this election year, Jane must do what her mother, an aspiring social activist, would have done. Soon, Jane is deep in the world of Georgia politics, working to make sure her dynamic, young brother-in-law Jackson Beekman is elected the next governor, regardless of what the soul of the candidate’s dead father or that of his living brother — Jane’s husband — might want done.

Information presented in this section is compiled from material provided by the publisher and/or author and does not necessarily represent the view of the Alumni Review or the Ole Miss Alumni Association. To present a recently published book or CD for consideration, please mail a copy with any descriptions and publishing information to: Ole Miss Alumni Review, Ole Miss Alumni Association, P.O. Box 1848, University, MS 38677.

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Traveler 2019 REBEL

T

he Ole Miss Alumni Association is offering a number of spectacular trips in 2019.

Alumni and friends obtain group rates and discounts. All prices are per person, based on double occupancy and subject to change until booking.

Airfare is not included unless noted.

For a brochure or more information, contact the Alumni office at 662-9157375. Prices and dates are subject to change. Visit the Ole Miss Alumni Association’s website at olemissalumni. com/travel for the most up-to-date information.

SCOTTISH ISLES AND NORWEGIAN FJORDS MAY 21-29, 2019 Tour Operator: Gohagan

Join us for a unique, comprehensive, seven-night journey to Norway’s majestic fjords and Scotland’s rarely visited Orkney and Shetland Islands, remote destinations forever linked by their Viking heritage. Cruise from Bergen,

Poros, Greece 48

ALUMNI REVIEW

Norway, to Glasgow, Scotland, aboard the exclusively chartered, five-star small ship Le Boréal with 100 percent ocean-view suites and staterooms.

Travel in the wake of Viking explorers, cruising into ports accessible only by small ship amid spectacular landscapes in this seafaring region steeped in history and cultural richness. Enjoy a specially arranged ride on Norway’s Flåm Railway, one of the world’s most scenic rail journeys, and a full-day scenic excursion into the Scottish Highlands, with visits to Fort William, Glenfinnan and Glencoe. Visit Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands; prehistoric Jarlshof in the Shetland Islands; the UNESCO World Heritage sites of Orkney’s Neolithic Ring of Brodgar and Skara Brae, including a special presentation by the Ness of Brodgar archaeological site director and head archaeologist; and Bergen’s picturesque Bryggen. Norway/ Copenhagen pre-cruise and Edinburgh/Glasgow post-cruise options are offered. — From $4,995

D-DAY 75TH ANNIVERSARY: AN ICONIC JOURNEY OF REMEMBRANCE MAY 29-JUNE 7, 2019

Tour Operator: National WWII Museum

Join us as we sail from Amsterdam, following the path of the German juggernaut and then retracing the allies’ triumphant return to — and liberation of — Europe. Travel in complete comfort aboard the all-new Seabourn Ovation and be there with us in Normandy for an unforgettable 75th anniversary ceremony on June 6, 2019.

On board and on shore, esteemed World War II historians will enhance your understanding of the war that changed the world and the epic 1944 invasion. You will share in rich discussions with our featured historians, enjoy privileged access to top World War II sites and receive invitations to a variety of special commemoration events. You may also choose to enhance your experience with specially arranged extensions in Amsterdam and London.

2019 REBEL Traveler To ensure the journey is intimate and meaningful, only 230 of the 300 suites will be sold — many of the remaining suites will be occupied by historians, veterans and their families and staff.

Only a fraction of the 16 million Americans who served in WWII is still alive today. This exceptional journey allows you to travel with a number of these heroic servicemen, hear their stories and pay homage to their fallen brothers — truly an honor and a once-ina-lifetime opportunity. — From $14,599

guided excursions feature four great UNESCO World Heritage sites — walk through Berne’s Old Town, tour the lovely Alsatian city of Strasbourg, cruise through the heart of the Rhine River Valley, and see Cologne’s magnificent Gothic cathedral. Also visit Germany’s medieval Rüdesheim and 13th-century Heidelberg Castle. Spend two nights

canal-crossed metropolis and its many elaborate palaces before sailing to Helsinki, where innovative architecture overlooks spacious green parks and open-air markets. Then, continue to Riga, where elaborate art nouveau structures transform city streets into works of art. Stroll past stately buildings in Klaipēda, a gateway to the pine

GREECE: ATHENS & POROS MAY 30-JUNE 7, 2019 Tour Operator: AHI

Delight in the juxtaposition of the ancient and modern in Greece. Ascend the Acropolis and gaze upon the Parthenon, shielded by its perch from the sounds of the city below. Then leave the city behind to experience the slower pace of island life on Poros, one of the idyllic Saronic Islands. Stroll by the sparkling sea, and watch the day unfold. See freshly caught octopuses hanging to dry by a waterfront taverna; listen to the banter from the kafenion, the neighborhood coffee shop; and join the fun at a festive Greek night.

Poros, opposite the storied Peloponnese, gives you access to the best of Greece.

Explore the 2,400-year-old theater in Epidaurus and the fascinating ruins of Mycenae. Visit the island of Hydra, and pretty Nafplio, the country’s first capital.

Enjoy first-class accommodations during two nights in Athens and five nights on Poros. The extensive meal plan features wine with dinner. — From $2,295

GREAT JOURNEY THROUGH EUROPE JUNE 7-17, 2019

Tour Operator: Gohagan

This extraordinary 11-day “Grand Tour” of Europe features an incredible combination of river, rail, lake and mountain travel including five nights aboard the deluxe Amadeus Silver II. Journey through the western heart of the continent through Switzerland, France, Germany and the Netherlands, cruising the most scenic sections of the fabled Rhine River. Specially arranged

Florence, Italy

each in Zermatt and Lucerne, Switzerland; ride aboard three legendary railways — the Gornergrat Bahn for breathtaking views of the Matterhorn, the Glacier Express from Zermatt to Andermatt, and the Pilatus Railway, the world’s steepest cogwheel railway; and enjoy a scenic cruise on Lake Lucerne.

This is the trip of a lifetime at an exceptional value. Complement your journey with the two-night Amsterdam post-program option. — From $4,695

groves and sand dunes of the Curonian Spit, and wander the history-lined avenues of the unique Polish city of Gdańsk. Before concluding your adventure in Copenhagen, sail to the city of Rostock, a seaside gem in northern Germany, enchanting all with its Hanseatic flair, or travel inland to Berlin, one of Europe’s liveliest capitals — brimming with unforgettable cultural landmarks. — From $3,899, including airfare from select cities

BALTIC AND SCANDINAVIAN BALLADS – STOCKHOLM TO COPENHAGEN JUNE 13-24, 2019

RADIANT RIVIERAS — BARCELONA TO ROME JUNE 15-23, 2019

Tour Operator: Go Next

Enjoy historic charms as you sail the Baltic Sea between legendary cities.

Embark Marina in Stockholm, and sail to Tallinn. Here, red-roofed homes line cobblestone streets, and ancient churches are ornamented by powerful spires. Explore the medieval town before continuing to St. Petersburg for a two-day visit. Take in the Russian

Tour Operator: Go Next

Take in spectacular views along the Mediterranean’s renowned coastline as you sail from cosmopolitan Barcelona to legendary Rome aboard the elegant Riviera. Travel to the island of Mallorca to Palma, a town with impressive architecture and historic monuments that surround a magnificent Gothic sandstone cathedral. Then, continue to Marseille, France’s oldest city that offers W I N TE R 2 019

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2019 REBEL Traveler an array of galleries and museums and is the gateway to the picturesque landscapes and medieval towns of Provence.

Next, head to Monte Carlo, an extravagant city surrounded by the renowned destinations of Nice, Èze and Cannes — all connected by the Grande Corniche.

Antibes, this stunning coastal city, has inspired artists, including Picasso, with its sunny and serene disposition, while Ajaccio, the next port, is the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte and has relics commemorating him throughout the town. Finally, visit Livorno, a starting point for adventures in the monumentrich cities of Florence and Pisa and the idyllic Tuscan countryside. — From $2,799, including airfare

ANCIENT EMPIRES: A VOYAGE FROM ROME TO MALTA JUNE 20-28, 2019

world’s first multisensory underwater observation lounge. This outstanding, custom-designed itinerary features the very best of this historic region at the most ideal time of year, affords you the unique opportunity to travel with a small, intimate group and showcases seven UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Marvel at Italy’s stunning Amalfi Coast and the colorful seaside town of Sorrento. Gain insight into Roman life of A.D. 79 in the superbly excavated town of Pompeii. Discover Sicily’s storied town of Taormina, the legendary city of Syracuse and Agrigento’s majestic Valley of the Temples. Experience the rich history of Malta, the island nation where St. Paul was shipwrecked. Rome precruise and Malta post-cruise options are available. — From $4,395

ARCTIC EXPEDITION UNDER THE MIDNIGHT SUN Discover the intriguing mélange of JUNE 20-JULY 1, 2019 Tour Operator: Gohagan

cultures that flourished in the wake of ancient empires on this exclusively chartered cruise to the resplendent shores of Italy, Sicily and Malta. Cruise for seven nights from Rome, Italy, to Valletta, Malta, aboard the newest five-star expedition ship, Le Bougainville, launching in 2019 with only 92 suites and staterooms, each with a private balcony, and featuring the extraordinary Blue Eye, the

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Tour Operator: Gohagan

Voyage through the other worldly Arctic Circle on this unique 11-day itinerary featuring an extraordinary seven-night cruise on the five-star, ecofriendly L’Austral, exclusively chartered for your expedition. Visit during the region’s most enchanting season, when shimmering ice basks in the midnight sun’s ceaseless glow. Sail the shores

of secluded Spitsbergen, the jewel of Norway’s rarely visited Svalbard archipelago; see glaciers crease and calve in luminous blues; and look for the enigmatic polar bear, who reigns as king. Survey an ethereal topography of red sandstone mountain ranges, lush green tundra and awe-inspiring ice formations, and enjoy Zodiac excursions led by a team of expert naturalists in diverse, serene terrains, where remarkable wildlife — including whales, walruses, seals, Svalbard reindeer, Arctic foxes, northern fulmars and Arctic terns — roam freely. Complimentary Wi-Fi and alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages are available throughout the cruise. The program’s flight to Longyearbyen originates in Paris; spend one night in a downtown Paris hotel before the flight and one night in the deluxe Hilton Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport Hotel upon return from the Arctic. Paris pre-program option is also offered. — From $6,995

ROUTE OF ROYALTY JUNE 24-JULY 4, 2019 Tour Operator: Go Next

Explore the delightful former fishing village of Warnemünde, or travel inland to Berlin, Germany’s culture-rich capital. Rønne intrigues and delights visitors with its storied past, rocky coastlines, white sand beaches and traditional herring smokehouses. Learn about Visby’s strong Viking heritage, and see its ancient ruins. Stroll past stately buildings in Klaipeda, a gateway to the pine groves and sand dunes of the Curonian Spit. Visit Riga, the cosmopolitan capital of Latvia, and head ashore in Helsinki, where imaginative architecture mingles with leafy parks and elegant gardens. Then, discover the splendors of St. Petersburg, dubbed the “Venice of the North” and home to such legendary sights as the Peter and Paul Fortress and the State Hermitage Museum. Before our final stop in Stockholm, take in Tallinn, a fairy-tale city of Gothic churches, half-hidden courtyards and gabled merchants’ houses. — From $3,895, including airfare from select cities

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U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT

One prestigious MBA. On campus or online. olemissbusiness.com/mba | mba@olemiss.edu | 662-915-5483 W I N TE R 2 019

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News ALUMNI

Class Notes

’50s

ALBERT W. LYLE (BBA 59) of

Jackson, former Ole Miss golfer, was inducted into the St. Andrew’s School Athletic Hall of Fame for organizing and coaching Mississippi’s first high school soccer team in 1973.

’60s

JAMES ROBERTSON (BA 62) of

Jackson published Heroes, Rascals, and the Law: Constitutional Encounters in Mississippi History on Dec. 15, 2018, with a signing at Square Books on Feb. 13.

JIM WEATHERLY (66) of Pontotoc, song-

writer and former Ole Miss quarterback, released his memoir, Midnight Train.

’70s

HARRIS H. BARNES III (JD 72)

of Flowood is president of Barnes Law Firm. His law firm was named one of 10 Best Estate Planning Law Firms in the state of Mississippi. Barnes was also recognized in the American Institute of Legal Counsel’s 2018 10 Best Legal Counsel for Client Satisfaction list.

REAR ADM. JAMES A. BARNETT JR. USN (Ret.)

(BA 76, JD 84) of McLean, Virginia, was named senior vice president of government services by RigNet. JULIE KAYE FANTON (BFA 79) of Oxford

served as set director for multiple TV series and movies, including “The Middle,” “Act of Valor,” “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” and “The Mighty Ducks.”

NORMAN B. GILLIS III (BA 75, JD 77) is

senior attorney and principal of Music Row Law in Nashville. For the past 25 years of his 30-year legal career, his clients have included Brooks & Dunn, Charlie Daniels Band/Blue Hat Records, Tim McGraw and Bonnie Bramlett.

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ALUMNI REVIEW

MARK HENRY (JD 79) of Brandon was

appointed by Gov. Phil Bryant to a sixyear term on the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission. Henry served as executive director of the Mississippi Department of Employment Security since 2012.

DELBERT HOSEMANN JR. (JD 72) of Jackson

received Autism Speaks’ 2018 Executive Champion Award for his efforts to increase autism awareness and insurance coverage for autism.

JERE T. HUMPHREYS (BM 71), music profes-

’80s

RONNIE AGNEW (BA 84) of

Madison is the executive director of Mississippi Public Broadcasting and was named one of the Most Influential African Americans in Mississippi by Our Mississippi magazine.

RYAN E. BYRNE (BBA 89, JD 94) of Byrne

Associates of Oxford was selected by the North Central Mississippi Realtors as its 2018 Affiliate of the Year. The recipient is chosen annually in appreciation of extraordinary contributions to the real estate profession in Mississippi.

sor at Arizona State University, received a Spirit of Philanthropy Award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals – Greater Arizona Chapter for over two decades of service as a volunteer construction house leader with Habitat for Humanity.

KAREN EVERS (BSJ 84) of Jackson released

ARCHIE MANNING (BPA 71) of New Orleans

THOMAS GRIFFIS (BAccy 83, JD 87) of

was named the 2018 Walter Camp “Distinguished American” and received the Michael L. Slive Distinguished Service Award.

WILLIAM S. MAYO (BA 75) of Oxford was

installed as president of the American Osteopathic Association.

MICHAEL K. RANDOLPH (JD 74) will be the

next chief justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi. He joined the court in 2004 and serves as presiding justice.

WILLIAM L. WALLER JR. (JD 77), chief justice

of the Supreme Court of Mississippi since 2009, announced his retirement effective Jan. 31. He has completed more than 21 years of service.

Images in Mississippi Medicine: A Photographic History of Medicine in Mississippi.

GERARD GIBERT (BBA 80) of Ridgeland was

appointed to the Mississippi Lottery Corp. board of directors.

Ridgeland was appointed to the Mississippi Supreme Court.

JIM MILLER (BPA 86), former Ole Miss

punter from Ripley, was named to the 2018 AT&T Southeastern Conference Football Legends class.

CONNY PARHAM (MPA 87) of Oxford was

named The Pantry’s Volunteer of the Year.

MARSHA L. TAPSCOTT (BA 81) of Tupelo was

recognized as a senior practitioner at the 2018 Southern Public Relations Federation Conference.

PAT THOMASSON (BAccy 85, MAccy 87),

CEO of Thomasson Co. in Philadelphia, was named secretary-treasurer of the Mississippi Manufacturers Association board.

ALUMNI News Thomasson is the first woman elected to the MMA Executive Committee.

VINCE RODRIGUEZ (BSEE 94, MS 96, PhD 99)

inated and selected as the Mississippi Tennis Association 2018 Volunteer of the Year. Cox practices with the Cleveland law firm of Cox & Moore PLLC.

of Suwanee, Georgia, was made a fellow of the Applied Computational Electromagnetics Society. The grade of fellow is bestowed by the board of directors upon a person with exceptional achievements in computational electromagnetics, including ACES publications and service to the society.

ELIZABETH ROSS HADLEY (BA 96, JD 99) of

CALVIN D. TAYLOR (BAccy 90, JD 92) was

’90s

JOHN C. COX (JD 99) was nom-

Austin, Texas, was appointed to the University of Mississippi’s Department of Political Science advisory board.

JESSE HOLLAND (BA 94), award-winning

journalist and novelist from Holly Springs, received the Star of Hope honor at the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi 19th annual Crystal Ball.

ANTHONY N. “TONY” LAWRENCE III (JD 90) of

Pascagoula was sworn in as a judge on the Mississippi Court of Appeals. Lawrence previously served as district attorney of the 19th Circuit Court District.

Mississippi Army National Guard Training Center, Camp McCain.

’00s

KEVIN ALLEMAND JR. (BAEd

05) was selected as the 2018 Teacher of the Year for Hancock County High School. Allemand was also named a 2018 University of Mississippi Practitioner of Distinction.

sworn in as Municipal Court judge for the City of Ocean Springs after being unanimously elected to the post. He is a partner at Taylor Law Firm.

JULIA AYERS (BA 08) was appointed vice

SEN. GRAY TOLLISON (JD 90) of Oxford was

named Kossuth Middle School principal.

named president pro tem of the Mississippi Senate by a unanimous vote of 52-0.

He has served District 9, which encompasses Lafayette and Panola counties, since 1996 and has announced he will not run for re-election in his district.

COL. RICK WEAVER (BPA 96) of Saucier was

promoted to the rank of colonel at the

president for government relations at Kennesaw State University in Georgia.

ALEX BONDURANT (BAEd 08) of Corinth was

SEAN A. COURTNEY (JD 00) was named

Youth Court referee in Stone County.

Courtney is a sole practitioner in Wiggins.

WILLIAM J. LANCASTER (BA 09, MD 13) of

Nashville joined West Tennessee Healthcare as internal medicine physician and chief medical information officer.

Plotting out your future in North Mississippi. land financing

p r o u d ly s e rv i n g n o rt h m i s s i s s i p p i c o r i n t h · s e n at o b i a · t u p e l o www.MSLandBank.com

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ALUMNI News JEFF MITCHELL (JD 05) was appointed to

deputy athletics director at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg.

JOHN VANDERLOO (BA 02, MEd 10), a fam-

ily medicine physician from Jackson, was named a doctor of distinction by the Mississippi State Medical Association. MSMA doctors of distinction are named after they complete the full course of the MSMA Physician Leadership Academy.

RICHARD DEREK WOOD (BBA 09) was

named general manager of the Fairfield Inn New Orleans Metairie.

BEN WYNNE (PhD 00) released his fifth

book, The Man Who Punched Jefferson Davis: The Political Life of Henry S. Foote, Southern Unionist. Wynne serves as professor of history at the University of North Georgia in Dahlonega, Georgia.

BRETT YOUNG (00) of Westminster, Califor-

nia, received the ASCAP Country Songwriter Artist of the Year honor.

’10s

HANNAH GADD (BM 13, MM

15) was named L afayette County School District Teacher of the Year.

DAVID MISENHELTER (BSCJ 10, MCJ 15)

received the Admin Major Award from the Oxford Police Department.

MICHAEL MOORE (BA 10, JD 13) joined

the Pascagoula law firm of Bryan, Nelson, Schroeder, Castigliola & Banahan as a partner.

ALUMNI FRIENDS LANGSTON ROGERS, former sports informa-

tion director for Ole Miss Athletics, won the 2018 Nathaniel Northington Trailblazer in Athletics Award.

O

OLE MISS IN AUSTRIA

le Miss alumni and friends enjoyed a unique vacation in January during an exclusive 10-day “Ole Miss Only” trip to Salzburg and Vienna. The trip was part of the Alumni Association’s travel program. For more information on upcoming travel opportunities, visit the Rebel Traveler department on page 48 of this issue, or visit olemissalumni. com/worldtravel.

54

ALUMNI REVIEW

ALUMNI News BIRTHS

Megan Leigh Spradling (BSFCS 02) and Billy Kessler, Sept. 29, 2018.

Beck Daniel, son of Suzanne Elizabeth Weaver Jackson (BA 08) and Daniel Garrett Jackson (BA 09), Sept. 12, 2018.

Henry Norman, son of Susan Margaret McDaniel (BSME 05) and Chapman McDaniel, Sept. 4, 2018.

Mae Frances, daughter of Bethany Carole Kennedy Rogers (BA 11, MEd 13, SpecEd 14) and Hewitt Bernard Rogers (MEd 13, SpecEd 14), Jan. 5, 2019.

Liza Dailey, daughter of Brooke Stegall Weedon (BA 04) and John K. Weedon, June 13, 2018.

Lauren Allyn White (BAccy 03) and Charles McKnight Cascio (BA 96), May 19, 2018.

IN MEMORIAM 1940s

Anna Rutledge Alford (BA 40) of McComb, Nov. 8, 2018 Doris Baldwin Alford (BSC 42) of Jackson, Oct. 18, 2018 Dicey Carr Barbour (BSC 45) of Yazoo City, Nov. 19, 2018 Leslie Ray Bryant Jr. (BS 49, MedCert 50) of Asheville, N.C., Nov. 14, 2018

WEDDINGS

Ben Richard Burney (BBA 49) of Crystal Springs, Jan. 1, 2019

Rhyan Sinclair Beaman (BS 18) and Franklin Elvadie Davis III (BSChE 17,

Bonnie Tyler Crosby (BSC 40) of Indianola, Dec. 24, 2018

MS 18), June 30, 2018.

Robertson S. Dailey Jr. (49) of Charleston, Dec. 30, 2018

Rachel Carlson (JD 14) and John Wesley Toth, Aug. 18, 2018.

Marguerite Holmes Doyle (BSPh 41) of Lexington, Ky., Dec. 19, 2018

Ashlyn Chandler and William Joshua Peal (BBA 10), Aug. 25, 2018.

John Wayne Ellison Jr. (BSC 40) of Greenville, S.C., Dec. 31, 2018

Charlotte Ann Parker (BS 16) and Michael Rodgers Holland Jr. (BA 16),

John Morgan Faust (41) of Hattiesburg, Jan. 9, 2019

July 21, 2018.

Margaret Whittington Pigott (BSC 45) of St. Louis, Mo., Dec. 14, 2018

The Return of an Icon In 1865, Civil War veterans George and Joe O’Bryan had an idea - repurpose army tent material to make work pants. The canvas cloth, known as “duck,” served as inspiration for their company trademark. Over a century later, Duck Head was “discovered” by brand savvy college students who began wearing Duck Head chinos to class, football games, spring break, even church. By 1990, the gold mallard became a symbol of southern sensibility from Austin to Nantucket. Today’s Duck Head remains true to its humble roots. We invite you to welcome back this American icon and join the revival.

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ALUMNI News

Applied Sciences Alumni Honor TRACEY BARNETT RECOGNIZED FOR CONTRIBUTIONS IN SOCIAL WORK society and the economy,” Barnett says.

Barnett earned her Bachelor of Social Work from the University of Mississippi in 2008, her master’s degree from the University of Alabama in 2011 and her doctorate from the University of Texas at Arlington in 2015.

A 2005 graduate of Ripley High School, Barnett transferred to Ole Miss after attending Northeast Mississippi Community College. She credits her mother, Starlette Vance, and sister, Freda Barnett Braddock, for their endless support and reaching out to the Department of Social Work to learn more about the transfer process, job opportunities in social work and scholarship opportunities.

After receiving glowing recommendations about Barnett for her rich campus involvement in the community college setting, the department also hired her on as a student worker.

“One day, my mom called the social work department and spoke with Dr. Carol Minor Boyd, then chair of the social work department, and Dr. Debra Moore (MA 98, PhD 06), then director of field education,” Barnett says. “They told my mom that I should apply for the Luckyday scholarship for transfer students. I applied

Susan Allen (left), UM professor of social work, presents a plaque to Starlette Vance, mother of Tracey Barnett, commemorating her daughter’s selection as the 2018-19 Thomas A. Crowe Alumnus of the Year at the School of Applied Sciences’ annual holiday celebration.

56

ALUMNI REVIEW

Photo courtesy of University of Arkansas Media Relations

T

he School of Applied Sciences at the University of Mississippi has named Tracey Barnett (BSW 08), of Ripley, as the Thomas A. Crowe Alumnus of the Year for her outstanding contributions in the field of social work.

Barnett is an assistant professor in the School of Social Work in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas.

She began her tenure-track career at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2015. In her young career, she has already been selected as the Ronald E. McNair Mentor of the Year and taught research and technology, evaluation research and social welfare policy.

Her research interests include food insecurity and evidence-based nutrition education, specifically the Share Our Strength Cooking Matters program’s effect on diet quality and food security for recipients of the supplemental nutrition assistance program. Her research expertise is program development, implementation and evaluation.

“I examine dif ferences among participants by race, gender and cardiovascular health outcomes, and longterm health impact of these findings on

Tracey Barnett

and received this scholarship.”

Barnett credits the department and its faculty for not only helping her get to Ole Miss but also for taking her to national professional conferences, where she met scholars as passionate about the field as she was. The faculty provided sound advice and resources she needed to transition to graduate school and navigate a doctoral program.

As a scholar herself, Barnett regularly reaches out to UM social work faculty for advice and research collaboration.

“Throughout my tenure-track career, they have always made themselves available to impart wisdom and give me advice on important career moves,” Barnett says.

The School of Applied Sciences calls for Thomas A. Crowe Alumnus of the Year Award nominations from alumni, faculty, staff and students each fall to be submitted via personal letter of recommendation.

A selection committee, composed of administrators, Alumni board members and faculty, reviews letters submitted for each nominee and makes a recommendation to the dean of applied sciences.

The dean approves and announces the selection at the school’s winter holiday gathering, where the alumnus or alumna is formally recognized.

ALUMNI News George Robert Thatcher (BA 47) of Gulfport, Dec. 28, 2018

William Howard Collison Jr. (BBA 57) of Bald Knob, Ark., Oct. 24, 2018

Jewel Gaither Turman (46) of Oxford, Jan. 14, 2019

Allene Burford Crockett (BAEd 59) of Senatobia, April 27, 2018

Frances Cooke Webb (BAEd 44) of Alexandria, La., Nov. 20, 2018

Wayne Alexander Dawson (BSPh 55) of Hattiesburg, Dec. 31, 2018

Jane Cook Wood (BA 47) of Flowood, Jan. 6, 2019

Louis Arwood Day Sr. (BBA 54) of Columbia, Tenn., Oct. 24, 2018 John Albert Dottley Sr. (BSHPE 50, MEd 51) of Vicksburg, Nov. 17,

1950s

2018

Billie Brewer Anding (MEd 55) of Florence, Dec. 26, 2018

Clyde Beaman Edwards Jr. (BBA 58) of Canton, Nov. 12, 2018

John Terry Barber (55) of Collierville, Tenn., Oct. 8, 2018

Anne von Seutter Fox (BA 50) of Canton, Oct. 24, 2018

James Angelo Becker Jr. (BA 54, LLB 58) of Jackson, Dec. 5, 2018

Robert Abraham Greenlee (BBA 59) of Port Gibson, Oct. 25, 2018

Kathryn Yerger Becker (BA 54) of Ridgeland, Dec. 12, 2018

Harold Lynn Greer (BAEd 57) of Oxford, Nov. 10, 2018

Woodrow Wilson Brand Jr. (LLB 58) of Houston, Nov. 1, 2018

Peggy Evans Harbin (BAEd 57, MEd 66, MLS 74) of Grenada, Nov. 26,

Dexter Arno Branscome III (BA 59) of Franklin, Tenn., Oct. 24, 2018

2018

Walter Luckett Brown Jr. (BBA 51) of Okeechobee, Fla., Nov. 17, 2018 John Albert Cain USMC (Ret.) (BBA 57) of Covington, La., Dec. 19,

Kenneth Irvin Hardcastle (MS 54) of Decatur, Ga., Dec. 8, 2018 John Davis Harper (52) of Starkville, Sept. 26, 2018

2018

Horace Alfred Harris Jr. (BBA 53) of Chattanooga, Tenn., Dec. 30, 2018

Raymond James Calvert (BSPh 50) of Biloxi, Oct. 3, 2018

Owen Weston Harrison (BBA 56) of Morehead City, N.C., Jan. 1, 2019

Jeffrey Lee Cole (52) of Jackson, Nov. 20, 2018

Holcomb Hector (57) of Diamondhead, Oct. 20, 2018

James Whitfield Collins (BBA 55) of Tupelo, Nov. 26, 2018

Peggy Crim Hector (59) of Diamondhead, Oct. 16, 2018

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For more information, call William Nicholas, 662-915-2526, or visit insightparkum.com.

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W I N TE R 2 019

ALUMNI News Max Lee Hill (BS 57) of Highland, Ark., Oct. 20, 2018

Bonita Appleton Sparrow (BA 57) of Fort Worth, Texas, Dec. 25, 2018

James Melvin Hollowell (50) of Oxford, Oct. 31, 2018

Herbert F. Spencer (BSPh 59) of Orange, Texas, Jan. 2, 2019

Mary Elizabeth Thomas Joseph (51) of Greenville, Oct. 17, 2018

Herbert G. Stampley (MA 50) of Brandon, Dec. 9, 2018

Edmund Taylor Kittleman Sr. (BA 52, MS 57) of Bartlesville, Okla.,

Mary Hager Steiner (BA 51) of Honolulu, Hawaii, Dec. 2, 2018

Nov. 17, 2018

Roland Guest Stetler Jr. (BBA 54) of Lexington, Va., Dec. 18, 2018

David Carson Leatherman (BSPh 55) of Pineville, La., June 5, 2018 Travis Eugene Lunceford (MedCert 54) of Concord, N.C., Oct. 3, 2018 Albert Joseph Martin (BA 57) of Fort Washington, Md., Aug. 20, 2018 Roy Dean McAlilly (BA 53) of Tupelo, Dec. 20, 2018 William Elbert Middleton Sr. (MA 50, EdD 59) of Cleveland, Dec. 19, 2018 Myrtis Carole Nelson Mize (59) of Washington, D.C., Nov. 23, 2018 Henry Hartfield Mounger (BBA 56, LLB 61) of Jackson, Oct. 14, 2018 Elizabeth Falls Munro (BAEd 57, MEd 58) of Biloxi, Jan. 13, 2019 Paula Pemble Parker (BSC 55) of Franklin, Tenn., Dec. 21, 2018 Robert Brown Parkes (BS 53) of Dover, Ark., Oct. 31, 2018 Joan Humphreys Parkin (51) of Madison, Nov. 18, 2018 James Leighton Pettis Jr. (54) of Memphis, Tenn., Nov. 15, 2018 James Durell Polk (BSPh 55) of Algoma, Nov. 12, 2018

Merril Binford Williams (BBA 53) of Water Valley, Nov. 13, 2018 Charles Hulon Windham Jr. (52) of Laurel, Oct. 7, 2018 Jackson Hudson Wittjen Sr. (BBA 53) of Oxford, Jan. 15, 2019 Milton Reed York (MD 58) of Vicksburg, Sept. 27, 2018

1960s

William George Artner (BS 63, MS 64) of Milwaukee, Wis., May 13, 2018 Edward Prater Blackburn (BAEd 61) of Laguna Woods, Calif., Sept. 1, 2018 Thomas John Blumer (BA 67, MA 68) of Columbia, S.C., April 21, 2018 Lowery Carter Brown (BSHPE 61) of Augusta, Ga., Nov. 17, 2018 Gayle Douglas Bullard Sr. (BS 69) of Pittsboro, Sept. 25, 2018 Charles Harold Burhorn (BSHPE 67) of Leakesville, Nov. 29, 2018

Betty Lee Hall Robison (52) of Batesville, Dec. 14, 2018

Sandra McElwee Causey (BA 64, MA 66) of Homer, La., Oct. 3, 2018

Robert C. Rollings (54) of Saluda, S.C., Dec. 25, 2018

Dorothy Brown Cauthern (MLS 60) of Amory, Dec. 21, 2018

Hattie Carter Ruder (56) of Brandon, Dec. 7, 2018 James William Saul (BSEA 54) of Scottsdale, Ariz., July 17, 2018 Joseph Edward Schiferli (BM 55) of Jackson, Mich., Oct. 19, 2018 Mary Sue Chilcoat Self (BAEd 50, MEd 51) of Pontotoc, Jan. 2, 2019

Louise Barber Chambliss (BSN 66) of New Orleans, La., Sept. 25, 2018 Virginia Lee Brothers Cora (BSN 61, MN 72) of Jackson, Dec. 7, 2018 William Frank Crosby Jr. (BSHPE 63, MEd 64) of Jackson, Sept. 25, 2018

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ALUMNI News Richard Hamlin Darnell (BA 63) of Edmond, Okla., Oct. 31, 2018

Walter Robert Jones Jr. (BA 62, MD 66) of Brandon, Oct. 19, 2018

Rosemary Stechschulte Davis (MCS 65) of Ocala, Fla., Oct. 15, 2018

James Doran Knox (BAEd 66) of Covington, Ky., Oct. 23, 2018

Earl Lamar Denham Jr. (BS 69, JD 72) of Ocean Springs, Oct. 16, 2018

Nancy Burks Mattox (BAEd 60) of Guntown, Nov. 12, 2018

Martha Ann Chadwick Duncan (BAEd 65, MEd 78) of Memphis, Tenn.,

Frank Allen May (JD 66) of St. Petersburg, Fla., April 4, 2018

Nov. 16, 2018

Jack Lamar Mayfield Jr. (BBA 69) of Oxford, Oct. 13, 2018

Perry Lee Dunn (64) of Brandon, Oct. 27, 2018 Priscilla Watts Eubank (63) of Tupelo, Nov. 17, 2018 Donald Glen Fritchie Sr. (BSGE 60) of Baton Rouge, La., Dec. 31, 2018

Sandra Jones Mayo (BAEd 62) of Oxford, Nov. 17, 2018 George Wayne McGreger (BAEd 64, MEd 67) of Booneville, Nov. 10, 2018

Rudolph Silas Fulton (MS 67) of League City, Texas, Oct. 10, 2018

William McArn McKell Jr. (MD 62) of Ridgeland, Oct. 7, 2018

Robert Brooks Gann USMC (Ret.) (BBA 60) of Tunica, Oct. 19, 2018

James Milton McQueen III (BBA 62) of Baton Rouge, La., Jan. 2, 2019

John Overton Gayden (BA 66) of Memphis, Tenn., Oct. 5, 2018

Gerald Charles Mertens (MA 63) of St. Cloud, Minn., Jan. 11, 2019

W. Douglas Godfrey (Cert 67) of Florence, Oct. 19, 2018

James Alton Milam (BBA 65) of Ridgeland, Dec. 17, 2018

John Grant Gourlay Jr. (JD 66) of Oxford, Oct. 28, 2018

John Benjamin Milam (BA 69, MD 73) of Jackson, Dec. 15, 2018

Betty Ross Graves (BSHPE 61, MEd 68) of Mer Rouge, La., Oct. 8, 2018

Richard Floyd Mitchell (BA 61) of Roswell, Ga., Sept. 24, 2018

Roger Dean Harris (BBA 66, JD 71) of York, Pa., Nov. 13, 2018

Elizabeth Roberts Monro (BA 66) of Woodbridge, Va., Jan. 2, 2019

Daniel Earl Harrison (BSChE 62) of Munford, Tenn., Oct. 22, 2018

Diana Chapman Monsour (MA 67) of Jackson, Jan. 11, 2019

Cas Edgar Heath Jr. (61) of Grenada, Oct. 8, 2018

Joe Donald Moss (BBA 61) of Oxford, Jan. 16, 2019

Scott Parker Hemleben (BAEd 64, JD 67) of Jackson, Sept. 21, 2018

Thomas Calvin Null Jr. (64) of Meridian, Sept. 23, 2018

Patricia Ann King Herring (MEd 64) of Antioch, Tenn., Jan. 14, 2019

Helen Briscoe O’Callaghan (MS 64) of Shreveport, La., Nov. 24, 2018

Carl Neail Hockaday (61) of Batesville, Sept. 26, 2018

Ronald Troy Oldenburg (JD 61) of Biloxi, Oct. 15, 2018

Martha Prowell Holmes (BAEd 69) of Houston, Texas, Oct. 11, 2018

John Herman Paulsen (BBA 68) of Mount Prospect, Ill., Nov. 9, 2018

Mary Fonta Hopson (MEd 68) of Holly Springs, Dec. 8, 2018

John Howey Pecarek (BBA 67) of Largo, Fla., Jan. 16, 2019

Virginia Ruth Pearce Hudgens (MA 63) of Memphis, Tenn., Nov. 13, 2018

Felix Edwin Perry (BA 64, JD 67) of Oxford, Jan. 15, 2019

Dennis Lee Huffman (BBA 64) of Spring Hill, Fla., Jan. 19, 2018

Doris Ferguson Pickens (BS 60, MA 64) of Randolph, Nov. 24, 2018

John Elmore Jayme III (BBA 65) of Pensacola, Fla., Dec. 22, 2018

John Watson Province Jr. (BA 69) of Olive Branch, Dec. 9, 2018

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ALUMNI News Robert James Reynolds (MEd 66) of Macclenny, Fla., Oct. 11, 2018

Sharron Stewart Burch (MN 75) of Brandon, Sept. 29, 2018

William Byron Rochelle (BA 66) of Los Angeles, Calif., Oct. 9, 2018

Charles Edward Cato (PhD 72) of Calhoun, La., Feb. 9, 2018

Arlington Lee Rowell (MEd 65) of Maggie Valley, N.C., March 17, 2018

John Daniel Cleveland (BAEd 72) of Knoxville, Tenn., Dec. 6, 2018

J. Paul Schumann (MA 60, BA 60) of Toney, Ala., Dec. 5, 2018

William W. Curtis II (BBA 75) of Springfield, Ill., Dec. 31, 2018

Robert Belton Sims (MBA 60) of Ridgeland, Oct. 27, 2018

Arthur Dumont III (MD 76) of Orange Beach, Ala., Sept. 20, 2018

Ronald Lynn Slade Sr. (BSPh 60) of Covington, Ga., Sept. 27, 2018

Jenny Lou Townley Foster (BAEd 72, MEd 73) of Hixson, Tenn., Nov.

Ann Adams Sorensen (BA 61, MA 62) of Trumann, Ark., Dec. 14, 2018

8, 2018

Ruth Starr Gordon Strayhorn (BA 60) of Nashville, Tenn., Nov. 1, 2018 Marvin Terrell Jr. (60) of Yazoo City, Dec. 1, 2018 Lola Irene Thompson Tohill (BAEd 62) of New Albany, Nov. 17, 2018 Carolyn Webb (BSN 60) of Oxford, Oct. 15, 2018 D’Anna Poole Wick (BSN 63) of Tyler, Texas, Oct. 14, 2018 Michael Wren (BBA 60) of Long Beach, Jan. 6, 2019

Roy Louis Fulton Sr. (BS 79, MBA 81) of Murfreesboro, Tenn., Oct. 30, 2018 Mack Clifton Furr (MD 79) of Petal, June 4, 2018 Glenda Paulette Glover Gardner (MEd 73) of Salinas, Calif., Oct. 4, 2018 Emma Lee Campbell Gordon (MEd 72) of Fayetteville, Ark., Dec. 14, 2018 Roland Parker Guest Jr. (MD 76) of Tupelo, Nov. 6, 2018 Zetta Bryant Hearin (BA 70) of New Orleans, La., Nov. 30, 2018

1970s

Comora Shumpert Horton (MEd 75) of Fulton, Dec. 22, 2018

Sidney Perry Allen (BBA 72) of Jackson, Nov. 10, 2018

Janice Mosby Jackson (MEd 79) of Xenia, Ohio, Dec. 14, 2018

John Baker Aldridge (BBA 71) of Greenwood, Oct. 14, 2018 James Frank Armishaw (BPA 72, MSS 73) of Cleveland, Jan. 4, 2019 William Earl Austin (BM 77, MEd 94) of Oxford, Oct. 6, 2018 Frank David Barber III (BPA 78, JD 81) of New Orleans, La., Nov. 12,

James Cecil Jackson Jr. (BBA 78) of Oxford, Nov. 7, 2018 Gary Marcus Kay (BA 71) of Peyton, Colo., Aug. 16, 2018 Elizabeth McGhee King (MEd 77) of Coldwater, Dec. 9, 2018 Edward Stafford Knight Sr. (MURP 73) of Corinth, Nov. 29, 2018

2018

Doris Lee Clay Landon (MA 75, JD 78) of Oxford, Nov. 9, 2018

Judith Stevens Bramlett (MEd 78) of Canton, Oct. 5, 2018

James Dennis Littlejohn (BPA 73) of Rowlett, Texas, Dec. 16, 2018

James Palmer Brantley (JD 70) of Madison, Oct. 31, 2018

Karen Verell Maccarone (BS 75, MD 78) of Jackson, Dec. 27, 2018

Frances Louise Barlow Brenner (MEd 78) of Tupelo, Dec. 20, 2018

Wilburn Ray Murphree (MEd 75) of Banner, Oct. 19, 2018

Delma Ramsey Brumfield (MEd 72) of Charleston, W.Va., Dec. 2, 2018

Shelton Edward Norris (BBA 73) of Laurel, Dec. 10, 2018

R A Y P O O LE I N S U R A N CE · R E NT A L S ,

CO NDO S , HO M E , A U T O , L IF E , E T C ·

“W e W a n t Y o u r Bu s i n e s s !”

662·563·7721

RA YP O O L E . C O M 60

ALUMNI REVIEW

662·234·7574

W I L L P O O L E SF . C O M

334·365·1800

T RE YP O O L E . C O M

ALUMNI News Simmie Diane Stodghill Olson (BBA 71) of Oxford, Nov. 28, 2018

John Michael Smith (BBA 83) of Paducah, Ky., Oct. 31, 2018

Michael Glenn Patton (BBA 79) of Oxford, Oct. 29, 2018

Alonzo Holmes Sturgeon III (JD 88) of Woodville, Oct. 10, 2018

Barbara Smith Rhodes (BS 72) of Biloxi, Oct. 4, 2018

Ralph Dee Walton (EdD 81) of Orlando, Fla., Feb. 13, 2018

Rian Amund Ringsrud (BBA 70) of Milledgeville, Ga., Nov. 22, 2018

Arthur Humphrey Woolhouse III (BBA 89, JD 92) of Tupelo, Dec. 29,

Guy Addison Robinson (BBA 73) of Bath Springs, Tenn., Dec. 4, 2018

2018

Alice Crisler Shanks (MLS 77) of Jackson, Sept. 22, 2018 Mary Hopkins Smith (MA 79) of Oxford, Nov. 6, 2018 Mary Strahan Starnes (MEd 71) of Memphis, Tenn., Dec. 8, 2018 Jerry Curtis Streetman (BAEd 72) of Tupelo, Dec. 13, 2018 Mary Jo Thompson (BSW 78) of Arlington, Va., Dec. 21, 2018 Molly Ruffin Turner (BAEd 76) of Philadelphia, Oct. 15, 2018 Larry Claiborne Walters (BSChE 71) of Baton Rouge, La., Oct. 4, 2018 John Dale Ware Jr. (BSPh 75) of Ada, Okla., Jan. 4, 2019 Andrew Monroe Wynne Westerfield (JD 73) of Merigold, Oct. 11, 2018 Mary Sue Tackett Wilson (BAEd 76) of Greenwood, Nov. 6, 2018 Diane Denman Wolfe (MEd 76) of Starkville, June 14, 2018

1980s

Constance German Bland (BA 80, BSCS 81, MS 85) of Greenwood, Oct. 9, 2018 Felon Bartley Boykin III (BBA 80) of Hollandale, Dec. 8, 2018 Mozella Louise Brown (BAccy 86) of Dallas, Texas, Nov. 20, 2018 Laurence Rowe Crowder Jr. (MFA 83) of Encino, Calif., Oct. 26, 2018 Michael Paul Eannarino (BBA 88, JD 90) of McKinleyville, Calif., Sept.

28, 2017 John Miles Edwards (BA 83) of Crystal Springs, Aug. 24, 2018 Charles Edward Herring Jr. (BS 81) of Wesson, May 29, 2018 Cheryl Elder Jamison (BAEd 85) of Hernando, Nov. 14, 2018 Lisa Burns Jones (BAccy 87) of Corinth, Dec. 1, 2018 Ethel Minett Lassiter (PhD 89) of Vicksburg, Jan. 14, 2019 Willie Joanna Pegg Leslie (BA 80) of Saltillo, Oct. 11, 2018 Ruth Tomlinson Lewis (MEd 81) of Hernando, Dec. 6, 2018 Lisa Denley McNeece (BA 81) of Bruce, Dec. 9, 2018 Nancy Newman Merrell (BBA 85) of Ridgeland, Oct. 27, 2018

Tracy Allen Wyatt (89) of Jackson, Mo., Dec. 30, 2018

1990s

Phillip A. McSparin (BSN 99) of Rock Hill, S.C., Nov. 26, 2018 Wendy Kathleen Leigh Myers (BAEd 99) of Hernando, Jan. 3, 2019 DeMeka Bean Roddy (BA 98) of Holly Springs, Nov. 30, 2018 Claude Michael Sicuro (BA 96, MA 97) of Memphis, Tenn., Nov. 26, 2018 Christine Bowles Stewart (BAEd 91) of Courtland, Nov. 1, 2018 Patricia Jones Yankouski (MEd 91) of Murphy, N.C., Dec. 17, 2018

2000s

Elizabeth Kershaw Blackmon (04) of Columbia, S.C., Oct. 21, 2018 Jada JoAnn Hendrickson Bratton (BA 00, MEd 06) of Oxford, June 18, 2018 William Jason Jones (BA 08, MEd 14) of Nettleton, Nov. 30, 2018 Jonathan Alexander Nobles (BA 00) of Florence, Ala., May 19, 2018

2010s

John Brooke Barton (BBA 12) of Alpharetta, Ga., Dec. 31, 2018 Thomas McLaurine Davis (BBA 15) of Jackson, Dec. 9, 2018 Bernard Joseph Jansen Jr. (12) of Oxford, Dec. 25, 2018 Cecil Dantrell Wilson (11) of Oxford, Oct. 28, 2018 Christopher Colby Woodley (BBA 13) of Alpharetta, Ga., Sept. 30, 2018

Students

Hailey Marie Fox (18) of Newton, Oct. 16, 2018

Faculty, Staff and Friends

Blair E. Batson of Jackson, Nov. 26, 2018

John Cole Mitchell (BBA 80) of Memphis, Tenn., Nov. 22, 2018

Jerry Dean Boutwell Jr. of Brandon, Jan. 4, 2019

Charlotte Ferguson Murrell (BSN 86) of Sunshine, La., Oct. 23, 2018

Janie Buford of Chicago, Ill., Nov. 1, 2018

Mary White Parks (BSPh 82) of Tupelo, Oct. 4, 2018

John Morrison Case of Oxford, Nov. 30, 2018

William David Parrish (BA 86, DMD 90) of Gautier, Nov. 12, 2018

Rebecca Ann Ratliff Clark of Bartlett, Tenn., Nov. 21, 2018

Susan McGehee Root (BBA 84) of Ridgeland, Nov. 20, 2018

Bobbie Robinson Garrett of Oxford, Nov. 4, 2018

James Edward Salter Jr. (MD 86) of Houston, Texas, Sept. 27, 2018

Donald Spencer Harris of Clinton, Sept. 28, 2018

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ALUMNI News

HOLIDAY HAUL

C

ongrats to the winner of the Alumni Associationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Holiday Haul contest: Jimmy Cheatham (BSPh 72), and his wife, Barbie. After signing up for the contest through the OMAA app, Cheatham won an assortment of Ole Miss swag including an Archie Manning signed football helmet, Nike apparel including polos and pullovers, an assortment of Alumni Association T-shirts and caps, an Alumni Association hoodie and a set of pilsner glasses from The Inn at Ole Miss.

Download the OMAA app and sign up to receive notifications for future contests.

Show your Ole Miss pride Show your loyalty to Ole Miss by owning an official University of Mississippi license plate.

Mississippi residents pay an additional $51 a year for the affinity plate, $32.50 of which returns to the university and is applied toward student scholarships and keeping the Grove and University Circle green and vibrant.

Ole Miss affinity license plates also are available in some other states, including Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and Washington D.C. For more information visit olemissalumni.com.

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ALUMNI REVIEW

ALUMNI News Lottie Wynette Savage Horne of Oxford, Jan. 12, 2019 Canary Rebecca Gullick Howell of Hattiesburg, Dec. 3, 2018 William Sanders Kincade III of Oxford, Oct. 12, 2018 Theodore James Klingen of Oxford, Dec. 15, 2018 Willie Sampson Kroeze of Jackson, Oct. 1, 2018 Frederick Dunham Kurrus of Argyle, Texas, Dec. 27, 2018 Anne Marie Liles of Oxford, Aug. 23, 2018 Bert Denton McLellan Jr. of Memphis, Tenn., Dec. 10, 2018

Due to space limitations, class notes are only published in the Alumni Review from active, dues-paying members of the Ole Miss Alumni Association. To submit a class note, send it to records@olemiss.edu or Alumni Records Dept., Ole Miss Alumni Association, P.O. Box 1848, University, MS 386771848. Class notes also may be submitted through the Associationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s website at olemissalumni.com. The Association relies on numerous sources for class notes and is unable to verify all notes with individual alumni.

Margaret Martin Orf of Oxford, Jan. 6, 2019 Rickie Leroy Pannel of Oxford, Dec. 28, 2018 Judee McElwee Reeves of McComb, March 27, 2018 Donald Cleveland Smith Sr. of Oxford, Jan. 4, 2019 Bonna Wallace Stuart of Tupelo, Sept. 30, 2018 Larry Eugene Temple of Austin, Texas, Jan. 5, 2019 Jacqueline Dempsey Triplett of Jackson, Dec. 3, 2018

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ALUMNI News

Nominate Someone Great OMAA SEEKS ALUMNI HALL OF FAME NOMINATIONS

T

he Ole Miss Alumni Association annually inducts a few of its most distinguished alumni into the Hall of Fame. The ceremony is part of Homecoming Weekend festivities and will be held this year on Oct. 4.

Regular nominations are encouraged to ensure that the selection committee always has a broad range of worthy individuals to consider for each class. All alumni are eligible for consideration. From the nominations submitted, not more than five outstanding alumni are chosen by a seven-member committee and are inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame.

For alumni to be considered for induction into the Hall of Fame on any given year, nominations are required on or

before April 1, though nominees remain in the selection pool for three years. Anyone may submit the name of a University of Mississippi alumna or alumnus to be nominated.

Criteria and eligibility information can be found on the Alumni Association website at olemissalumni.com, along with a complete list of information and materials needed for nomination submissions and list of past recipients.

It is essential that all materials pertinent to the nominee be submitted, as the Hall of Fame Committee will do no further research. Materials may be submitted via email to alumni@olemiss.edu and/or mail to Hall of Fame Committee, Triplett Alumni Center, P.O. Box 1848, University, MS 38677-1848.

Criteria and eligibility information can be found on the Alumni Association website:

olemissalumni.com

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