Ole Miss Alumni Review - Spring 2010

Ole Miss Alumni Review Sprin g 2010 Vol. 59 No. 2

Spring 2010

No Place Like Home UM’s Residential College exceeds expectations in first year

Innocence Project team crusades for justice Alumni-helmed company leads the way in energy conservation

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The University of Mississippi Alumni Association P.O. Box 1848 University, MS 38677-1848 (662) 915-7375 www.olemissalumni.com

RevolutionaRy ReseaRch

at t h e u n i v e R s i t y o f M i s s i s s i pp i

ACOUSTICS

C O M PU TATI O N A L M O D E LIN G

DIS A S TER PREPA REDNE S S E N V IR O N M E N TA L S T E WA RD S HIP

GLOBAL SOUTH MINERAL RESOURCES

G E O S PAT I A L

H E A LT H D I S PA R I T I E S

PA RTICLE PH YSIC S

PHARMACEUTICALS

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S O U T H E R N C U LT U R E

or information on research being conducted at Ole Miss or to become involved by helping support a particular research effort, please contact the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research at 662-915-7583 or changeagents@research.olemiss.edu.

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Spring 2010

Vol. 59 No. 2

features

24 No Place on the cover

Like Home A pictorial tells the inside story on the Residential College.

Photos by robert jordan and nathan latil

18The Justice League Mississippi Innocence Project team works tirelessly to right wrongs. by tom speed

32 Smart Investment

SmartSynch, an alumni-helmed company, is revolutionizing the way energy is delivered and used. by tina hahn

36 Seeing the Light

departments 6 From the Circle

The latest on Ole Miss students, faculty, staff and friends

14 Calendar 40 sports

Football attendance gains yardage

44 arts and culture 46 travel 50 alumni news

Nonresident scholarships go up for children of alumni

Alumnus carries on mentor’s impressionist-influenced painting method. by michael harrelson

On the cover: The state’s first residential college exceeds expectations.

Photo by Robert Jordan

Ole Miss Alumni Review P ublisher Warner L. Alford (60) Timothy Walsh (83) Editor ditor E Jim Urbanek II (02) Jim Urbanek II (97) jim@olemiss.edu jim@olemiss.edu Creative Director A ssociate ditor and SabrinaEBrown A dvertising Director Designers Tom Speed (91) ? tom@olemiss.edu C ontributing Editor Editorial A ssistant Benita Whitehorn Macaulay Knight Designer C orrespondents Eric Summers ?

Editorial A ssistant Holly Mayatte C orrespondents Kevin Bain (98), Tobie Baker (96), Mitchell Diggs (82), Jennifer Farish (01), Jay Ferchaud, TomRFortner, Tina Hahn, A dvertising epresentative Cristen Hemmins (MA 96) (83), Michael Harrelson, Robert Jordan Nathan Latil,662-236-1700 Elaine Pugh, Janis Quinn, EdwinOSmith (80), Jennifer Southall (92), fficers of The University Ryan Whittington (09) of M ississippi A lumni A ssociation Chance Laws (63), Officers of The University president of M ississippi A lumni A ssociation David McCormick (77), Charles Clark (72), president-elect president Rose Jackson Flenorl (79), Bill May (79), vice president president-elect John T. Cossar (61), Richard Noble (68), athleticsvice committee presidentmember Roger Friou(76), (56), Sam Lane athletics athletics committee committee member member (73), A lumni Karen A ffairsLee Staff , O xford athletics member Warner Alfordcommittee (60), executive director Wendy (97), A lumniChambers A ffairs SCarmean taff, O xford assistant director forexecutive marketing Timothy L. Walsh (83), director Clay Cavett (86), associate director Joseph Baumbaugh, systems analyst I Josh Davis (99), assistant director Sarah Kathryn M. Hickman (03), Martha Dollarhide, systems programmer II assistant director for marketing Sheila Dossett (75), assistant director and membership Annette Kelly accountant Clay Cavett (86),(79), associate director David Gilmore, systems analyst Josh Davis (99), assistant directorI Robert Radice, manager, Martha Dollarhide, systems programmer II The Inn at Ole Miss Sheila Dossett (75), senior associate Scott Thompson (97), alumni assistant, director club coordinator Annette (79),IIaccountant Jim Kelly Urbanek (02), assistant director communications Tom Speed (91),for publications editor Tim Walsh (83), senior associate director Sovent Taylor (03), alumni assistant, club Rusty Woods (01), coordinator assistant director for information services Scott Thompson (97), assistant director James Butler (60), director emeritus Jim Urbanek II (97), Herbert E. Dewees Jr. (65), assistant director for communications executive director emeritus Rusty Woods (01), assistant director for information services A lumni A ffairs Staff, Jackson James Butler (53), director emeritus Geoffrey Mitchell (70), alumni director Ginger Roby Daniels assistant director Warner Alford (60),(77), executive director emeritus The Ole Miss Alumni Review (USPS is published by The561-870) Ole Miss Alumni Reviewquarterly (USPS 561-870) The University of Mississippi Alumni is published quarterly

by The University of Association and Association the Officeand of Alumni Mississippi Alumni the Office of AlumniAlumni Affairs. Alumni Association offices Affairs.

Association offices are are located at Triplett AlumniCenter, Center, Room located at Triplett Alumni Room 172, University, MS 38677.

Telephone 662172, University, MS 38677.

Telephone 915-7375.

662-915-7375.

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Chancellor Dear Alumni and Friends, The University of Mississippi has a great and noble mission centered on teaching, research and service. The spirit of service has been a distinguishing characteristic of this university for more than 162 years. But we must seek additional opportunities to fulfill our responsibility to transform not just individual lives but to transform the world around us through service.

One way we can do that is to be purposeful in providing the opportunity for this transformation through higher education to everyone in our state. We have taken steps to ensure that we do not allow barriers, real or perceived, to exclude any person from this opportunity at The University of Mississippi by introducing a new “needs-based” scholarship program, “Ole Miss Opportunity.”

I commend our faculty and leadership team for supporting this important new access to higher education during a difficult economic time. Please take the opportunity to learn more about Ole Miss Opportunity by visiting www.olemiss.edu/finaid.

In a commencement address to our graduates a few years ago, alumnus Jim Barksdale implored our university community to “keep the main thing the main thing.” We will only be effective in the transformation of individuals and our community if we remain focused on what is most important. And at the university, as at every university, the main thing is education. Great faculty and students will keep us on the pathway to being a great public university. Everything else either supports faculty and students or distracts us from the main thing.

To support keeping the main thing the main thing, we have established a goal of increasing the faculty support endowment by $100 million. I hope you will lend your financial support and enthusiasm for this renewed commitment to keeping us focused on what is most important.

I am inspired daily by the efforts and loyalty of our alumni and friends. I am humbled by your support of our alma mater and proud to be a part of this great public university.

Sincerely,

Daniel W. Jones Chancellor

FordCtr-ARsummer10:FordCtr-ARfallAd

THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI

4/21/10

8:21 AM

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President Dear Fellow Alumni and Friends,

July 30 at 8 p.m.

As our alumni club meeting season gets underway, a definite excitement is in the air. Recently I had the pleasure of participating in Leadership Ole Miss, where the presidents of the local alumni clubs came together on campus to share ideas and best practices. My optimism and excitement about the future of Ole Miss were certainly renewed by this experience. We have a great group of new club leaders who are passionate about Ole Miss, especially about raising our level of scholarships. I wish to express my sincere appreciation to our local alumni club officers for all they do for Ole Miss. Please show your support by participating in your upcoming local alumni club meetings.

Please also take a moment to review the write-ups and photos of our newest members of the Alumni Association board of directors. I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to them, as well as our other board members, for their service and willingness to give their time and talents to Ole Miss.

Congratulations to our basketball team and Coach Kennedy and his staff for a strong finish in the regular season and for making it to the NIT Final Four!

In this issue, you will find an article about the increase for Nonresident Alumni Scholarships that will begin this fall. We are very pleased by this scholarship increase since it will help our out-of-state alumni offset the ever-increasing cost of nonresident tuition for their children entering Ole Miss.

We hope to increase our active membership in the Alumni Association this year by more than 1,000 new members for a total membership of 24,000. With commencement ceremonies this month, I am excited by the prospect of many new members. Please let me suggest a great idea for a graduation gift for your special graduate: a regular or lifetime membership in the Alumni Association and/or an engraved brick in front of the Triplett Alumni Center. From personal experience, I can assure you that this gift will be appreciated by the recipient for many years to come.

The renovation of the Triplett Alumni Center is expected to be completed in June. We look forward to our alumni staff moving back on campus into the new offices, but we continue to need your donations to help fund this project. Naming opportunities still exist. Thank you to all who have already made donations and pledges to help make this renovation possible.

As I walk around our campus, especially in the spring, wonderful emotions and memories from my time at Ole Miss are kindled. While the physical beauty of our grounds and facilities certainly has changed and improved over the years, the magical feeling that comes over me when visiting Ole Miss is constant. I have heard our chancellor say often that regardless of when you were a student at Ole Miss, all of our alumni think of their time here as a “magical time.” If you haven’t been to campus during spring in awhile, I highly recommend you visit this spring, stay at The Inn at Ole Miss, walk our magnificent campus and renew the magic—the Ole Miss magic!

I hope to see you soon and, as always, thank you for the honor and privilege of serving as president of your Alumni Association.

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Charles C. Clark (BBA 72)

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Circle

The latest on Ole Miss students, faculty, staff and friends

Visual Aid two Faculty awarded for curriculum design

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hen University of Mississippi facult y members Tamara Wa r h o l a n d K a t h e r i n e Rhodes Fields (MFA 05) began working on a class to enhance the English skills of visiting Venezuelan high-school students, they wanted to bridge the language gap by incorporating multimedia components that would transcend the cultures of both Venezuela and the United States.

That effort, which began during the 2009 August intersession, grew into an award-winning, four-part curriculum that Warhol and Fields hope to publish in a textbook.

In March, Warhol and Fields traveled to the Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages Annual International Convention and Exposition in Boston to accept the Mary Finocchiaro Award for Excellence in Nonpublished Pedagogical Material for their submission, “Perceptual Prose.”

For Warhol and Fields, the award was a first in the field of peer review by both teachers and researchers.

“I feel very honored to receive the award,” says Fields, a visiting professor of art. “I’ve always wanted to develop a curriculum outside my field of study that would utilize visual language.”

UM faculty members Katherine Rhodes Fields (left), and Tamara Warhol accepted the Mary Finocchiaro Award for Excellence in Nonpublished Pedagogical Material for their work in enhancing the English skills of nonspeakers by using multimedia components. Photo by Ryan Whittington

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I’ve always wanted to develop a curriculum outside my field of study that would utilize visual language.

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—Katherine Rhodes fields

Students were asked to photograph themselves and scenes around the UM campus before uploading the pictures to a blog. Then they discussed and critiqued the images, creating a dialogue about how and why they took the pictures. Fields says not only did students understand the art, but they were also able to successfully communicate in English about their work.

“It allows them to use more extensive

and sophisticated language by building their vocabulary and grammar and including different ways of explaining visual literacy,” says Warhol, who also serves as director of the university’s Intensive English Program. “There’s really no limit as to how advantageous it is for this university. It opens dialogue not just for students but for [faculty members] as well across departments.” AR

Professor turns focus from remote sensing to mineral resources

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Taylor McGraw of Oxford and Audrey Seal of Ridgeland were named as Barksdale Award Scholars at The University of Mississippi. Both receive $5,000 in scholarship money to complete a proposed project. Photo by Nathan Latil.

Project Management Honors College students awarded Barksdale scholarships for projects

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wo students in the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College at The University of Mississippi were named 2010 Barksdale Award Scholars.

Audrey Seal, a junior elementary education major from Ridgeland, and Taylor McGraw, a sophomore public policy leadership major from Oxford, will receive $5,000 each for the projects they proposed. Seal has designed an educational camp for at-risk youngsters in Greenville.

McGraw plans to observe and chronicle the lives of New York City residents living on the fringes of an urban economy.

Douglass Sullivan-González, dean of the Honors College, announced the winners during the college’s annual spring convocation. The recipients say they were honored and challenged by their awards.

“Being offered this award is just another way the Honors College is supporting my strong beliefs that a quality education is an essential tool that we should all possess,” Seal says.

“The Honors College is counting on me to follow through on my goal so the award is more than an honor, it is also a challenge,” says McGraw.

Seal is the daughter of Sid (BSPh 85) and Zina Seal. A graduate of Terry High School, she serves as vice president of communications for Alpha Omicron Pi Sorority. Seal also volunteers at Leap Frog, a nonprofit after-school tutoring and enrichment program, and enjoys traveling and cooking in her spare time.

McGraw is the son of Jo Ann O’Quin, UM professor of social work, and Ken McGraw, retired UM professor of psychology. A graduate of Oxford High School, he is an Associated Student Body senator and on the Ole Miss forensics team.

Established in 2005, the Barksdale Awards are designed to encourage students to think in their own terms about the world, its possibilities and problems. Applicants must decide what they want to accomplish and how they’ll go about it, then persuade the selection committee that they are both passionate and capable, ready to go alone into that dream.

Past recipients have traveled to Kenya, Switzerland, Spain, Senegal, Malawi, Uganda, Dubai and Tanzania to complete research projects in public health policy, poetry, music, AIDS treatments, microfinancing, art and economics. AR

ong before environmentalism became a popular movement, Greg Easson unearthed his passion for the planet.

“I’ve made my living and my livelihood studying what is in, on and underneath the Earth’s surface,” says Easson, who became director of the Mississippi Mineral Resources Institute at The University of Mississippi in January. Less than two months in the position, he appeared before the Mississippi Legislature to appeal for leniency as severe state budget cuts are proposed and finalized.

“MMRI operations have been vital to the state’s economic growth,” Easson says. “We need funding to remain as close to current levels as possible in order to continue progress.”

Before assuming his new role, Easson was department chair and associate professor of geology and geological engineering at UM. His research at Ole Miss has focused on the various aspects of remote sensing and geographic information system development. Before joining the UM faculty, he was a staff geologist for the U.S. Geological Survey and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

“Dr. Easson is the ideal person to lead the institute,” says Alice Clark (MS 76, PhD 78), UM vice chancellor of research and sponsored programs. “His broad experience and expertise coupled Greg Easson with his visionary leadership Photo by Nathan Latil will advance the institute’s role as a vital resource for Mississippi, continuing the tradition of excellence that the late Dr. Bob Woolsey established for MMRI.” The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning created MMRI in 1972 to coordinate mineral-related research in the state. The mission remains to provide both public and private sectors with expertise to help make responsible decisions regarding Mississippi’s and the nation’s resources and environmental well-being.

While MMRI faces huge challenges, Easson says he is not intimidated by his new role.

“Everything I’ve done in my career so far has led me to my current position,” Easson says. “I’m always ready to dig a little deeper into the endless possibilities and opportunities presented daily.” AR

Spring 2010 7

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Circle Chancellor taps faculty for leadership roles at Medical Center

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hr e e e x p er ienc e d faculty at The University of Mississippi Medical Center are being assigned additional leadership responsibilities.

UM Chanc ellor Dan Jones (MD 75) named Dr. James E. Keeton (BA 61, MD 65) as vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine.

Keeton has served as vice chancellor in an interim James Keeton role for nearly a year.

Dr. LouAnn Woodward, vice dean of the medical school, who has served as interim dean of medicine over the same period, was named associate vice chancellor for health affairs.

Dr. Scott Stringer, chair of the Depar tment of Otolar yngolog y and Communicative Sciences and associate vice chancellor for clinical affairs, assumed additional administrative oversight of the clinical enterprise, including University Hospitals and Health System and University Physicians.

“I have the utmost confidence in Jimmy Keeton, LouAnn Woodward LouAnn Woodward and Scott Stringer, and am grateful for their willingness to serve in these leadership roles,” Jones says.

The appointment s mark the conclusion of a national search to fill the vice chancellor/dean position previously held by Jones, who became Ole Miss chancellor in July.

A 13-member search committee chaired by Woodward considered Scott Stringer candidates from academic medical centers located across the United States. The committee narrowed the field to two and submitted those names to Jones for final selection. AR

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Taste Buds Southern Foodways event draws record donations

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ubbed the “G8 of Grits and Gravy” by enthusiasts, the Southern Foodways Alliance’s annual Taste of the South gathering in January brought in almost $150,000 to support the SFA’s mission to document, study and preserve the diverse foodways of the American South.

Coinciding with the annual gathering of the Fellowship of Southern Farmers, Artisans and Chefs, the Taste of the South event is put on jointly by the SFA, an institute of The University of Mississippi’s Center for the Study of Southern Culture, and Blackberry Farm, a Tennessee inn rated the country’s best small hotel by the 2004 Zagat Survey. In its sixth year at Blackberry Farm, Taste of the South is a “fellowship of food luminaries from the whole South,” says Mike Riley, SFA board member.

Luminaries included New York City restaurateur Danny Meyer, owner of Union Square Hospitality Group, along with some of the South’s best chefs and restaurateurs. The four-day event attracted more registrants than ever, largely due to the quality of the sessions offered, Riley says.

Besides a talk by Meyer, this year’s offerings included a cast-iron skillet demonstration, a biscuit making class, and wine and beer tastings. The event also included a live auction, featuring such packages as weekend getaways and private dinners, which garnered more than twice the amount raised during last year’s Taste of the South.

Money raised through the high-end auction will help continue SFA work to examine the food cultures of the South through documentary projects, symposia and other events, says Ted Ownby, director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture. Ownby and those involved with the SFA say they also hope the funds will allow Southern studies faculty to capture through university foodways courses “the energy, excitement and creativity that comes from SFA events.”

For more information about the SFA, visit www.southernfoodways.com. AR

Street Beat The Delta Project offers students field experience in journalism

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he Meek School of Journalism and New Media at The University of Mississippi is pushing a select group of students out of the classroom and onto the beat.

Former Miami Herald national correspondent Bill Rose (BA 69) is serving as lead professor of the two-semester course, an experiential learning opportunity called the Delta Project. Students receive detailed instruction in depth reporting, use of statistics, interview techniques, handling reluctant sources and mining public records, just to name a few topics, he said.

“We are bringing in professional journalists from throughout the nation to share their experiences and advice with the students,” Rose says. “We’re also using on-campus experts for instruction on everything from race relations and slavery to the sociology and history of poverty.”

While Rose is leading the editorial side of the course, New York Times video journalist Sean Patrick Farrell and his father, Michael Farrell, Nebraska Educational Telecommunications production manager, are aiding in the broadcasting instruction. UM faculty members Charles Ross, chair of African American studies, Charles Eagles, Winter professor of history, and Susan Glisson, director of the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation, are among those also assisting with the endeavor.

The Delta Project is slated to dispatch a dozen students along Highway 3 and Highway 49 to towns such as Tutwiler, Rome, Sumner, Marks, Clarksdale and Lambert to report on poverty and its problems as well as people and their dreams. Nineteen-year-old UM sophomore Caroline Lee anticipates the experience will improve her storytelling capabilities.

“As journalists, our job is to share the stories of those that they can’t tell themselves,” says Lee, of Montgomery, Ala. “We’re to bring attention to the things that people often overlook and to shed light on those that bear the most weight on their communities.” AR

UM journalism student Natalie Dickson interviews historian Luther Brown inside Clarksdale’s Delta Blues Museum. Photo by Tobie Baker

Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel speaks at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts as part of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College’s 2010 Spring Convocation.

Photo by Nathan Latil

Holocaust survivor urges students to never be indifferent

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olocaust survivor Elie Wiesel has traveled the world over the past 40 years inspiring others with his story, but he was deeply moved as he sat in front of a packed audience at the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts in February.

More than 1,000 people braved the cold weather and rain to hear the speech, which was part of the 2010 Spring Convocation for the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College at The University of Mississippi.

“I am fondly moved being here with you tonight,” Wiesel said. “And because of your past, I am touched even more.”

Wiesel—professor, award-winning author, Nobel Peace Prize winner, human rights advocate—is perhaps best known for his 1960 book Night, which recounts the almost 11 months he spent as a Jewish prisoner at the Auschwitz concentration camp.

In an hour-long presentation that ranged from his experience during World War II to his views on contemporary issues, Wiesel explained that when he first came to America he visited the Deep South and was deeply ashamed of the legal racism that he observed.

“The way this school has coped with its past and faced its own injustice—that is something that makes me proud to be with you tonight,” he said.

Wiesel encouraged high-school and college students in attendance to guard against being indifferent to suffering, and he reminded them that the job of protecting humanity’s rights soon will fall on a new generation.

“The opposite of love is not hate. It is indifference,” he said, explaining later, “It is not only the suffering that is so horrible. It is the idea that the suffering doesn’t mean anything to anyone.” AR Spring 2010 9

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Photo by Nathan Latil

Ten outstanding seniors inducted into 2009-10 Student Hall of Fame

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en University of Mississippi seniors earned entry into the school’s 2009-10 Hall of Fame, one of the university’s highest honors.

Chancellor Dan Jones (MD 75) bestowed the honor in a campus ceremony at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts in January, noting that the selection is based on a student’s academic achievement, community service, extracurricular activities and potential for future success. The Ole Miss Hall of Fame has recognized students with outstanding achievements since 1930.

“The selection of these outstanding students into the Hall of Fame is a reflection of their impact on life at this university,” Jones said as he offered congratulations to the students and their families. “They will continue to make an impact on their communities and the world as they take their talent, skills and commitment to the next phase of life. I join the entire university community in congratulating them.”

Students receiving the honor are Tommy Vincent Chamblee of Fulton, Melissa Carol Cole of Jackson, André Bernard Cotten of Madison, Claire Elizabeth Graves of Ackerman, Sederia Natasha Gray of Starkville, Elizabeth Jane Joseph of Clinton, Richard William McKay of Philadelphia, Joshua Steven Randle of Amory, Artair Joel Rogers of Guntown and Patrick Joseph Woodyard of Hot Springs, Ark. AR

Photo courtesy of The Daily Mississippian

10 Alumni Review

Building Adjourned Weather delays opening of law school building

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ounds of winter weather that hit the Mid-South this year have pushed back the projected opening date for the new law school facility at The University of Mississippi.

UM law Dean Samuel M. Davis (JD 69) says 69 working days have been lost due to weather, over and above the seasonal averages normally provided in the construction contract. Despite the delays, work on the new facility is progressing quickly.

“Construction on the new home of the School of Law, the Robert C. Khayat Law Center, is going well,” he says. “The exterior form of the new building is now a clear landmark to those entering campus from the west along Coliseum Drive.”

The three-story, 130,000-square-foot building lacks the installation of some windows before being declared fully “in the dry,” Davis says. The roof of the building is complete, and the contractor is concentrating on interior work.

With a new completion date set for early October, the law school will be able to “rigorously commission” the new building in the form of building-system tests, much like a new ship runs sea trials before being fully operational, Davis says.

The faculty and staff will begin moving into the new building in November and December, with classes set to begin there in January 2011.

“The design and construction team remains committed to the highest quality work,” Davis says. “When it is complete, the building will make a lasting and major contribution to the Ole Miss campus, both architecturally and academically.”

For more information, visit www.umlawcampaign.com. AR

Chris Mullen, interim chair and associate professor of civil engineering, stands ready to catch a water tower as it undergoes a shake test during annual Engineering Day activities at The University of Mississippi. Meanwhile, Ridgeland High School students (left to right) Dillon Foy (seated), Tram Nguyen, team coach Kris Sahu, Cindy Nguyen and Thomas Foy celebrate the success of their design. The team won several awards, including overall team champions. Photo by Robert Jordan

Whole Lot of Shaking High-school students test water towers at annual Engineering Day competition

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ddie King III nervously watched t he ply wood water tower he helped build undergo the first of three earthquake simulations. As the structure shook violently, the mandatory minimum pound of water sloshed and spilled slightly. But the model remained intact.

“Our team put a lot of time into designing and building our entry,” said the senior from Lee High School in Marianna, Ark. “So we expect to win something today.”

But so did the students from all the other high schools participating in The University of Mississippi’s annual Engineering Day competition. Issued the challenge of designing and constructing a model water tower at a reasonable cost, they spent weeks preparing the entries they hoped were sturdy enough to withstand increasingly stronger and longer

fake tremors.

“This contest was designed to be challenging—and fun,” says Maxine Woolsey, education-outreach specialist in the UM School of Engineering. “The specifications were minimal to allow for creative engineering, yet the students had to keep their designs cost efficient as well.”

The shake-tower contest was a major attraction for King and his classmates.

“I was surprised at just how much preparation we had to make before starting this project,” says Eric Garrett, another Lee High participant. “Before we purchased any materials, we had to create a to-scale drawing, create a budget and calculate the costs. I discovered I really like the technical aspects of engineering.”

The structures all were tested on a “shake table.” Water tower models sus-

taining little or no damage through the third simulation got an additional halfpound weight added atop the tank for each compression level.

More than 50 high-school students from eight Mississippi schools attended Engineering Day, which was the culmination of a monthlong observance, aimed at increasing enrollment by helping students “see the engineer” within themselves. The engineering school, UM Division of Outreach and Continuing Education and the Center for Mathematics and Science Education co-sponsored the gathering.

Schools emerging victorious at the end of the day included West Union Attendance Team of Union County, Ridgeland High School, Tupelo Christian Preparatory School and Corinth High School. AR

Spring 2010 11

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Circle From HELLP to HOPE OB-GYN professor draws national acclaim for crisis pregnancy innovation

Dr. Jim Martin (center) discusses a case with, from left, Anju Patel, M3, Matt Burford, M3, and Lindsey Miller, M4, during rounds in Wiser Hospital.

Photo by Jay Ferchaud

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n October, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at The University of Mississippi Medical Center received the Hope Award, the highest honor of the Preeclampsia Foundation, for his “lifetime achievement in preeclampsia research.”

Dr. James Martin’s 28-year career at UMMC has changed the way obstetricians around the country manage crisis pregnancies, including those complicated by preeclampsia, the leading cause of premature birth and maternal death.

Martin, who is also director of maternalfetal medicine at UMMC, and his team at the Medical Center have the world’s largest database of patients with HELLP syndrome, a severe form of preeclampsia. HELLP is the acronym for the symptoms that define the syndrome: 12 Alumni Review

hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes and low blood platelets.

Using the protocol that Martin and his colleagues developed for the syndrome, the OB-GY N service at the Medical Center treated 190 patients with HELLP syndrome from 200007 without the occurrence of deaths, strokes and liver ruptures—all possible outcomes if the syndrome isn’t recognized quickly and treated appropriately.

“Sometimes it’s insidious,” Martin says. “In some patients, HELLP may look like an innocuous viral illness with vague symptoms such as fatigue, headache and weight gain. Some women have preeclampsia before they have fullblown eclampsia; others go straight to a severe form.”

All the diseases have in common sub-

stances released by the placenta that can be destructive in varying ways.

“We’ve identified several of the factors, but we suspect there are many. We need to know which factor is responsible for what manifestation of the illness.

If we could take a blood sample and reasonably predict how the disease will progress, we could treat earlier and more successfully.”

Martin also is the new president-elect of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. The 52,000-member college is the nation’s largest group of professionals providing health care for women. The membership will vote on the slate of officers at the organization’s annual business meeting in May. AR

University of Mississippi Chancellor Dan Jones (right) tells junior honors student Chelsea Caveny that she has been chosen as the university’s 14th Truman Scholar as Debra Young, associate dean of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, looks on. Jones interrupted Caveny’s English literature class to make the announcement. Photo by Robert Jordan

Agent of Change Hattiesburg honors student named university’s 14th Truman Scholar

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auded as “change agents,” Truman Scholars are undergraduate students who have the passion, intellect and leadership potential to improve the ways that government and other entities serve the public good.

The Truman Scholarship Foundation recognized Chelsea Caveny, a University of Mississippi junior from Hattiesburg, as having just that sort of potential, and named her as the university’s 14th Truman Scholar. Caveny, a student in the UM Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College majoring in public policy leadership, receives $30,000 for graduate school.

Chancellor Dan Jones (MD 75), flanked by several university administrators, interrupted Caveny’s English literature course to personally inform her of the honor. Her classmates applauded as Caveny got the news.

“Chelsea doesn’t just volunteer one afternoon a week or over a weekend,”

Jones explains. “Service is her life, and that’s why she was selected to receive the Truman Scholarship. I’m really proud of her.”

A Lott Leadership Scholar, f inalist for National Youth Advocate of the Year and National Forensics League Academic All-American, Caveny was offered an internship with the Clinton Foundation in New York City last summer. Instead, she opted to work with the Sunflower County Freedom Project, where her understanding of education reform and community development expanded in a way that textbooks could not provide.

“Public education in the state of Mississippi is failing its students,” Caveny says. “These failing public school system s a nd t he d iv ide a mong r ac e s have resulted in failing communities.

Without equity, communities cannot develop.”

Caveny has volunteered to serve in

several positions while at Ole Miss, including director of the Associated Student Body’s community service committee. She’s also volunteered with Hope for Africa, One Mississippi and Leap Frog, an afterschool tutoring program.

Over a three-year period following Hurricane Katrina, she also worked to help restore the Gulf Coast.

“Chelsea sets an example for all of us,” says Douglass Sullivan-González, UM Honors College dean. “She’s a participant not only in the classroom but also out in the field. She is the essence of an honors college student who takes her commitment to the public sphere and makes her learning environment expand. She’s setting great goals for her peers, the university and the state.”

For more information about the Truman Scholarship, visit http://truman. gov/. For more information on the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, go to www.honors.olemiss.edu. AR Spring 2010 13

Calendar

Mid-Delta Club Meeting with Chancellor Dan Jones May 13

May

Ole Miss Club Season: Mobile Club meeting. Mobile, Ala. Location, time and cost: TBD. For more information, contact Paul Klotz at 251-4736136.

24

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Location, time and cost: TBD. Call 601-635-4428.

T

14

17

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17

hrough May 15 University Museum Art Exhibit: Amy Wilson.

University Museum, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Visit www.olemiss.edu/depts/u_museum/. hrough Aug. 31 Library Exhibition: “Still Got the Blues: A Silver Anniversary Exhibition.”

Faulkner Room, J.D. Williams Library, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

13

Ole Miss Club Season: Mid-Delta Club meeting with guest speaker Chancellor Dan Jones.

Greenville Country Club, 2476 Hwy. 1 South, Green-

14 Alumni Review

-16 LOU Tennis Invitational. John Leslie Courts, Oxford.

Call 662-392-2175 or hograham@gmail.com.

Ole Miss Club Season: Mississippi Gulf Coast Club meeting with guest speaker Coach Houston Nutt. Gulfport.

Location, time and cost: TBD. E-mail hal.kaigler@ agedwards.com.

17

Ole Miss Club Season: Newton County Club meeting with guest speaker Coach Mike Bianco.

25

Ole Miss Club Season: Middle Tennessee Club meeting with guest speaker Coach Houston Nutt. Brentwood Country Club. 5:30 p.m., $30 per person in advance, $35 at the door. Register online at www.OleMissAlumni.com/ event.

ville. 5:30 p.m. $25 per person. Call 662-378-6921.

Communiversity: Yoga. Experience the benefits of yoga in a comfortable environment and at a comfortable speed. The Depot, 6:15-7:15 p.m. Cost is $80. Course also includes May 26, 31, June 2, 7, 9, 14, 16, 21, 23. Visit www. outreach.olemiss.edu/communiversity/index.html.

Communiversity: Simply Music– Beginner Piano Workshop Piano Lessons. No experience necessary. Music Building, 6-7 p.m. Cost is $50 (plus $15 for materials to be paid to the instructor at the beginning of the first class).

Course also includes June 7, 14 and 21. Visit www.

Mississippi Picnic in Central Park june 5 outreach.olemiss.edu/communiversity/index.html.

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through June 2 Low Brass Camp: Greg Luscombe will direct the first annual Summer Low Brass Camp. The program is open to students who will be entering grades 9-12 as of September 2010.

Call 662-915-1494 or e-mail greglusc@olemiss.edu.

June

2

Ole Miss Club Season: Emerald Coast Club meeting with guest speaker Coach Houston Nutt. Linkside Conference Center at Sandestin Resort, Destin, Fla., 6-9 p.m. Cost: TBD. Call 850-622-5611.

3

Ole Miss Club Season: New York Club meeting.

New York City, Location, time and cost: TBD. Call 646-246-1661.

3

-4 Continuing Legal Education. Basic Mediation Skills Training. E. F. Yerby Conference Center.

Cost: $475 by May 27, $500 after May 27. Call 662-9157283.

4

Communiversity: Reading and Presenting Stories to Young Children.

E. F. Yerby Conference Center, 8 a.m. Cost is $20. Visit www.outreach.olemiss.edu/ communiversity/index.html.

5

Golf Tournament: Charlotte Ole Miss Club, Eighth Annual Scholarship Golf Classic. 1 p.m.

Raintree Country Club, Charlotte, N.C. Cost: $100.

Call 704-281-3590.

5

Mississippi Picnic in Central Park. Join alumni and friends for the 31st annual Mississippi Picnic in Central Park. Central Park’s East Meadow on Fifth

Ave. and 97th St. Visit www. nymspicnic.com.

8

Communiversity: American Sign Language. An introduction to American Sign Language with an emphasis on vocabulary used by deaf adults.

Bishop Hall, Room 106, 5:30-7 p.m. Cost is $85.

Course also includes June 15, 22, 29, July 6, 20, 27, Aug. 3. Visit www.outreach. olemiss.edu/communiversity/index.html.

11

-July 1 Oxford Shakespeare Festival: “The Merry Wives of Windsor.” Meek Hall Auditorium. For specific dates and show times, call 662-915-5745, e-mail osf@ olemiss.edu, or visit http:// shakespeare.olemiss.edu.

17

Ole Miss Club Season: Washington, D.C., Club meeting.

Location, time and cost: TBD. E-mail will_todd@ cochran.senate.gov.

19

Mississippi on the Mall. National Mall at the Old Folklife Festival site, intersection of 14th and Constitution, NW, Washington, D.C. E-mail mississippisociety@yahoo. com.

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-July 2 Oxford Shakespeare Festival: “Hamlet.” Ford Center for the Performing Arts.

For specific dates and show times, call 662-915-5745, e-mail osf@olemiss.edu, or visit http://shakespeare.olemiss.edu.

24

-27 Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “The King and I.” Ford Center for the Performing Arts.

For specific dates and show times, call 662-915-5745, e-mail osf@olemiss.edu, or

Spring 2010 15

Calendar

Memphis Club Meeting with Houston Nutt July 19 visit http://shakespeare.olemiss.edu.

26

Atlanta’s Mississippi in the Park Picnic.

Chastian Park, Atlanta, Ga., 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. E-mail ktran@juno.com.

July

1

Communiversity: Personal Safety and Security for Women: Part 1.

E. F. Yerby Conference Center, 6-8 p.m. Cost is $35.

Visit www.outreach.olemiss. edu/communiversity/ index.html.

6

-9 Filmmaking Workshop. An intensive fourday workshop designed to

16 Alumni Review

introduce amateurs to both film appreciation and the actual techniques of filmmaking. Oxford Depot.

Cost: $325, commuter; $425, residential dormitory; $625, residential. Call 662-915-5132 or e-mail sdkaigle@olemiss.edu.

9

Continuing Legal Education. Education Law. E. F. Yerby Conference Center. Cost is TBD. Call 662-915-7283.

13

Ole Miss Club Season: Central Mississippi Club meeting with guest speaker Coach Houston Nutt. Jackson. Location, time and cost: TBD. E-mail JRaines@mrbins.com.

18

-22 Faulkner & Yoknapatawpha Conference, “Faulkner and Film.” Various locations and times. Cost before July 1 is $150 for students, $250 for Friends of the Center, and $275 for other participants.

Visit www.outreach.olemiss. edu/events/faulkner/

19

Ole Miss Club Season: Memphis Club meeting with guest speaker Coach Houston Nutt. Memphis Botanic Gardens. Time and cost: TBD. Call 901647-4852.

19

-23 Math Camp for Kids. For students who have completed grades 3-5. 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. UM Oxford campus. Cost is

$100. Call 662-915-7925.

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-29 College Readiness Writing. Learn techniques for attentiongrabbing titles, magic thesis statements and new resources to help you with everything from APA formatting to building an MLA annotated bibliography. 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. E. F. Yerby Conference Center. Cost is $100. Call 662-915-7925.

30

Performance: Golden Dragons Acrobats. Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts. 8 p.m. Cost is TBD. Visit www.olemiss.edu/fordcenter/.

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18 Alumni Review

THE

JUSTICE LE AGUE

HOW A BAND O IS FIGHTING FOF DO-GOODERS AND THE AMER R TRUTH, JUSTICE ICAN WAY

Words Tom Spee

Sp ec ial th an ks to

d

Ro be rt Jo rd an an d

Pictures Eric Sum Br an d Ph ot og ra ph

mers

y Se rvi ce s

Spring 2010 19

They don’t look like superheroes.

Their diminutive and bespectacled leader speaks not with a booming voice but with a considered and contemplative tone, choosing his words carefully and thoughtfully. Their senior watchdog is a wet-behind-the-ears, idealistic savant. And their newest member is a former federal prosecutor from a faroff land known as Chicago.

But the team members at the Mississippi Innocence Project work tirelessly and sometimes thanklessly to right the wrongs they find. Their headquarters is a small, cramped office in the Lamar Law Center (though they have the promise of moving to more luxurious digs when the new School of Law building is completed). Their charge is to redress one of the most grievous crimes in society—the incarceration of innocent citizens.

With the recent advancement of DNA testing technology, it is becoming more common to be able to remedy many wrongful convictions. Testing decades-old biological material—by methods that weren’t available at the time of the original trial—can often prove innocence. The first DNA exoneration in the United States took place in 1989. Since that time, 250 more exonerations have taken place nationwide in 34 states.

Many times, the DNA testing leads to the apprehension of the actual perpetrator. Out of those 251 cases nationwide, the testing has led to the identification of the actual perpetrator 107 times.

Even without DNA testing, there are many cases of wrongly convicted prisoners who can be exonerated when it is shown that they were convicted due to misconduct, negligence or incompetence. Leading causes of wrongful convictions include eyewitness misidentification, improper forensic science and false confessions. Sometimes, a wrongful conviction is just the result of a simple, honest mistake.

Mississippi has in recent years been the locus of a shocking and widely publicized scandal over forensic testimony and autopsy procedures, and several cases have drawn national attention. Since 2007, the Mississippi Innocence Project has worked diligently to successfully exonerate the prisoners in three of those cases. More than a dozen other cases are pending, and hundreds of prisoners file applications each year in hopes their case will be considered.

The Innocence Project has come to the rescue.

20 Alumni Review

THE DEFENDER

causes of it. We are teaching equal justice.”

Tucker Carrington, a former Because innocence cases can Washington, D.C., public defendsometimes take years or lead to er and law professor at Georgetown dead ends, the students pass the University, has helmed the Missiscases along from one year’s class to sippi Innocence Project since its the next. inception. When Carrington came But Carrington and his staff on board, there was no staff and keep working, and they never see a no infrastructure, only a mandate. shortage of work.

Three years later, he has two staff “When I came into the office attorneys in Will McIntosh (JD that first week, there must have 08) and Valeena Beety, along with been 700 or 800 applications waitthe much-needed help of office ing,” Carrington says. Today, the manager Carol Mockbee. Nina group still gets about a dozen new tucker carrington Rifkind serves as a third attorney cases every week. Not all of them in an “of counsel” role. are legitimate, of course, but the An initial fundraiser in Jackson in 2007 launched the project. Heavyweight legal authors staff is duty bound to review them.

Of all the cases on their desk, they have successfully exonJohn Grisham (JD 81) and Scott Turow were the featured speakers. Grisham had explored the plight of the wrongly convicted in erated three people. The cases of Levon Brooks and Kennedy his 2006 nonfiction bestseller The Innocent Man. He continues Brewer were among them. Each of them was tried in Noxubee to serve on the board of directors and has been involved with County. Their cases drew national attention from the media and from the national Innocence Project in New York. The New subsequent fundraisers.

The event provided some short-term funding for the proj- York Innocence Project had been working on the case for years ect, and funding also comes in part from grants and the Missis- when Carrington’s team coalesced and helped bring it to its sippi Bar Foundation. In 2009, Carrington became an employee conclusion. of the UM School of Law, meaning he didn’t have to fundraise for his own salary. It was welcome relief, and, after all, CarTHE EXONEREES rington is a professor too.

For 15 years, Levon Brooks sat in a jail cell. He’d been given A major component of the Innocence Project is the In- a sentence of life without parole after being found guilty of one nocence Project Clinic, in which law students attend lectures of the most heinous crimes imaginable.

by Carrington and also participate in the investigation and legal The testimony at his trial had been heart wrenching. It proceedings of the project. Clinics such as this one are graphically detailed the abduction and rape of a 3-year-old girl. a common characteristic of modern law Brooks sat through the trial knowing he was inschools. Typically reserved for thirdnocent as faulty forensic testimony put year students, clinics of all kinds him behind bars. Brooks sat in his provide hands-on experience for cell day after day, sequestered in I feel it’s immoral budding lawyers-to-be. the infamous walls of Parchto work on innocence The students take man Farm, serving time for a one class per week. They cases and derive any benefit crime he didn’t commit. familiarize themselves Meanwhile, Kennedy from it, whether it’s a job with the cases and then Brewer sat on death row for or a fancy fundraiser, do whatever needs to be an almost identical crime done at that particular that occurred in the same without addressing the time on that case. They county just 18 months later. root causes of it. travel, talk to witnesses, go to Like many of Mississippi’s pris- tucker carrington courthouses, write pleadings oners, Brooks and Brewer had inadand visit clients in prison. equate access to quality legal representa“I teach causes of and solution. But their false imprisonment was also tions to the wrongly convicted,” Carrington the result of a systemic problem in Mississippi and says. “I feel it’s immoral to work on innocence cases throughout the United States. and derive any benefit from it, whether it’s a job In each case, the same forensic analyst and the same patholor a fancy fundraiser, without addressing the root ogist provided testimony that led to each man’s incarceration Spring 2010 21

and Brewer’s death sentence. The same prosecutor tried each case. Critics say the malfeasance indicates a fundamental flaw in the way forensic testimony is used in Mississippi, that the forensic experts are hired by the prosecutors and have a vested interest in providing the type of testimony the prosecution wants.

In 2001, with the aid of DNA evidence, Brooks and Brewer were ruled out as perpetrators, allowing the two men to gain their freedom. A former suspect confessed to both crimes. The forensic experts were discredited and relieved of duty.

Will McIntosh Valeena beety

THE WATCHDOG Will McIntosh enrolled in the very first Innocence Project Clinic and was the first attorney hired by Carrington. He has been on board since the beginning.

“I really enjoyed the class,” McIntosh says. “For obvious reasons, it’s an unorthodox law school experience. You’re out of the classroom. You are interacting with real people with real problems. Tucker has amassed an incredible store of stories that are illustrative of all kinds of legal principles. He has practical examples of just about every area of criminal defense that you can think of.”

McIntosh is deeply involved in every aspect of the cases— from weeding through the applications to doing investigations and filing court pleadings.

“He’s very bright, very dedicated and adept at navigating all kinds of personalities,” Carrington says.

Not every student who takes the clinic follows the same path as McIntosh. Many of them don’t even enter the field of criminal defense. But Carrington believes the clinic provides a valuable experience and helps the mission of addressing root causes.

“Most of them, by virtue of being lawyers, are going to be leaders in their communities,” says Carrington. “They are going to make money, deal with issues. A lot of them will be in the legislature. I don’t expect all of them to go out and be public defenders by any stretch. But whether they are at the dinner table or in a committee meeting at the legislature, they will be able to pipe up and say this issue is more nuanced and we need to address it.”

THE FIXER The newest member of the team is Valeena Beety, who came on board in October 2009. A former federal prosecutor and graduate of the University of Chicago, Beety comes to the Innocence Project from a somewhat different perspective.

“I see this as being able to step outside of the criminal justice system,” she says. “When there’s a mistake, I come in and try to fix it. Even working here just a few months, it’s still shocking

22 Alumni Review

how many egregious mistakes are made in the system. We have to fix that.”

One of the goals of the Innocence Project, and of special concern to Beety, is public policy. Two of the key policy goals of the project have been to help introduce and pass statewide legislation that provides access to DNA testing and compensation for the wrongly convicted. Recent legislation has addressed each of those concerns, but there is always room for improvement.

“Mississippi is definitely catching up,” Beety says. “The recent bills were huge.”

The DNA law allows prisoners to have access to DNA testing and allows them to circumvent the local prosecutor if necessary. Previously, some local prosecutors were hesitant to grant new access or open old cases.

“I think it was partially a fear of a slippery slope,” says McIntosh. “That if you allow one person to do it, then all the inmates in Mississippi will be clamoring for relief, and it will inundate the system and the system will crash. I think that’s kind of alarmist.”

The compensation statute provides for $50,000 paid to the exoneree for every year of imprisonment, with a cap of $500,000. Nationwide, 27 states and the District of Columbia now have such statutes on the books.

Still pending but getting close to passage is a bill that Beety’s been working on, regarding forensic standards.

“It seems fairly basic, but it’s important,” she says. “It’s about having standards on forensic pathologists when they perform autopsies. It provides a standard that they have to be qualified, trustworthy and noted.”

It takes long hours and hard work to change the tide of long-standing abuse. But the team at the Innocence Project is as dedicated and determined as any group of superheroes could be.

“I’m very passionate about the work and so is everybody in the office,” says Beety. “As much as it is tragic work, it’s hopeful work. It’s a rare opportunity to do something that has a palpable impact.” AR

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NO Place Like Home Photos by Robert Jordan & Nathan Latil

A Pictorial

24 Alumni Review

State’s first residential college exceeds expectations during inaugural year

U

niversity of Mississippi students have a new way to sleep, study and socialize that’s inspired by an old theory: Great benefits come from living on campus in a closely knit community.

About 450 Ole Miss students are part of the inaugural Residential College. The second college will open this fall. Based on members’ reactions and the number of applications for residency, the initiative is a success, says Dan O’Sullivan, the faculty fellow who directs the college.

”We have found that rhythm of life,” O’Sullivan says.

“Students have a wealth of opportunities in which to get involved. They are also channeling their interests into

organizing groups and activities. They have the opportunity to become leaders in a community of leaders.”

Louis Brandt (BA 59) of Houston, Texas, a longtime supporter of UM, provided an instrumental gift to support the first college because of the potential it held to renew the small university culture that he and his friends enjoyed as college students.

For years, universities in Europe have provided residential colleges to promote learning outside the classroom. With thoughts of enhancing the academic environment and improving retention rates, American colleges and universities have begun to move to this model.

Spring 2010 25

Students

coming to Ole Miss from small towns and schools often find it hard to adjust to the Oxford campus, but the Residential College’s small community atmosphere appeals to many.

Harvard and Yale adopted the model in the United States in the 1930s, and other American universities followed.

Over the past decade, many universities have begun to move again to residential colleges to improve retention rates and broaden learning experiences.

The Residential College also provides a safety net, with O’Sullivan and other faculty members monitoring members’ grades and intervening, if needed. Built to generate imagination and creativity, the college represents the resident’s home and place for relaxation, excitement, sports and debate. The goal of the Residential College is to create a living environment that nurtures and broadens the scope of learning.

Among the wealth of programming are German and French tables at meals for those studying languages, study groups, film series, fitness and self-defense classes, monthly family-style dinners, ground training for pilots, chess tournaments, writing mentors, cooking classes and workshops on subjects such as obtaining internships.

t

26 Alumni Review

Spring 2010 27

The

Residential College has six types of room layouts ranging from a standard double suite to a corner suite of four single rooms; freshmen are assigned to doubles. Each suite has its own bathroom.

Students have the opportunity to live in the college for all four years of their academic career. Returning students have first priority in room selection the next academic year. If, after the first year, a student decides that the Residential College is not the right fit, he or she has the opportunity to leave it.

The three-story facility, just off Grove Loop in the heart of campus, also contains a dining hall, fitness center, library, teaching kitchen, computer center, music practice room, study rooms, classrooms, TV lounge and theater facilities. Various dance and exercise classes, such as belly dancing and Zumba, are offered weekly for residents. A large courtyard complete with a built-in stage offers more opportunities for social events and outdoor activities.

t

28 Alumni Review

Spring 2010 29

Dan

O’Sullivan (pictured at top right), associate professor of French, lives in the Residential College with his two children and wife, Patricia, who teaches religious studies and pharmacy ethics. Twenty-five other professors interact with students through meals and activities.

Craig Threlkeld of Oxford, a senior mathematics major and president of the Residential College Student Body, is enjoying the new culture.

“This community has and will continue to succeed because it has become just that—a community,” he says. “People here care about meeting and making friends with those around them.”

Threlkeld says he made far more friends and met more people than he did in his other three years at Ole Miss.

“When I think about the bond the freshmen here are going to have with each other when they graduate, I get a little jealous,” he says. “The Residential College will help me after graduation because I now know what kind of community I want to live in: a close-knit community like this one.”

For more information on the college, e-mail rcollege@olemiss. edu or call 662-915-1792.

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30 Alumni Review

Alumni-helmed technology company is making strides in energy conservation

By Tina Hahn | Photos by robert jordan

A

n emerging Jackson-based company is revolutionizing the way energy is delivered and used, placing it at the center of what experts are describing as the century’s largest economic development initiative, part of a $6 trillion energy economy. This initiative—to transform the electric power grid to a “smart” grid—is being compared to the Internet in terms of economic impact, say SmartSynch leaders, many of whom are Ole Miss alumni.

The electric grid encompasses everything involved in the generation, transmission and distribution of power. Smartgrid technology digitizes this process and makes it interactive, enabling utilities, companies and consumers to become more efficient. The total potential benefit of implementing smart-grid technologies over the next 20 years is conservatively estimated to have a value of $75 billion, according a report by Northwest Laboratory and the U.S. Department of Energy.

“What we’ve established is one of the most exciting companies in the world in a field that is addressing energy consumption—one of the biggest issues facing America and the world,” says SmartSynch CEO Stephen Johnston (BBA 93). “Demand for energy is exceeding supply, and this technology provides both cost-saving and conservation benefits. Solving the energy crisis is achievable.”

As a leading provider of smart-grid solutions for the energy and utility industry throughout North America, SmartSynch

32 Alumni Review

today serves more than 100 major companies, helping them capture and transmit energy-usage data. These data allow users to increase overall energy efficiency, in turn helping them to reduce operational costs, enhance management of generation resources, improve customer service and increase profitability.

In 2007, SmartSynch began offering its SmartMeter solution to residential consumers. With the ability to see energy consumption and costs in real time, consumers can make informed decisions about shifting their usage to off-peak periods and contributing to local, regional and—ultimately—global conservation efforts.

“You will be hard-pressed to find a company and situation more attractive than what SmartSynch has right now,” says Campbell McCool (BA 85), the company’s chief marketing officer. “All of the winds are blowing in SmartSynch’s direction in terms of a huge international push to build a smart grid. There is an enormous demand for SmartSynch’s technology and product offerings right now. We’ve got an incredible window and have to make the most of it.”

The private company was founded 10 years ago and has recently hit its stride. Johnston successfully led SmartSynch’s efforts to secure more than $80 million in venture capital funding, the largest amount ever raised by a single entity in the state of Mississippi. The 100-employee company saw its revenues double to around $30 million last fiscal year, and Johnston projects that

SmartSync leadership includes Ole Miss alumni (from left) Campbell McCool, Matt Thornton, Stephen Johnston and John Palmer.

Spring 2010 33

SmartMeters installed on the Ole Miss campus monitor energy consumption, track building-power performance over time and monitor the weather’s impact on energy utilization.

SmartSynch will double or triple its revenue in 2010.

“This company and our products are testaments to what you can do in Mississippi,” says Johnston, a Jackson native who pursued an investment banking career in Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C., before coming home to join SmartSynch. “I’ve learned if you can think big enough to attract investors from anywhere in the world, you can develop a transformational company. The key to securing the venture capital and to making significant progress has been our vision, as well as assembling the best talent to achieve it.”

The talent at SmartSynch has achieved a lot in the past several months: In February, SmartSynch technology was selected

by the Tennessee Valley Authority, the country’s largest public power company, to be part of its new renewable energy program; in January, SmartSynch’s new smart-grid product, GridRouter, was tapped as the No. 5 high-technology concept in the world

by GreenTech Media; and in late 2009, the company was named one of the 100 most promising clean-tech companies in the world by The Guardian newspaper and Cleantech Group.

Johnston believes the company’s achievements are simply a function of how it does business at SmartSynch.

“Success is not an endpoint but what we do every day,” he says. “It is defined by how we treat our customers, coworkers and business partners. It is defined by our ambition, efforts

Smart Connections

W

hen Stephen Johnston (BBA 93) was tapped to lead SmartSynch in 2004 at the age of 34, he turned to a trusted leader, then-Ole Miss Chancellor Robert Khayat (BAEd 61, JD 66), for advice on being a CEO. Khayat connected Johnston and John Palmer (BBA 56, MBA 59), and a lunch meeting became the starting point of an extraordinary relationship.

Although Johnston was familiar with Palmer’s distinguished career as a telecommunications pioneer, former U.S. ambassador to Portugal and chair of GulfSouth Capital Inc., the two did not know each other well. Once they sat down for a visit, Johnston found Palmer to be a “humble, approachable” leader and an “unbelievable listener.”

“I told John I was excited about the opportunity to lead a dynamic technology company that could really change the world and be meaningful

34 Alumni Review

to Mississippi,” Johnston says. “I was looking for a mentor, someone with whom I could confide the day-to-day challenges of building a company and who would help me make better decisions by leveraging [his] life experiences.”

Palmer took to the role of mentor immediately, offering memorable advice at that first meeting. “He told me to think big, surround myself with the best people I could find, ‘plan my work’ and ‘work my plan,’” Johnston says.

“The next day John called and agreed to join the SmartSynch board of directors and to serve as my mentor. Since that time, he has been an unbelievable resource both personally and professionally. John has become an exceptional friend and has even helped me reconnect with one of my childhood passions: fishing. I learned quickly that John gives his best advice with a fishing pole in his hand.”

Johnston believes Palmer, other Ole Miss mentors and the university’s recognized philosophy of alumni helping alumni have made him the leader he is today and is helping shape SmartSynch’s remarkable success. But back in high school, The University of Mississippi wasn’t a part of Johnston’s strategic plan. He had committed to Rhodes College, where a Presidential Scholarship and a place on the football team were waiting. But when he hosted then-UM Chancellor Gerald Turner for a visit to Jackson’s Forest Hill High School, where he was student body president, a question resonated: “Why aren’t you coming to Ole Miss?” Turner asked.

A day later, Johnston was offered a prestigious Hearin-Hess Scholarship, which was designed to keep the best and brightest minds in Mississippi to move the state forward. Turner, now president of Southern Methodist University

and attitude. Ultimately, though, success is about creating significance—significance for our community, our employees and our shareholders. If we can create significance, we will have achieved success.”

Although it wasn’t the original focus of SmartSynch, being a top green company that spreads the gospel about energy conservation has become rewarding, especially since SmartSynch’s success is helping Mississippi, says Johnston. SmartSynch could begin preparations this year to install 1,500 SmartMeters around the state, helping to manage energy consumption and cost, as part of a $3.75 million grant made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

“The project marks the first time Mississippi has launched a coordinated effort to reduce energy consumption in public buildings and save money for the Mississippi taxpayer,” says Gov. Haley Barbour (JD 73).

Johnston applauds his home state for being one of the first to work on developing a smart-energy policy and says, “It’s a great feeling to see our technology used at home. It’s very important to us at SmartSynch to make a difference here in our backyard. I think Mississippi can become a model of success. We can become the most energy-educated state in the country.”

That goal is underway at Ole Miss, where an original installation of 16 SmartMeters across campus will ultimately increase to 150 as a means of monitoring energy consumption, tracking building-power performance over time, comparing building energy usage and monitoring the weather’s impact on energy utilization, while reducing its carbon footprint. By providing real-time results through Facebook, Twitter and RSS feeds as part of its

in Dallas, became a mentor to Johnston, and Johnston went on to be elected Ole Miss’ Associated Student Body president and selected for inclusion in the student Hall of Fame, Phi Kappa Phi and Chancellor’s Leadership Class, as well as for service on the UM Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics.

Eighteen years later, Johnston is indeed moving the state forward through SmartSynch, where he has made key managers of other talented Ole Miss alumni, such as Matt Thornton (BBA 90), vice president of corporate development; Matt Dilback (BSEE 01), vice president of product delivery; Campbell McCool (BA 85), chief marketing officer; Darren Raybourn (BSME 90), director of business development; Chris Myers (BBA 89), director of public relations; and Dr. Henry Jones (BSME 95), former chief technology officer. And many other Ole Miss graduates

ongoing environmental initiative, “Red, Blue and Green,” UM students, faculty and staff can witness actual power consumption levels and times. SmartSynch is also working with other universities in the state and with the University of Colorado.

Jim Morrison (BBA 03), UM’s director of strategic planning and campus sustainability, says he hopes one day to see savings from energy conservation go directly to the departments or buildings successfully conserving energy: “Being environmentally responsible is an integral part of the Ole Miss culture and having SmartSynch on board with our sustainability efforts significantly strengthens our ability to optimize our operational efficiency.”

While Johnston says it’s been relatively easy to get university communities interested in energy conservation, he believes people of all ages can learn about consumption. He is reaching out to the younger generation with the launch of the national SmartKids Initiative, a community-based program designed to educate and influence third- and fourth-graders to become advocates for energy conservation in their schools, homes and in the bigger world. Children are asked to take the SmartKids Pledge: “I promise to do my part to help change the world. I will save energy in my home. I will always be mindful of ways I can help the earth and make our future cleaner, greener and brighter for everyone.”

Johnston says, “I love our state—I love what it has given me. I’ve always wanted to do something significant for Mississippi. Now I’m living my dream of helping create a high-tech, successful company and passing on a passion for energy conservation.” AR Deborah Purnell (MA 02) contributed to this feature.

count themselves among SmartSynch’s 100-plus employees.

“SmartSynch is a tremendous example of a company led by Mississippi-educated people that is making a huge impact in the high-tech world,” Palmer says. “I am very proud to be associated with the company.”

Palmer’s own experiences include developing more than nine regional paging companies in the South to form Mobile Communications Corporation of America (MCCA), which became a force in the cellular telephone business. He sold MCCA to BellSouth and went on to found SkyTel, which became a leader in advanced wireless messaging and established the first nationwide wireless messaging network.

Palmer not only offers high praise for SmartSynch but for Johnston himself. “If I could profile a young, bright, visionary CEO, it would

be Stephen Johnston,” he says, “He is extremely energetic and biased toward action. He is a leader.”

Johnston’s leadership abilities are evidenced not only by the role he plays at SmartSynch but also by his many other involvements.

He serves on the board of Momentum Mississippi, an organization created by Gov. Haley Barbour to set economic-development priorities, and on the board of The University of Mississippi Research Foundation, and he is active in numerous community service and education activities.

He and wife Melissa (MS 93) have four children: Mary Hunter, 10, Bennett, 8, Isabelle, 6, and Charlie, 3.

“I try to have balance in my life,” Johnston says. “I think it’s very important to keep the Lord first, then my wife and family, and then work.”

Spring 2010 35

Seeing Alumnus carries on mentor’s impressionist-influenced painting method

By Michael Harrelson

A

n Ole Miss alumnus has ignored the trends and followed his own muse for more than 40 years.

Back in the mid-1960s, when he was an aspiring artist and a Master of

Fine Arts candidate at The University of Mississippi, Sammy Britt (MFA 66) had a reputation for being a nonconformist in a college art department then dominated by abstract expressionism and an explosion of pop art. At the time, the Ruleville, Miss., native’s artistic instincts ran counter to that of the impassioned followers of popular painters such as Jackson Pollock and Andy Warhol in an academic landscape more readily defined by rebellion and idiosyncrasy in form, color and expression.

36 Alumni Review

Light Robert Jordan

T H E

Spring 2010 37

Photo by Michael Harrelson

To fellow Ole Miss students and the faculty, Britt’s art had more in common with the works of Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and the French impressionist movement of the previous century, and part of his art philosophy was and still is as follows: “Every time you put yourself in front of nature, you have to lay aside all preconceptions of what you think you know,” Britt says. “It is a new day, a new situation and a new light. You may have painted a particular landscape many times before, but you have to have the attitude that you have never seen it before.”

Fresh from the Memphis Academy of Arts and a summer studying open-air painting methodology at the Cape School of Art in Provincetown, Mass., the young Britt went so far as to devote his senior thesis to the impressionist-inspired school of art taught there by color realist Henry Hensche. Then a relatively unknown German-born painter, Hensche had taken over the Cape Cod school upon the death of master American artist Charles W. Hawthorne in 1930. With notable exceptions such as the late University of Mississippi art professor Dr. Roger Boe, who challenged Britt at every turn while urging him not to compromise his artistic self, the scholastic environment in vogue at the time made for a trying grad school experience to say the least.

Neither his approach to painting nor his philosophy about art has changed in the intervening 45 years since he took his professor’s advice and successfully defended his thesis to a skeptical faculty jury. When Britt returns to Oxford this spring to conduct a series of alfresco painting workshops at Plein Air, a residential development in the local art community of Taylor named after the outdoor painters’ movement that began in France in the 1800s, he will be relying on the lessons that he first learned from Hensche to help another group of modern-day art students see the light.

No longer the student out of sync with his generation, Britt is returning to the familiar environs of his beloved Ole Miss this time around as master of the striking artistic concept first exhibited to a captivated world by Monet more than a century ago and later perfected by Hawthorne and Hensche at their seaside art colony in New England. Many artists made the pilgrimage to Provincetown to study under Hensche, who taught his “Hensche method” for more than 60 years. Yet Britt, now a retired professor of art at Delta State University, is unique among artists in having devoted 40 years to the understanding of Hensche, whom he credits with revolutionizing still life and landscape painting through the use of colored blocks and “light keys,” a term used to 38 Alumni Review

describe the quality of the light illuminating a given subject.

What would drive a man of Britt’s artistic talent to such devotion? To be sure, it’s not that his dear friend and mentor is in danger of being relegated to obscurity in the art world. To the contrary, Hensche’s reputation is growing, and his paintings, which sell for five and six figures at auction today, buttress his acclaim as the father of the visual truth of light and color.

“Hensche is still taught a lot,” says Britt, who has led seminars and workshops throughout the South on the Hensche method while indoctrinating legions of college students, among them accomplished Mississippi painters such as Richard Kelso (MFA 80), Gerald DeLoach and George T. Thurmond, to take Hensche’s teachings and his legacy into a new century. “And there are still a few devoted students of Hensche’s [who] continue to teach his ideas. About a year before Henry’s death in 1992, I visited with him and I held his hand, and before I left I told him that I would continue to teach his language of visual truth for as long as I was able.”

Britt’s first glimpse of Hensche’s creative foresight came about in 1963, when he made the first of what would be many trips to Provincetown with a group of fellow students from the Memphis Academy of Arts.

“We left Memphis in a Chevy Impala. I had $50 in my pocket, and on our way up there we went to all of the major museums that you could go to. It was the most productive and enlightening time in my career. What Hensche was teaching was a language. You have to learn each stage of it well before going on to the next.”

To fully grasp the art mission that Britt has been on since the age of 23, however, one needs to reach much farther back on the time line of art history—all the way back to the classical wisdom of ancient Greece. Like the philosopher Plato, who wrote on the subject of art and its ability to deceive us in The Republic, Britt is on his guard against art that ignores the truth and nuances of nature.

“We can’t look at the natural world with [preconceptions],” Britt says. “That was a large part of what the Barbizon School of painters were reacting against back in 19th-century France.

“When you wake up in the morning, the first thing you notice is the light. Yet half the people who paint neglect the most obvious reality of nature. Even Aristotle understood how light changes our perception of life.”

For all of his academic challenges during graduate school at Ole Miss––obstacles that he readily accepted even then as part of the terrain that any student must navigate––Britt has fond memories of his tenure at Ole Miss.

“At the end of my two years of graduate assistance, my scholarship ran out, and we moved downtown a couple of

“

They looked like photos rather than actual paintings because of the technique of light keys and the shadows that were in them.

”

—Ed meek

houses down from Miss Theora Hamblett,” he says. “I remember going down and visiting with Miss Hamblett several times and getting to know her and discussing art. Our conversations were mostly about her art, in particular, her dreams and visions.

Once I started teaching at Delta State University, she wrote me a letter about a painting of mine that she was interested in buying. And, in fact, she did buy the painting, which she displayed in her home.”

While in Oxford, Britt, who has three adult children and seven grandchildren with wife, Linda, also made lifelong friendships with fellow students his own age such as the one he forged with Ed Meek, a graduate student in journalism at the time who went on to become assistant vice chancellor for public relations and marketing and associate professor of journalism at the university.

Back then, as Meek remembers, both he and Sammy were struggling graduate students with limited financial resources, which proved to be the glue for their close friendship.

“Sammy was finishing his thesis, and he needed photos of his paintings to do that so we struck a deal,” Meek says. “I told him that I would take the photos if he would paint me a painting. But the thing that struck me, really shocked me, was that when I was developing the pictures, the images that were on canvas were fuzzy and impressionistic. They looked like photos rather than actual paintings because of the technique of light keys and the shadows that were in them. When I took them out of the photo-developing tray, [I saw] the brilliance of his art.”

In his three scheduled workshops at Plein Air titled “The Language of Light and Color” (a five-day adult workshop on April 26-30, a children’s workshop set for June 8-10, and a second adult workshop scheduled for October 5-9), Britt plans to adhere to the Hensche method of outdoor painting down to the last detail. The course will include studies of colored blocks, still life and landscapes under varying lighting conditions.

Regardless of whether a student leaves the workshop and goes on to become a great painter, Britt, who was awarded Delta State University’s Kossman’s Outstanding Teacher Award and granted professor emeritus status in 2002, the year of his retirement, is sure that everyone will leave with a greater appreciation of nature.

“The world will no longer look dull and brown to you again.

If we could only see a tiny glimpse of God’s great creation, that is more than enough to share with another soul.”

To read more about Sammy Britt, log on to his Web site at www.sammybritt.com. AR

Spring 2010 39

Sports Packing the House

Rebel football attendance continues rise

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or the second straight season, Ole Miss took a major leap in football attendance and finished among the national leaders.

In statistics released in February by the NCAA, the Rebels ranked 20th in average attendance increase from the previous year with a rise of 2,762 (from 53,005 in 2008 to 55,767 in 2009).

That boost in fan turnout comes on the heels of a 3,301 jump during Houston Nutt’s first season at the helm.

Including home, road and neutral games, Ole Miss finished 26th in the nation in total attendance in 2009 (767,973).

Home attendance at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium was 390,368, which marked the third highest mark in school history and most since 2003. The average attendance of 55,767 per game, which ranked 35th in the NCAA, was the fourth-best all-time at Ole Miss and most since 2004.

Last year produced three of the five largest single-game home crowds in Rebels history, including a stadium-record 62,657 against Alabama. It marked the third highest attendance ever for a football game in the state of Mississippi.

Ole Miss sold out its season tickets in 2009 with a school-record 51,000,

Ole Miss fans continue to pack the stands at football games.

which easily smashed the previous high of 48,180 in 2004. It is believed to be the first time the Rebels has sold out its season tickets.

With only 2009 season-ticket holders guaranteed seats for the upcoming campaign, Ole Miss fans are encouraged to get on the waiting list for 2010 and

Jumper lands freshman field athlete of the year

O

le Miss jumper Ricky Robertson was selected as the 2010 Southeastern Conference Men’s Freshman Field Athlete of the Year.

A native of Hernando, Miss., Robertson won the high jump and tied the school record at the SEC Indoor Championships by posting an NCAA automatic mark with a height of 7-04.25. He 40 Alumni Review

is currently tied for third in the NCAA in the high jump.

“This a tremendous honor for both Ricky and Ole Miss,” Ole Miss Head Coach Joe Walker (67) says. “It says a lot about his character, toughness and athleticism to be able to come back from a broken foot so fast and become an SEC champion.” AR

beyond. Fans who do not renew their tickets will lose their seats for 2010 and future seasons.

New season-ticket customers or people wishing to add to their existing order should get on the waiting list by visiting www.olemisssports.com or by calling the ticket office at 1-888-732-8587. AR

Happy Feet

Soccer standout drafted by pros

O

le Miss soccer star Danielle Johnson will carry her brilliant career into the professional ranks, as she was selected in the fourth round by the New Jersey Sky Blue FC in the Women’s Professional Soccer Draft.

Johnson, the Rebels’ first-ever fourtime All-SEC performer, was taken with the 35th overall selection by the defending WPS champions.

“This is honestly a dream come true,” Johnson says. “I didn’t want to stop playing soccer so it’s really awesome to have an opportunity like this. I never really thought I would get the chance to play professionally so to come on with the defending champions and be able to play with and against the caliber of players in the WPS is a great opportunity.”

“We’re all extremely excited for

Dee,” former Head Coach Steve Holeman says. “We’re very proud of her. She’s been training for this opportunity and working extremely hard since our season ended. I want to thank the coaching staff of Sky Blue for having the confidence to draft Dee. They won’t be disappointed. I think it’s great for Ole Miss and great for the Southeastern Conference. Dee’s worked incredibly hard for four years. She earned this opportunity and deserves it.”

The 5-foot-5-inch defender from Baton Rouge, La., is the second player in school history to advance to the professional soccer ranks, joining three-time All-SEC Rebel Jennifer Soileau (19972000), who played for the WUSA’s Philadelphia Charge. Ironically, Johnson and Soileau both came to Ole Miss from

the same hometown and the same high school (Parkview Baptist).

The laundry list of awards and honors for Johnson during her career includes being the first Rebel to receive All-SEC and All-Region honors all four years. She was a Scholar All-America pick this past season and a Freshman All-America selection in 2006.

She started all 81 matches of her career, which are the fourth-most starts by a player in school history.

Formed in 2008, the WPS quickly has become one of the top women’s professional leagues in the world. Its players include Brazilian sensation Marta and many of the U.S. women’s national team players. AR

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Spring 2010 41

Sports

Acing Academics

Tennis teams served Chancellor’s Cup

T

he Ole Miss men’s and women’s tennis teams received the Chancellor’s Cup during halftime ceremonies honoring student-athletes’ academic achievements at the Feb. 24th Rebel basketball game against Auburn.

The Chancellor’s Cup is awarded to the men’s and women’s varsity teams with the highest cumulative grade-point average among all sports at Ole Miss.

Since its inception, no other Ole Miss men’s team has ever won the Chancellor’s Cup. The men’s tennis team is the recipient of the men’s Chancellor’s Cup for the seventh year in a row.

“This team epitomizes the meaning of the word student-athlete,” Head Coach Billy Chadwick (MBA 85) says.

“Winning the SEC championship and Randy Reed having the highest GPA is an outstand-

ing achievement.”

In 2009, the Rebels won the overall SEC championship, the SEC Tournament championship, advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight and ended the year ranked No. 4 in the nation. Mississippi native Devin Britton became the youngest NCAA singles champion in the history of men’s tennis, and Bram ten Berge was named the Boyd McWhorter SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

The women’s tennis team earned the Chancellor’s Cup for the second time in three years.

“The girls have done a great job on the court, and then to do that in the classroom at the same level is really impressive,” Head Coach Mark Beyers says. “It’s time-consuming to be a student-athlete in the SEC. I am really

Members of the women’s tennis team hold the Chancellor’s Cup.

proud of the girls. It’s amazing the consistency that we’ve had on the academic side. To have the highest GPA among all sports at Ole Miss is awesome. There are a lot of good student-athletes here, not just in tennis.”

The women enjoyed a fine season in 2009, earning a final national ranking of No. 21 after advancing to the NCAA second round and the SEC Tournament semifinals. Off the court, the Rebels earned the ITA All-Academic Team Award for the 13th consecutive year. AR

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arts &

Culture The Education of a Mississippian: The Early Life of E. Wilson Lyon by Elizabeth Lyon Webb, 262 pages, $45 (Hardcover), ISBN: 9780981895512 E. Wilson Lyon (BA 25) was president of Pomona College for 28 years. During his tenure, the reputation of the institution grew, and its standing as one of the best liberal arts colleges in the United States was firmly established.

Lyon was a native of Heidelberg and the son of a cotton farmer. This book traces his early education, followed by his undergraduate career at The University of Mississippi, where he was an outstanding student and campus leader. Upon graduation, he won a Rhodes Scholarship for study at Oxford University from 1925-28.

Lyon’s daughter, Elizabeth Lyon Webb, has compiled and edited the letters Lyon wrote to family and friends during his Oxford years, and has written the commentary that provides biographical information about her father up to his assuming the presidency of Pomona.

How Fibber McGee and Molly Won World War II by Mickey Smith, 276 pages, $21.95 (Paperback), ISBN: 9781593935160 T h i s ne w b o ok combines serious subjects and comedy in chronicling a very special period in the broadcast life of one of radio’s most popular and best-loved series.

Mickey Smith (PhD 64) describes how the special combination of the stars themselves, a writing genius and the “perfect” sponsor produced a oneof-a-kind program melding laughs 44 Alumni Review

and patriotism during one of America’s darkest hours. The series of programs had an unwavering message —A merica was in the right, the men (and women) in the military deserved unflagging support, and the folks at home had a vital role to play, assuring ultimate victory.

Ole Miss at Oxford: A Part of Our Heart and Soul by William H. Morris Jr., 232 pages, $45 (Hardcover), ISBN: 9780984233106 William H. Morris (BBA 64) has compiled a collection of approximately 300 photographs spanning more than 20 years of life at Ole Miss and in Oxford. Through this book, readers will be taken on a meandering path through the graceful town of Oxford, home to many true literary greats, one of the oldest department stores in the United States and one of the nation’s highly recognized bookstores. These photographs will stir memories of lazy afternoons in the Grove or strolling in the Square, and will stimulate the senses with the action of the football games played in Vaught-Hemingway

Stadium and the bustling Oxford milieu. Morris has captured the essence of this very special place in the photographs included in this book to be shared by all.

Singles Only by George McConnell, CD, selfreleased, $13 Vick sburg native G e or g e Mc C on ne l l (BA 86), who has been involved with a trio of successful bands (Beanland, Kudzu Kings and Widespread Panic) and owned his own vintage guita r store, is now breaking out with a long-anticipated solo music career.

Originally conceived as a series of “Virtual 45” digital downloads, “Singles Only” now has been released in CD format. The collection showcases two decades of stage experience and songwriting talent. From the lilting country of “Veronica Blue” to the rollicking honky-tonk of “Goodbye, So Long,” to the Stax soul workout of “Mr. Cropper” and the “in-your-face” punk of “Here We Come Now!,’’ these songs reveal a musical repertoire as wide as the Mississippi River.

“Singles Only” is available in both digital download form and CD at www.georgemcconnell.com. AR

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Travel planner 2010

A

lumni and friends of the university enjoy traveling together, and for 2010, the Alumni Association is offering some spectacular trips.

Alumni and friends obtain group rates and discounts. All prices are per person, based on double occupancy. Airfare is not included unless noted. For a brochure or more information, contact the Alumni office at 662-915-7375. You also can find the most current listing of trips and prices on the Ole Miss Alumni Association’s Web site at www.alumni.olemiss.edu.

Amalfi, the Divine Coast May 12-20, 2010 Delight in the scenic grandeur of the Amalfi Coast, with its varied architecture and amazing vertical landscape. Nicknamed the Divine Coast, the serpentine Amalfi Drive winds around towering cliffs and sandy coves, past charming villages, brightly colored villas and cascading flower gardens. During your stay in the seaside resort of Amalfi, venture out to see the town of Ravello with its spectacular 13th-century Villa Rufolo and the dramatic cliffs of Positano, Italy’s most vertical town. Explore the cliff-top village of Sorrento, overlooking the Bay of Naples.

Discover an epoch suspended in time at the fabled ruins of Herculaneum and Pompeii. See the Temples of Hera and Athena at Paestum, and immerse yourself in the extraordinary beauty and classical antiquity of Capri, the Isle of Dreams.— From $2,795 European Coastal Civilizations May 18-26, 2010 For one full week, travel in impeccable style and comfort aboard the deluxe M.S. Le Diamant, one of the world’s most celebrated small cruise ships, and explore coastal Portugal, Spain and France, discovering an enticing canvas of historic sea ports, ancient civilizations and enduring, yet dynamic cultures. A program of 46 Alumni Review

attractively priced shore excursions will be available, including opportunities to admire the mesmerizing architecture of Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, walk in the footsteps of medieval pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela and linger over a glass of Douro port in Oporto.—From $2,595 Celtic Lands May 25-June 3, 2010 Journey with us aboard the deluxe M.S. Le Diamant from the ancient Norman port of Honfleur to Scotland’s historic capital of Edinburgh. Cruise along the verdant shorelines of Southern England and Ireland and around the misty, legendhaunted Highlands and Isles of Scotland.

A program of attractively priced shore excursions will be available, including opportunities to view the architectural and cultural treasures of Dublin, observe the enduring Celtic traditions of North Wales and immerse yourself in the stark beauty and solitude of Scotland’s Inner Hebrides and Orkney Islands.— From $3,995

Holyhead-Caernarfon Castle, North Wales

Great Journey through Europe June 23-July 3, 2010 Immerse yourself in the cultural and scenic treasures of Europe’s heartland on this unique cruise and rail itinerary tracing the Rhine River from the Swiss Alps to the North Sea. Travel overland by road and rail from the beautiful lakeside town of Lucerne to the pristine alpine resort of Zermatt, nestled beneath the craggy peak of the Matterhorn. Board one of the deluxe vessels of the prestigious Amadeus Premium Fleet in Basel, Switzerland, and travel in comfort and style for five nights through France, Germany and Holland, passing Gothic cathedrals, medieval castles, terraced vineyards, rustic villages and the legendary Lorelei Rock.—From $3,195 Oberammergau Passion Play July 27-Aug. 6, 2010 Join us for this momentous journey combining a presentation of the legendary 376-year-old Passion Play in Oberammergau with a delightful cruise along the Danube River. Sail aboard the deluxe Amadeus Symphony through the heart of

Paris, France

Europe, where an unrivaled legacy of art, architecture and history recalls the glories of the Habsburg Empire. In the charming village of Oberammergau, enjoy a moving performance of the 2010 Passion Play, a fascinating rendition of the story of Jesus Christ presented here on a large, open-air stage every 10 years. Revel in the history, costumes, scenery and orchestral accompaniment that make this a truly unique event.—From $2,995 Iceland: Land of Fire and Ice July 28-Aug. 5, 2010 Cruise along Iceland’s rugged coast and into the breathtaking West Fjords aboard the deluxe M.S. Le Boreal. You will travel to Reykjavik, the world’s northernmost capital. Grimsey Island and the Arctic Circle are next; you’ll see lush marshlands, grasses and mosses, as well as thriving populations of seabirds. Cruise to the majestic fjord that borders Snafellsnes Peninsula in Grundarfjordur. Here, explore views that inspired centuries of poets and writers. Enjoy a cruise around Surtsey

Island, which is the youngest island in the world. Reykjavik is your final destination where you will visit the “Golden Circle,” three of South Iceland’s most renowned landmarks.—From $4,495 Canadian Maritimes Aug. 3-12, 2010 Experience the maritime magic of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, where a magnificent, rolling landscape of green meets the brilliant blue of sky and sea. Immerse yourself in the unique cultures that thrive in the Canadian Maritimes: the First Nation people, French Acadians, Highland Scotsmen and Irishmen. Your journey begins in Halifax, Nova Scotia, your gateway to some of the area’s loveliest spots. Continue to St. John for an in-depth look at local culture, flora, fauna and topography.

Then travel to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, to admire its scenery and pay tribute to Lucy Maud Montgomery’s beloved Anne of Green Gables. Return to Nova Scotia with a visit to Baddeck,

and enjoy an exhilarating drive along the Cabot Trail, as well as an informative visit to the Grand-Pré National Park.—From $3,295 Paris and London: A Tale of Two Cities Aug. 13-21, 2010 Visit two great European capitals, and take in the historic sights and sounds of each distinct city. Travel to London and see Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square and the Tower of London. Then visit Stratford-upon-Avon, where Shakespeare lived, and stroll the narrow streets of the famed university town of Oxford. Then you’ll cross the English Channel and arrive in Paris. Take part in a panoramic drive through the city, and view all the famous sights. Enjoy the Louvre’s extensive art collection and the legendary Notre Dame cathedral. Next you’ll experience the Eiffel Tower and a dinner cruise along the Seine.

Last is an unforgettable visit to the Palace of Versailles and the home of famed artist Claude Monet.—From $2,999

Spring 2010 47

sail on the luxury cruise ship Seven Seas Navigator, which will carry only 490 passengers and 325 crew members. Ports of call include Ketchikan, Skagway, Juneau, Tracy Arm, Sitka and Hubbard Glacier.

A variety of shore excursions are included in the per-person price.—From $3,595, including airfare

St. Petersburg, Russia

Scandinavian and Russian Splendors Aug. 18-Sept. 2, 2010 See the splendors of Scandinavia and Russia on an exceptional voyage aboard Oceania Cruises’ Regatta. Visit the charming Old Town and elegant Royal Palace in Stockholm. In Helsinki, view the city’s stunning modern architecture, lovely parks and open-air market. Explore the Russian capital of St. Petersburg, and see the world-famous Fabergé eggs in the Kremlin Armory Museum. Stroll through Tallinn, Estonia, and discover its baroque palaces and exquisite town hall. The lavish and bright metropolis of Riga, Latvia, is full of art nouveau architecture, cobbled medieval streets and a historic Old Quarter.

Explore the city of Visby, Sweden, with its marvelous ruined medieval churches. Visit

Copenhagen’s beautiful Rosenborg Castle.

Enjoy the German capital of Berlin, and savor such landmarks as the Brandenburg Gate. Take a boat ride along Amsterdam’s charming canals, or visit one of the city’s superb museums.—From $4,999, including airfare Alaska Adventures Cruise Aug. 25-Sept. 1, 2010 With more wilderness than can be charted and more wildlife than can be counted, Alaska’s immensity overwhelms. Glaciers advance and retreat, forming ridge after ridge of mountain peaks receding into the distance. Dense, dark green primordial forests stretch as far as the eye can see.

With activities and tours that range from the mild to the wild, everyone succumbs to Alaska’s rugged beauty. Travelers will

Waterways of Russia Sept. 2-10, 2010 On this comprehensive 11-day itinerary, the pageantry of Russian history and culture reveals itself along the waterways linking Moscow with St. Petersburg. Discover a timeless world where golden-domed churches rise out of the early-morning mist, quaint wooden villages dot verdant landscapes, and the gentle light of autumn evenings gives an otherworldly dimension to the vast heartland of Mother Russia. Cruise the rivers and lakes of Russia aboard the M.S. Litvinov, a fine river vessel providing guests a memorable experience.

All cabins and suites are outside and feature private bathrooms, air conditioning, refrigerator, radio and large picture windows or portholes.—From $2,995 Island Life in Ancient Greece/Turkey Sept. 5-13, 2010, and Sept. 12-20, 2010 Relive the mythical tales of Homer and the glories of ancient heroes and gods on this enlightening voyage across the glistening waters of the Aegean aboard the deluxe M.S. Le Boreal. Explore

“OLE MISS at OXFORD: A Part of Our Heart and Soul” William H. Morris, Jr. Over 300 beautiful, full-color photographs spanning 20 years of Grove Gatherings, Square Settings, Football Frenzy, and More

A book to be cherished by all who love this wondrous place Available now in your favorite bookstore Heart & Soul Publications • www.heartandsoulpublications.com

48 Alumni Review

Greece’s storied isles, including Santorini, renowned for its spectacular cliff-lined shores, and Delos, mythical birthplace of Artemis and Apollo. Learn how monks on the sacred isle of Pátmos preserve spiritual traditions traced directly back to St. John, stroll along the marble-paved streets of ancient Ephesus, and recall the glories of Achilles in legendary Troy. A program of attractively priced shore excursions will be available.—From $2,995

ments include a private beer tasting, a demonstration of porcelain craftsmanship in Meissen and an exclusive Village Forum with local residents.—From $2,895

River Life in Saxony along the Elbe River Oct. 8-16, 2010 Cruise along the River Elbe aboard the deluxe M.V. Swiss Coral from the medieval river villages of “Saxon Switzerland” to the captivating beauty of Bohemia and the splendid castles of Prague. Immerse yourself in the incomparable treasures and the timeless traditions of the Elbe River on this fascinating journey to Germany and the Czech Republic. Walk in the footsteps of Martin Luther along the streets of historic Wittenberg, marvel at the Baroque splendors of Dresden, and tour the imposing fortifications of Albrechtsberg Castle. Special enhance-

Treasures of South Africa Oct. 8-16, 2010 A land of rich biological diversity and fascinating culture, the wonders of South Africa exceed the imagination. Tour cosmopolitan Cape Town, ascend flattopped Table Mountain for breathtaking panoramic views, and cruise to historic Robben Island, site of Nelson Mandela’s incarceration. Admire the natural beauty of Cape Point and the Kirstenbosch Gardens, and observe the African penguin colony at Boulders Beach. Travel aboard the luxurious Rovos Rail to Matjiesfontein and the charming town of Kimberly.

In Johannesburg, explore Soweto and the Apartheid Museum. Finally, enjoy a

Parthenon, Greece

game-viewing safari at world-renowned Thornybush Game Reserve, where you can see the Big Five—lion, elephant, rhinoceros, Cape buffalo and leopard—as well as zebra, giraffe, kudu and more.— From $5,895 Crossroads of the Classical Mediterranean Oct. 24-Nov. 1, 2010 Journey with us to the azure waters of the ancient Mediterranean, where the rhythms of daily life can be traced to the days of Alexander the Great, and magnificent temples, palaces and cities reveal the origins of history itself. While sailing from Venice to Nice aboard the state-of-the-art M.S. Le Boreal, a program of attractively priced shore excursions will be offered, including opportunities to explore the Roman legacy of Split, soak in the Renaissance ambiance of Old Dubrovnik, delight in the Greco-Roman architecture and spectacular riches of Magna Graecia in Taormina, and marvel at the breathtaking vistas from the cliffs of Corsica.—From $2,995 AR

Spring 2010 49

News alumni

Leading the Way New Alumni Association board members dedicate their time to help Ole Miss

Ron Applewhite (BBA 75) serves as a tax partner in the Jackson office of Horne, LLP, and previously served as president and chairman of the board.

Prior to joining Horne, he was a tax partner with KPMG in Jackson. He currently serves on the boards of the Mississippi Council on Economic Education, Patterson School of Accountancy Advisory Council and Greater Jackson Arts Council. He also has served as president of the Rotary Club of Jackson, New Stage Theatre and the Mississippi Children’s Museum. While he was at Ole Miss, he was a member of Kappa Alpha Order. Ron and his wife, Melissa, reside in Flowood. They have two children, Brad (JD 09) and Breland (BBA 09).

Harold Clark (BBA 63) of Starkville is CEO of Clark Beverage Group and vice president of C.C. Clark, Inc. While at Ole Miss, he was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity and the Army ROTC. Clark received the Silver Beaver Award from the Boy Scouts of America and Distinguished Military Graduate Signal Corp. from the U.S. Army. He currently serves on the board of directors for the Boy Scouts of America, Greater Starkville Development Partnership, Ducks Unlimited (where he also serves as chairman), First Presbyterian Church (elder), Palmer Home for Children (treasurer) and the United Way of Starkville (chairman). He is also chairman of the 50 Alumni Review

Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Clark is married to the former Dinah Cochran (BA 76). He has four children, Robert, Steve, Jill and Natalie Grace.

husband, Michael Koury (BS 76, MD 82). They have three sons: Michael (BS 05, MD 09), Matthew (BBA 07) and Mark.

Paul Dongieux (BSCHE 73) is president of Kadant GranTek Inc., a division of Kadant Inc. Kadant GranTek converts waste fiber from recycle paper mills into high quality inert carriers for use in the home lawn and garden, agricultural and professional lawn and turf industries. Dongieux was a member of the Ole Miss football team from 1968-1971 and served as its co-captain in 1971. He is a member of the M-Club and the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and as an Oxford resident serves both organizations in an advisory role.

Dongieux is also a member of St. John’s Catholic Church. He is the father of two children, Nicole Wiggins and Raynor Dongieux, and is engaged to Jane Stacy Dowell of Oxford.

Sam Lane (BA 76) is senior vice president of First Commercial Bank (FCB) in Jackson. Lane has 32 years of banking experience, including 17 years with Deposit Guaranty National Bank where he served as senior vice president of commercial banking. He serves on the board of directors for the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, the Neighborhood Christian Center and the Mississippi Kidney Foundation. He and his wife, Leila (BA 77), live in Jackson and have three children: Mary Mills Ritchie (BA 03), Sam Jr. and Ben, and one grandchild.

Kathryn Koury (BBA 78) is owner of Kathryn Koury Interiors. She is a sustaining member of the Junior League of Jackson and chaired Mistletoe Marketplace and served on the league’s executive committee. While at Ole Miss, she was a member of Delta Gamma sorority, active in the SGA, a member of the Concert Singers and secretary of the business school’s chapter of FBLA. She lives in Jackson with her

J e r ry L e v e n s (BBA 78) of Long Beach is a partner in the CPA firm Alexander, Van Loon, Sloan, Levens & Favre, PLLC, of Gulfpor t and Wiggins. Levens serves on the Patterson School of Accountancy Professional Advisory Council and previously completed a three-year term on the Ole Miss Alumni Association board of directors. He is the treasurer of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Gulf Coast Business Council. He and his wife, Cindy, attend St. Thomas Catholic Church in Long Beach and have three grown children and two granddaughters.

FroMThe GuysWho BroughtYou City Groceryand Bouré Eddie Maloney (BBA 72) is president of Cowboy Maloney’s Electric City in Jackson. He served as past chairman of the Metro Jackson Chamber of Commerce and is a former chairman of The University of Mississippi business school advisory board. Maloney is also a former president of the Jackson Preparatory School and Foundation and the Country Club of Jackson. He lives in Jackson with his wife, Rhoda (BAE 72). They have three daughters: Lindsey (BSW 98), Leigh Anne (BSW 00) and Kelly (BBA 02).

Robin McGraw (BBA 69, JD 73) is chairman of the board, president and CEO of Tupelo-based Renasant Corporation and Renasant Bank, where he has served for 35 years. He is the 200910 chairman of the Mississippi Bankers Association and is a member of the American Bankers Association’s Government Relations Council. He is vice chairman of the North Mississippi Health Services board of directors and is a member of the Create Foundation board of directors. He is married to Mimi Therldkeld McGraw.

They have two sons, Ned and Jim. Jesse Mitchell (BAccy 04, JD 08) of Brandon is an attorney with Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz law firm. While at Ole Miss, Mitchell was a member of the football team, serving as captain in 2004.

He was a member of the All SEC Academic Team and received the Price Courage Award and the John Vaught Award.

He is a member and board member of the M-Club and is on the alumni board of directors for the law school. He and his wife, Darrilyn, have one son, Jayden.

Finney Moore (BBA 85) of Jackson is actively involved with the Tr o o p 1 8 B o y Scout Committee, Jackson Cancer League, Eastover Neighborhood Board and Gateway Rescue Mission.

While at Ole Miss, she served as a Sigma Nu little sister, a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority, a Rebel Recruiter and was chosen as a campus favorite. She is married to Jimmy Moore (BA 85, MD 89), and they have four children: Sanford, Thompson, Harrison and Luci. Her family is active at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson.

L i n da N e w e ll (BAE 77) has a background in printing and communications. At Ole Miss, she was a Panhellenic Council officer and served as treasurer and president of Kappa Delta Sorority. Previously on the board of directors, she also was president of the District 5 Ole Miss Alumni. Community activities include Episcopal Church of the Nativity vestry, Greenwood Garden Club, American Cancer Society, Southern Debutante Assembly Board and the Mississippi Children’s Museum advisory board. She and her husband, Bruce (BA 68, MD 72), live in Greenwood where he is an orthopaedic surgeon.

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News alumni

L e sli e S t a n field (BA 70) of Gulfport is a re t i re d e d u c ator. She served on Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour’s education advisory board and as chair of the university’s Ventress Order. At Ole Miss, Stanfield was a member of Chi Omega sorority and has served as president of the Mississippi Chi Omegas. She was named Outstanding Chi Omega by that organization. She has two children, Leslie and William.

Rod Taylor (BA 73) is founder of Taylor & Company, a recruiting firm focused on senior-level executive positions in financial services, manufacturing and public administration. Taylor has served as managing director of the state of Mississippi’s European office in Brussels, Belgium, after being appointed by Gov. Haley Barbour. He was a founding member of the U.S. Library of Congress

James Madison Council and serves as a member of UM’s advisory boards for the departments of banking and finance and political science. He and his wife, Susan (BA 72), reside in Atlanta, Ga. Rod has three children: Kelen, Christen and Rodney William.

Julia Thornton (BA 72) is a manager of governmental affairs for Louisiana and Mississippi with Century Link in Baton Rouge, La. While at Ole Miss, she was inducted into the Ole Miss Hall of Fame, served as president of the Panhellenic Council, commander of Angel Flight and vice president of Delta Delta Delta sorority, and was chosen as Mortar Board’s outstanding sophomore woman. She is chairman of Baton Rouge Boys and Girls Club and Family Service of Greater Baton Rouge.

Robert Wilkinson (BBA 80, JD 83) of Pascagoula is a partner with the firm Wilkinson, Williams, Kinard, Smith and Edwards. While at Ole Miss, he was a member of Phi Delta Phi, casenote editor

in 1982 and managing editor in 1983 for the Mississippi Law Journal and a Merit Scholar. Wilkinson is a member of St. Paul Episcopal Church and Kappa Sigma alumni board. He and his wife, Gabrielle (BBA 83), have three children: Phillip, Alexander and Rachel.

Derrick Wilson (BE 99) is a sales executive with the General Electric Company in Dallas, Texas.

He served as vice president of the Arizona Ole Miss Club, was a member of the Black Alumni Advisory Council and is active with the Rebel Club of Dallas-Fort Worth. While at Ole Miss, he was a cadet commander in the Army ROTC, president of the Eta Zeta chapter of Omega Psi Phi and a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. He and his wife, Tiffany, have one son, Miles. AR

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52 Alumni Review

Far and a Way Out-of-state alumni see scholarship increases for their children

T

he hardships caused by rising out-of-state tuition will no longer be such a burden, thanks to the Ole Miss Alumni Association and UM administrators.

Alumni Association officers approached UM Provost Morris Stocks in fall 2009 to inquire about raising the amount of scholarship money granted to out-of-state students through the Nonresident Alumni Scholarship.

The officers took this action in response to the growing number of out-of-state alumni who are sending their children to universities in states where they currently reside.

“I am proud that the officers of the Alumni Association approached the administration about increasing this nonresident tuition waiver,” says Tim Walsh (BPA 83, MEd 91), executive director of the Alumni Association. “It has been over 20 years since this amount has increased, and our officers wanted to do whatever they could to help make it affordable for children of our alumni to attend Ole Miss. I appreciate their leadership in serving our alumni and friends.”

The nonresident alumni scholarship will increase for new students beginning fall semester 2010. It will increase to $2,000 per year for students entering for the first time in 2010, $2,500 per year for students entering for the first time in 2011 and $3,000 per year for students entering for the first time in 2012.

Recipients will receive these amounts per year, per eligible parent. Therefore, a new student could receive up to a maximum

of $4,000 per year for the 2010-11 school year.

Recipients may receive the award for up to eight regular semesters as long as they adhere to the terms and conditions of the scholarship.

The amount of this scholarship has been increased with consideration of the escalating out-of-state tuition costs students face when enrolling at Ole Miss. In the past, the nonresident alumni award was $1,500 per year, per parent.

The nonresident alumni scholarship is available to entering, undergraduate, unmarried students who are nonresidents of Mississippi. The student’s parent(s) must also be a former University of Mississippi student. A parent is defined as the natural/adoptive parent or stepparent. Initially, the alumni parent(s) must have been enrolled as a full-time student for six regular semesters or received a degree from Ole Miss.

Beginning in 2011, new students will qualify for the award only if their parents are graduates of the university. The recipients must be full-time, regularly enrolled and degree seeking and must also maintain a 2.5 grade-point average.

This scholarship, when combined with all other awards, cannot exceed the student’s costs of attendance as determined by the Office of Financial Aid. For more information, contact the Office of Financial Aid at 800-891-4596.—Holly Mayatte AR

Spring 2010 53

News alumni

Class Notes

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@alumni.olemiss.edu or Alumni Records Dept., Ole Miss Alumni Association, P.O. Box 1848, University, MS 38677-1848. Class notes may also be submitted through the association’s Web site at www. olemissalumni.com. The association relies on numerous sources for class notes and is unable to verify all notes with individual alumni.

’60s

Louis F. Allen (L LB 6 4) wa s selected as a Mid-South Super Lawyer by the publishers of Mid-South Super Lawyers magazine. He is an attorney with Glankler Brown, PLLC, in Memphis.

David Beckwith’s (BBA 69, MBA 71) book A New Day in the Delta was nominated for 2010 best nonfiction by the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters.

J. David Blaylock (LLB 64) was named to Business Tennessee magazine’s Top 150 Lawyers in Tennessee and to Mid-South Super Lawyers.

He is an attorney with Glankler Brown, PLLC, in Memphis.

William L. Freeman Jr. (BBA 67) is the adjutant general for Mississippi and also serves as the commanding general of both the Mississippi

Army and Air National Guard.

Annette Huterson (BSN 68, MN 75) was chosen as Director of the Year by the Florida Nursing Student Association. She is the director of nursing for Polk State College in Winter Haven, Fla. W. Scott Welch (LLB 64) was appointed to the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Judicial Independence and the Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section National Trial Academy Special Standing Committee.

’70s

Lancelot L. Minor III (BA 71) wa s selected a s a 2009 MidSouth Super Lawyer by the publishers of MidSouth Super Lawyers magazine. He was also

elected a fellow of the Tennessee Bar Foundation. Minor is a partner in the firm of Bourland, Heflin, Alvarez, Minor & Matthews, PLC, in Memphis.

George J. Nassar Jr. (BBA 77, JD 79) was selected as a Mid-South Super Lawyer by the publishers of Mid-South Super Lawyers magazine. He is an attorney with Glankler Brown, PLLC, in Memphis.

Eugene C. Rich (BA 73) joined Mathematica Policy Research in Washington, D.C., as a senior fellow.

Otis L. Sanford (BA 75) was named president of the Associated Press Managing Editors. He is editor of opinion and editorials for The Commercial Appeal in Memphis.

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Going Green Nonprofit trains veterans to work for environment

H

aving served in Iraq and worked as director of a mine-clearance nonprofit group, Stacy Bare (BA 00) has now set his sights on spearheading a new environmentally focused nonprofit group. Bare was named director Stacy Bare of operations for Veterans Green Jobs, a 501c3 organization dedicated to recruiting and training veterans to work in the green industry. Prior to joining the new group, Bare completed his master’s in city planning and urban design at the University of Pennsylvania.

Programs include conservation corps, urban canopy, and home audit and weatherization programs. Future programs will include wind, solar and other sustainable-energy programs. Bare is working in Colorado and hopes to extend the organization’s work to the Mid-South and Mississippi soon.

For more information, visit www.veteransgreenjobs.org. AR

’80s

Melanie Dowell (BPA 80) is a member of the Dowell Team at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, which was chosen as the top team in Mississippi for 2009 by Research Magazine. Dowell is a senior vice president and financial adviser.

Alan Ayers (MBA 97) was promoted to vice president of strategy and execution for Concentra Urgent Care based in Dallas, Texas.

Richard A. Brown (BBA 93) is an engagement leader in the North American Financial Services practice at Pegasystems Inc. in Metairie, La.

Daniel Edney (MD 88) led a medical team from Vicksburg to aid disaster relief for earthquake victims in Haiti.

Jennifer Guckert Chrestman (BA 99, JD 03) accepted a position as labor and employment counsel for The Shaw Group in Baton Rouge, La.

Jerry Jones (88) accepted the position of course director at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Fla.

Missy Crosby Hopkins (BA 92) accepted a position with Ole Miss as an account manager in Brand Marketing.

William T. Mays Jr. (BBA 81) was selected as a 2009 Mid-South Super Lawyer by the publishers of Mid-South Super Lawyers magazine. He is an attorney with Glankler Brown, PLLC, in Memphis.

Jerry Hyer (BA 90, MD 94) was elected chief of staff at Wesley Medical Center in Hattiesburg.

Gina Phillips Kilgore (BA 81) was appointed as acting clerk of court for the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Mississippi.

Jonell Baker Williamson (BA 73, MA 75, JD 82) was appointed vice chair of the health law section’s payment and reimbursement interest group for Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz law firm in Jackson.

’90s

T. S way z e A lf o r d ( J D 9 0 ) announced the opening of his law office, Swayze Alford, Attorney at Law, in Oxford.

John Kinsey (BAccy 91, MAccy 92) was named to the Memphis Business Journal’s Top 40 Under 40. The award recognizes people who have made significant contributions to the Memphis community.

Mary Alexander Nichols (JD 90) was named senior vice president at Ha ncock Ba nk in Gulfport.

Douglas C. Noble (BBA 93, JD 96) joined the Ridgeland law firm of McCraney Montagnet & Quin, PLLC. Richard Lewis Yoder (BA 98, JD 01) joined the firm of Gilchrist, Sumrall, Yoder & Boone, PLLC, in Laurel.

Spring 2010 55

News alumni

Elected Unanimously

Bob Sawyer Martin Corporation, and US Black Engineer magazine.

S. Anna Powers (JD 09) is an associate in the Jackson law firm of Wells Marble.

Investment expert named to public broadcasting board

I

n December 2009, the Mississippi Public Broadcasting board of directors unanimously elected Robert “Bob” Sawyer (BPA 79) of Gulfport as vice chairman of the board. The board of directors is responsible for the administration, operation, control and supervision of educational television and radio in Mississippi. As vice chairman, Sawyer will preside over meetings in the chairman’s absence and represent the agency at official functions.

Sawyer serves as managing director of Trinity Investment Services in Gulfport. He has more than 27 years of investment experience and is a member of the Gulfport Business Club, Gulf Coast Business Council and Gulfport Rotary Club. He and his wife, Suzie (BA 76), have two children, John and Betsey. AR

’00s

A ll e n B r adl e y ( B A c c y 03 , M Ac c y 0 4) wa s promoted to A ER S manager at the Memphis of f ice of Deloitte & Touche.

Andrew Buckley (BBA 02, MBA 05) of Atlanta traveled to Haiti on a relief mission to help manage emergency medical services.

William Brian Darby (BAccy 02) passed all four sections of the Uniform Certified Public

Accountants examination. He is employed as a financial analyst at the Hilton Hotels Corporation in Memphis.

Tina Leung (BBA 04) joined the Cirlot Agency in Jackson as a brand strategist.

Markeeva Morgan (BSEE 01) received a national Trailblazer award and a Modern-Day Technology Leader award from the Council of Engineering Deans of HBCUs, Lockheed-

Jordan W. Sudduth (BA 09, BA 09) of Tupelo joined the staff of U.S. Rep. Travis Childers (BBA 80) as district field representative.

Joshua T. Swan (BS 07, PharmD 09) received the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Research and Education Foundation’s 2009 Student Research Award. weddings Anna Katherine Askew (BBA 07) and Nathan Randolph Rucker, May 17, 2008.

Sarah Elizabeth Bynum (BA 06) and William Alexander Roman, Sept. 19, 2009.

Camille Lauren Collins (BA 02) and Geoffrey Nathaniel Heard Black, Nov. 21, 2009.

Melissa Ann Crosby (BA 92) and William Alan Hopkins (BPA 99), July 25, 2009.

Caitlin Louise Davis (BSFCS 07) and Steven Page Lufburrow (BA 07), April 18, 2009.

Lauren Danielle Emswiler and Michael David Watson Jr. (BBA 00, JD 03), Sept. 26, 2009.

Sarah Beth Heard (BSPhSc 07, PharmD 09) and Patrick Michael Kieffer (BSME 07, MBA 08), June 20, 2009.

Elizabeth Rodes Kelly (BA 02) and Edward Clark Worrell, Nov. 7, 2009.

Allison Lee McClain (BAEd 07, MEd 08) and Christopher Arthur Moore, July 4, 2009.

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Lauren Hughes Palermo (BAEd 03) and Brian Michael Griffin, Sept. 19, 2009.

Catherine Elizabeth Quaka (MEd 06) and Clay Allen Deweese (BBA 04), July 26, 2008.

Abby Leigh Reeves (BAccy 06, MAccy 07) and John David Griesedieck (BAccy 06, MTax 07), Dec. 28, 2009.

Ashley Michelle Sanders (BA 09) and Thomas Brent Forrester, Dec. 19, 2009.

Mary Grace Schneider (BSFCS 08) and Justin Keith Brower, Oct. 11, 2008.

Lydia Taylor Smith (BA 96, MA 98) and William Dana Frazier (MD 84), Dec. 31, 2009.

Graham Oliver, son of Anna Claire Collins Hall (BAEd 07) and Shane Andrew Hall (BSCvE 08), July 28, 2009.

Eloise Meriwether, daughter of Sidnette W. Turnage and Edward W. “Trey” Turnage III (BAccy 94, MAccy 95), Aug. 31, 2009.

Mary Adams, daughter of Morgan Wamble King (BAEd 03) and Charles Yates King Jr., Sept. 4, 2009.

Houston Wade, son of Heather Julia Wilkins and Robert Farley “Rocky” Wilkins (BA 96, JD 99), Dec. 17, 2009.

Taylor Amy, daughter of Erin Mary Klein and Brent Joseph Klein (JD 08), Nov. 6, 2009.

Elizabeth Gordon, daughter of Claire Lyon Williamson (BBA 02) and Todd Lindley Williamson (BSPh 02, PharmD 04), Sept. 18, 2009.

Luke Michael, son of Mary Melissa Lord and Michael Roy Lord Jr. (BBA 96), Jan. 12, 2010.

Max Bryant, son of Meghann Cruse McCarver (BAccy 02) and Timothy Brian McCarver, May 13, 2009.

In Memoriam 1930s Grace Madden Bartling (33), Jan. 10, 2010

Amy Patrice Stanfill (BA 07) and Brentley Quinten Smith (BS 09), Dec. 30, 2009.

Anderson Wylie, daughter of Grace Fullilove Moore (BAccy 05, MAccy 06) and Alan Derek Moore, Sept. 25, 2009.

births

Sophia McKenzie, daughter of Jennifer Rebecca Moore (MEd 04) and Jeffrey G. Moore (BAEd 92), Nov. 22, 2009.

Henry Allen Fly (LLB 38), Dec. 20, 2009

Jackson Edward and Mary Helen, twins of Ashley Jordan Rhodes (BAEd 97) and Gregory Alton Rhodes, Feb. 3, 2009.

Owen B. Royce Jr. (MedCert 33, BA 33), Dec. 4, 2009

Matthew Wells, son of Kyla Hathorn Sanford and Gordon U. Sanford III (BAccy 94), Aug. 31, 2009.

William Bismark Watkins Jr. (BA 36), Nov. 3, 2009

Jack Joseph, son of Jenna Berghuis Shaner (BAEd 02) and Samuel Brendan Shaner (BA 01), Sept. 4, 2009.

1940s

Audrey Caroline and Laney Grace, daughters of Allison Pope Barton (BA 93) and William Gregory Barton, Oct. 8, 2009.

Collier Lee, son of Kathryn Bubrig and Dennis L. Bubrig II (BA 96, MA 98), Nov. 14, 2009.

Brax Cook and Caroline Anne, twins of Jennifer Cole Clark (BAEd 98) and Brax Cody Clark, July 22, 2009.

Mary Claire, daughter of Amy Griffin Cox (BAccy 01, MAccy 02) and Chad Lane Cox (BAEd 05), Sept. 2, 2009.

Coen Hay ward, son of Arie M. Dykes and Hayward Dykes Jr. (JD 01), Aug. 27, 2009.

William Lee, son of Kathryn Lynn Strickland and Landon Lee Strickland (BBA 05), Oct. 5, 2009.

Emma Avery, daughter of Lyn Covington Fifer (BAccy 00, MAccy 01) and Brandt E. Fifer, Dec. 17, 2009.

Jack Walker, son of Melissa Kahlstorf Sutherland (BA 00) and Thomas McCurry Sutherland Jr. (BBA 01), Nov. 3, 2009.

Walter L. Boswell (34), Dec. 30, 2009 Grover Cleveland Brown Jr. (31), Dec. 20, 2009 John Edward Hunter (BAEd 36), Nov. 9, 2009

George Bernard Thomas (BA 37), Dec. 23, 2009

Victor Harry Applewhite Sr. (BA 49, MedCert 51), Nov. 26, 2009 Clifford Kavanaugh Bailey (41), Jan. 25, 2010 William George Barner III (BBA 49), Oct. 30, 2009 Robert James Barnett (BA 41, MedCert 42), Jan. 12, 2010

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News alumni

Central Mississippi Ole Miss Club’s popularity grows

C

overing an eight-county area that includes the state’s most populous city and drawing large crowds to its events every year, the Central Mississippi Ole Miss Club is easily one of the largest groups of Ole Miss alumni.

President John Raines (BBA 90) hopes to see the club’s numbers grow even more. The group sponsors two primary events each year: the spring Scholarship Luncheon and the summer Rebel Reunion. While the former is held to honor the students who receive the club’s scholarships, the latter is designed to provide a positive social event while also generating the funds for local scholarships.

The Ole Miss Luncheon Series also is held in the area annually and features the chancellor, providing alumni with the opportunity to hear an update on academics, facilities and research from the institution’s top leader. With an average attendance of about 130 for lunch, the event in the Central Mississippi club area remains one of the more popular luncheons in the series.

The annual Rebel Reunion is an evening event and focuses more on Ole Miss athletics. Last year’s event drew more than 1,200 Ole Miss alumni and friends to the Jackson Trade Mart, where the event was moved several years ago to

This year, the club will award 25 students with scholarships of $1,000 each. Each recipient must have a B average, at least a 21 on the ACT and live in the area comprising Hinds, Madison, Rankin, Copiah, Leake, Scott, Simpson and Yazoo counties.

But Raines says it’s important for those students to have well-rounded extracurricular activities, and the 32-person board also seeks students to whom the scholarship will make the most difference.

“We don’t really want to give the award to someone where it’s just another thousand dollars in [his or her] pocket,” he says. “We want it to have meaningful impact.”

GOAL: 24,000 ACTIVE MEMBERS Only you can help your Ole Miss Alumni Association reach this important milestone!

Make your Alumni Association the strongest in the SEC and the nation by renewing your alumni membership each year and encouraging classmates, friends, neighbors, fans and Ole Miss supporters to also join and remain active.

Even fans who didn’t graduate from Ole Miss can join as Associate Members with full benefits.

Single Membership __$40 Annual __$800 Life __$850 Life Plan ($170 x 5 years) Joint Memberships __$50 Annual __$995 Life __$1,050 Life Plan ($210 x 5 years) 58 Alumni Review

Last Name: ________________________First:_______________________ Middle Name: __________________Maiden Name: ___________________ Address: ______________________________________________________ City, State, Zip, Country: ________________________________________ E-mail: ________________________Phone:_________________________ Window Decal Preference: Inside _____

Outside _____

Go online to renew your membership and update your contact information at <www.olemissalumni.com> or fill out this form and mail to Membership, Alumni Association, P.O. Box 1848, University, MS 38677. Phone 662-915-7375 CODE: REV

accommodate such large crowds. The event features food, beverages, a silent auction, kid-friendly activities and an autograph session featuring Ole Miss coaches who also take to the stage to address the Rebel family. Raines and his group plan to fine-tune the event this year in hopes of drawing an even larger crowd.

While proceeds from the Rebel Reunion help provide scholarship funding, much of the money is raised on a much more personal level.

“It’s really just picking up the phone and contacting people who want to help and contribute,” Raines says.

This year’s Rebel Reunion will take place July 13, from 6-10 p.m. at the Jackson Trade Mart. Please contact John Raines at JRaines@mrbins.com for more information. AR

Louise Daniel Bennett (BAEd 48), Jan. 13, 2010 John Fauntleroy Benoist (49), Dec. 31, 2009 Darrel Everett Brents (45), Oct. 31, 2009 Eugene Dabney Brown Sr. (BBA 48), Jan. 1, 2010 James Manning Cain (LLB 49), Jan. 15, 2010 Phyllis Mary Caver (BSPh 48, MS 56), July 29, 2009 Aubrey O’Neal Clement (49), Dec. 29, 2009 James Wendell Craft (42), Dec. 6, 2009 Montie Alius Davis Jr. (MA 48, BSHPE 48), Nov. 26, 2009 Dorothy Falkner Dodson (40), Jan. 23, 2010 Carolyn Donavan Eure (BSC 46), Jan. 20, 2010 Elizabeth Vick Gaines (BA 48), Jan. 22, 2010 Elizabeth Blanchard Gasaway (BA 49), Dec. 22, 2009 Sylvia D’Orr Graham (BA 44), June 14, 2009 Dorothy Fuqua Hogan (BA 48), Oct. 4, 2009 Dorothy Dowell Lee (BSC 45), Dec. 19, 2009 William C. McCaughan Jr. (BA 49), Dec. 23, 2009

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News alumni

Juanita Avent McCormick (BAEd 49), Jan. 11, 2010

Good Citizenship Former schoolteacher recognized for philanthropy

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native of the Spartanburg, S.C., area, Marianna Black Habisreutinger (BAEd 63) has spent her life improving her community and has received many accolades along the way.

In December, the Kiwanis Club of Spartanburg recognized her as Citizen of the Marianna Black Habisreutinger Year. In presenting the award, the club cited her “philanthropy and compassionate civic involvement for the improvement of education, health care and the arts” as a contributing factor.

Habisreutinger is a former Spartanburg County schoolteacher and has led a number of civic organizations and served on numerous business and nonprofit boards.

She is currently president of St. Luke’s Free Clinic and board chair of the Urban League of the Upstate. AR

Lynna Mooney Mitchell (BAEd 47), Oct. 14, 2009 Jeanne Howie Montgomery (BA 43), Dec. 10, 2009 Virginia Roseborough Morton (BA 47), Jan. 16, 2010 Helen Harrold Naugle (MA 48), Nov. 20, 2009 Robert L. Nichols (MBA 49, BBA 49), Oct. 14, 2009 Sue Smith Norris (BSC 45), Jan. 4, 2010 Frank Orville Page Sr. (BSC 40), Jan. 12, 2010 Elinor Nason Pierce (BA 48), Jan. 30, 2010 Lloyd Eugene Rhian Jr. (BBA 49), Dec. 16, 2009 Max Taylor (BSPh 43), Oct. 31, 2009 William Henry Walker (BA 46), Jan. 27, 2010 Edwin Brooks Werkheiser (MedCert 40), Dec. 16, 2009 Suzette Townsend Wilkinson (47), Jan. 9, 2010

HERE’S YOUR LICENSE TO BRAG! Now you can sport the official University of Mississippi license plate!

For an additional $50 a year — $32.50 of which returns to Ole Miss for educational enhancement — you can purchase this “license to brag” about your alma mater. When it’s time to renew your license plate, simply tell your local tax collector you want the Ole Miss affinity license plate. It’s an easy way to help your University.

This particular tag is available to Mississippi drivers only. Some other states, however, offer an Ole Miss affinity license plate. Check with your local tax collector for availability.

60 Alumni Review

1950s

Robert Aubrey French (BSEA 52), Nov. 5, 2009

Charles Ray Allen (BBA 52, MEd 61), Jan. 3, 2010

William L. Gill (51), July 25, 2009

John Herman Baird Jr. (LLB 50), June 17, 2009 Thomas A. Bickerstaff Jr. (BA 55, MA 62), Jan. 27, 2010 Otha Edward Blurton (BE 57), Dec. 8, 2009 Allen Spooner Braumiller (BA 55), Jan. 29, 2010 Hugh Amzi Brown (MLS 52, MA 52), Dec. 26, 2009 John Oliver Caldwell Sr. (BAEd 54, MEd 57), Dec. 2, 2009 Gordon Lyndal Carr (MEd 53), Nov. 11, 2009 John Abney Chalk Sr. (BBA 51), March 22, 2009 Donnis Hanson Churchwell (58), Jan. 22, 2010 Charles L. Costner (BSCvE 51), Nov. 15, 2009 George L. Cottingham Jr. (LLB 52), Jan. 8, 2010 George Gibon Currie (LLB 53), Nov. 20, 2009 Herbert Winfield Davidson (BSPh 50), Nov. 13, 2009 Travis Earl Dye (BSHPE 56, MEd 63), Feb. 6, 2010

Normer Lee Gill Jr. (56), Nov. 30, 2009 Walter Galloway Green Jr. (BSCvE 55), Jan. 3, 2010 Virginia Barrett Hancock (BA 51), Nov. 5, 2009 Charles David Hull Jr. (BBA 55), Dec. 30, 2009 Robert Lee Koger (BE 55), Nov. 8, 2009 Ramon Clyde Lott (BS 57, MD 60), Oct. 31, 2009 W. Emmett Marston (BBA 52, LLB 53), Jan. 7, 2010 Jo Ragan McClain Jr. (BAEd 51), Nov. 30, 2009 William Irvin McDonald (BBA 50), Jan. 31, 2010 Gerald Cheatham McKie (BBA 56), Jan. 28, 2010 Glen Roy McLarty (BSHPE 58), Dec. 31, 2008 Eugene Edward Miller (BBA 59), Jan. 26, 2010 William Otha Oakman (BBA 53), Nov. 8, 2009 Jimmy Lee Odum (MEd 59), Nov. 16, 2009 James Robert Pardue (BBA 55), Jan. 13, 2010 Maxine McDaniel Patterson (BS 52), Jan. 4, 2010

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News alumni

Frank S. Powell (BAEd 50), Jan. 31, 2010 John William Ragland (BBA 51), Nov. 16, 2009 Charles Stephens Rankin Jr. (BBA 50), Feb. 7, 2010 Bobby Wayne Robinson (BSHPE 58), Dec. 22, 2009 Lester Adam Shipley Jr. (BBA 51), Jan. 5, 2010 R. Faser Triplett Sr. (BA 55), Jan. 28, 2010 Flora McElreath Tucker (BAEd 57, MEd 59), Oct. 30, 2009 Margaret Burns Walker (BAEd 51), Dec. 10, 2009 Betty Bowen Westerman (BS 54, MCS 65), Jan. 11, 2010 Jean Allen Young (MA 57), Nov. 17, 2009 1960s Charlie Rabb Ashford Jr. (LLB 63), Jan. 5, 2010 Merrill Jack Bailey (BBA 60), Dec. 1, 2009

John Wayne Jabour (BBA 64, MA 66, JD 69), Jan. 25, 2010

Regenia Jones Conklin (BSC 72), Dec. 19, 2009

Samuel Abraham Kaplan (MBEd 62), April 3, 2009

John Thompson Douglas Jr. (BA 70), Dec. 14, 2009

Kenneth Henry Kirk Sr. (BBA 60), Nov. 16, 2009 Bonnie Stone McNew (BAEd 64, MEd 73), Nov. 6, 2009 Micajah Sturdivant Mills (BBA 62), Dec. 27, 2009 Donald Chester Mitchell (BSPh 68), Dec. 18, 2009 James Loyal Murphy Sr. (BBA 68), Jan. 31, 2010 Clara Sue Nanney (MEd 60), May 17, 2009 James G. Shaffer (BBA 67), Jan. 24, 2010 Jack Carl Slay Sr. (BS 63, MS 64), Oct. 30, 2009 Donald Raymond Smith (MCS 66, MEd 70), Dec. 2, 2009 Dudley Marcus Stewart Jr. (MD 67), Dec. 13, 2009

Benjamin Lavelle Camp (BSPh 62), Dec. 14, 2009

Thomas Andrew Stroud (BA 62), Jan. 19, 2010

Charles W. Capps Jr. (BBA 67), Dec. 25, 2009

Lydia Salloum Werby (BA 64), Jan. 15, 2010

Henry Spence Dupree (MCS 66), Jan. 17, 2010 Howard Freeman Jr. (MD 68), March 4, 2009

1970s

Edward R. Gaines (MA 63, JD 68), Dec. 21, 2009

Shirley Minines Armstrong (MEd 79), Jan. 18, 2010

Charles H. Geyer (60), Nov. 12, 2009

Jane Shackelford Bell (MEd 79), Nov. 9, 2009

Frances Hinds (62), Nov. 24, 2009 Ross Alan Hodge (BBA 61), Jan. 29, 2009

Larry Andrew Bradshaw (BBA 75), Nov. 13, 2009

Robert E. Husband (LLB 63), Dec. 9, 2009

Nancy Heard Campbell (BSN 79), Nov. 3, 2009

62 Alumni Review

Forest M. Dantin (BA 75, JD 79), Jan. 9, 2010

James Curtis Evans (BBA 73), Jan. 14, 2010 Frank Peter Izzo (BAEd 72, MEd 73), Dec. 14, 2009 Edwin White Jenkins (BBA 71, JD 73), Dec. 5, 2009 Jack Harold Kahlstorf (BS 74, MD 77), Dec. 12, 2009 Gena Searcy Kitchen (BAEd 77), Dec. 17, 2009 Benjamin Youngblood Lee (MA 75, PhD 84), Feb. 4, 2010 Gerald George Lexa (BAEd 72, MEd 74), Feb. 5, 2010 Willie Lee McArthur (MD 77), Jan. 29, 2010 Idah Cannon Pollard (MCS 73), Dec. 1, 2009 Ona Lisa Ryan-King (BSN 76), May 31, 2009 Virginia Gill Schweder (BAEd 72), Feb. 21, 2009 David Gordon Sperry (JD 73), March 19, 2009 Shelia Benefield Taylor (BAEd 72), Nov. 10, 2009 Fred Edgar Thompson Jr. (MD 79), Dec. 1, 2009 Sandy Seale Turner (BAEd 70), Dec. 2, 2009 Lew Wallace Jr. (BSPh 70), Feb. 4, 2010 Mary Ann Gullett Ward (MEd 76), Dec. 30, 2009 Thomas Patrick Welch (BA 70, JD 73), Nov. 18, 2009

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Spring 2010 63

News alumni

1980s

2000s

William E. Read, March 4, 2009

Claude Hubert Avery Jr. (BA 83), Jan. 17, 2010

Kamalbhai Nitinbhai Amin (BS 02), Jan. 18, 2010

Dick Redwood, Dec. 6, 2009

Billy Micheal Berryhill (BBA 05), Jan. 17, 2010

Alvin N. Smith, Jan. 1, 2010

Merle Robinson Bouchard (JD 80), Oct. 31, 2008 Elizabeth Wright Cate (MEd 80), Nov. 20, 2009

James Russell Carruth (PhD 02), Jan. 29, 2010

Friley Spruill Davidson (BBA 82), Dec. 10, 2009

Caroline Bennett Fair (BAEd 04), Dec. 22, 2009

Pennie Winfrey Deberry (MEd 80), Feb. 4, 2010 Ric D. Gann (BBA 89), Dec. 9, 2009 Maureen Regina Halloran (MA 84), Jan. 12, 2010 Emily Sistrunk Hodo (MS 82), Jan. 21, 2010

Robert Knox Foley III (BS 01), Dec. 6, 2009 Gretchen Jeannette Harris (JD 09), Jan. 25, 2010 Ryan Spencer Roberts (09), Nov. 24, 2009

Charles Dwayne Seamster (BBA 89), Dec. 8, 2009

Faculty and Friends

Samuel Martin Shipley (BBA 83), Nov. 26, 2009

Eudora Kathryn Roy Allen, Nov. 16, 2009

Timothy Wayne Smith (BPA 88), Feb. 5, 2010

Willie Frank Bowie, Jan. 10, 2010

Rosemary C. Blakeslee, Jan. 4, 2010 William John Brothers Jr., Sept. 22, 2009 Louis Campassi Jr., Jan. 6, 2010

1990s Gary Delance Blagg (MEd 90), Jan. 24, 2010 Brendt Dewitt Coker (BBA 95), Nov. 19, 2009 Essie Thomas Davis (MEd 99), Jan. 1, 2010

Anthony Peter Tocco, Nov. 3, 2009 Patsy Hardin Waller, Nov. 4, 2009 Eunice Walker Watkins, Dec. 30, 2009 Neil S. Whitworth, Nov. 7, 2009 Mary Mitchener Wilds, Nov. 20, 2009

Courtney Sullivan Hill (BS 01), Nov. 16, 2009

John Norris Palmer Jr. (BBA 80), Jan. 21, 2010

Lisa Taylor Williams (BAEd 89), Jan. 8, 2010

Kenneth Earl Riales, Dec. 3, 2009

Dixie McDaniels Coker, Nov. 17, 2009 Billy Joe Craig, Jan. 17, 2010

To submit a class note, send it to records@ alumni.olemiss.edu or Alumni Records Dept., Ole Miss Alumni Association, P.O. Box 1848, University, MS 386771848. Class notes may also be submitted through the association’s Web site at www.olemissalumni.com. The association relies on numerous sources for class notes and is unable to verify all notes with individual alumni.

Stephen Joseph D’Surney, Nov. 18, 2009 Carolyn Dixon Eldridge, Jan. 24, 2010

Kevin Todd Davis (92), Nov. 24, 2009 Kieron Patrick Finnegan (MA 92), Jan. 14, 2010 James Robert Stauddy (BSW 91), Nov. 15, 2009

Dennis Ray “DeDe” Fitts, Jan. 11, 2010 Jane Evans Handley, Dec. 12, 2009 Mary Norsworthy Harris, Jan. 5, 2010 Carl L. Mitchell, Nov. 13, 2009

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