ALUMNUS Fall 2019 - Mississippi State University

TAKING CHARGE Autism and Developmental Disability Clinic at MSU gives families tools for success p. 35

I N S I D E Fall 2019

Legacy of Lil' Bill p. 2 | Tastes of State p. 22 | Bulldog Angel Network p. 30 | Striking the Right Chord p. 52

Table of CONTENTS

FEATURES

22 Tastes of State

Bulldog creations bring Southern staples to the table.

30 Bulldog Angel Network

Maroon and White family provides Mississippi State entrepreneurs startup support.

35 Taking CHARGE

Autism and Developmental Disability Clinic gives families tools for success.

ABOVE: Mike Ely, a research

associate with Extension’s Beaumont Horticulture Unit, examines freshly picked MidSouth grapes harvested at MSU’s McNeill Research Unit near Carriere. Fruit crop specialist Eric Stafne (seen in the background) propagated the vines which were developed to tolerate Mississippi’s warm, humid climate in an effort to give farmers another crop for the local market and aid Mississippi business.

Photo by Logan Kirkland

FALL 2019 | VOL. 96 | NO. 2 PRESIDENT Mark E. Keenum, ’83, ’84, ’88

VICE PRESIDENT FOR DEVELOPMENT AND ALUMNI John P. Rush, ’94, ’02

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Jeff Davis

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45

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CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER Sid Salter, ’88 EDITORS Susan Lassetter, ’07 Harriet Laird

WRITERS Emmalyne Beck, ’19 Vanessa Beeson, ’19 Amy Cagle James Carskadon, ’12 Bonnie Coblentz, ’96, ’00 Walt Harrington, ’19 Keri Collins Lewis Allison Matthews, ’01 Addie Mayfield Susan Lassetter, ’ 07 Sasha Steinberg, ’14 DESIGNER Heather Rowe

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DEPARTMENTS 02 Campus News 10 Discoveries 20 State Snapshot 42 Profiles 52 Giving Back 62 Alumni News 74 Class Notes 78 Forever Maroon 80 Back Story

PHOTOGRAPHERS Megan Bean Kevin Hudson Logan Kirkland Tom Thompson, ’13 Beth Wynn

COVER

Hayden Smith sits with Kasee Stratton-Gadke on the front porch of the MSU Autism and Developmental Disability Clinic. Smith was diagnosed with CHARGE syndrome at 6 years old, but with the help of his mother Lori Beth Smith and Stratton-Gadke, who runs one of only two CHARGE research laboratories in the world, he is developing tools for independence.

Photo by Logan Kirkland

EDITORIAL OFFICE P.O. Box 5325 Mississippi State, MS 39762 662.325.0630 slassetter@opa.msstate.edu ADVERTISING Jeff Davis 662.325.3444 jdavis@alumni.msstate.edu

Mississippi State University’s Alumnus magazine is published three times a year by the Office of Public Affairs and the Mississippi State University Alumni Association. Send address changes to Alumni Director, P.O. Box AA, Mississippi State, MS 39762-5526. Call 662.325.7000, or email cturner@advservices. msstate.edu.

Mississippi State University is an equal opportunity institution. Discrimination in university employment, programs or activities based on race, color, ethnicity, sex, pregnancy, religion, national origin, disability, age, sexual orientation, genetic information, status as a U.S. veteran, or any other status protected by applicable law is prohibited. Questions about equal opportunity programs or compliance should be directed to the Office of Compliance and Integrity, 56 Morgan Avenue, P.O. 6044, Mississippi State, MS 39762, (662) 325-5839.

Campus NEWS

THE LIFE & LEGACY OF LIL’ BILL How the world’s smallest bull left a big mark on the future of veterinary care

By Susan Lassetter and James Carskadon, Photos by Tom Thompson

Six-month-old Lil’ Bill (front) stands with a 4-month-old Holstein calf in May. 2

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T

he phone message said to expect a calf weighing less than 10 pounds. Still, despite the advanced notice, no one at Mississippi State’s College of Veterinary Medicine was fully prepared for the sight of a newborn bull carried in a blue laundry basket and swaddled in fuzzy baby blankets coming through the clinic door.

“I think we were all curious to see if it was for real,” recalled Dr. Gretchen Grissett, a bovine expert with the college’s Food Animal Medicine Service. “Even born more than a month premature, he still should have been around 40-50 pounds, so to see a calf that weighed just

Suffering from underdeveloped lungs, the calf struggled to breathe and therefore eat, so the first task for Grissett and the students on her rotation was to ensure he got enough oxygen and nutrition. This meant around-the-clock care and oversight.

Rebecca Leach, a fourth-year veterinary medicine major from West Virginia, was the first student tasked with care of the bull, who was dubbed Lil’ Bill by his caretakers. Her first job: taking him to the feline scale to get an accurate weight, a trip they would make daily to assess his condition. She said treating the tiny calf provided invaluable lessons for her future in the field.

9.7 pounds was a shock. We had to quickly get over that disbelief because he was having a lot of problems, and we didn’t know if he would make it through the night.”

Thought to be the smallest bull born alive, the Simmental calf was discovered in a field after being born unexpectedly six-weeks premature.

He was initially cared for by the cattle producers who owned the farm, but his needs soon outgrew what they could provide.

“The clients who brought him in had done a lot of the hard work,” Grissett explained. “They were very knowledgeable and made sure he got colostrum and antibiotics immediately, but once it got beyond the basics they came to us for help.”

“I had never seen a living calf that small,” Leach recalled. “I was very surprised and wondered how we were going to manage his care because he was just so sick.

“I learned a lot about neonatal care and care of premature animals because the same principles apply,” she continued. “Nutrition is very important, but so is treating any underlying disease. Regular-sized premature calves have many of the same issues that Lil’ Bill dealt with, so it taught me a lot.”

Leach and other students took four-hour shifts sitting with the calf, monitoring his condition and ensuring that if he couldn’t suckle from a bottle, he received adequate

“It’s very common in our profession to get attached to our patients, especially the mild-mannered ones like Lil’ Bill. I think that’s just because we are very passionate and compassionate driven people.” ~ Rebecca Leach

Dr. Gretchen Grissett, a bovine expert with the College of Veterinary Medicine, examines Lil’ Bill.

Upon his arrival to Mississippi State in November 2018, Lil’ Bill weighed in at just 9.76 pounds on the feline scale, which is typically used for house cats. Even born more than a month premature, a typical calf would weigh 40-50 pounds at birth.

ALUMNUS.MSSTATE.EDU 3

Fourth-year veterinary medicine student Alex Moore (left) and Dr. Gretchen Grissett, an assistant clinical professor (right), bottle feed Lil’ Bill during an exam. Much like a healthy calf will butt at its mother when hungry, Lil’ Bill began butting or tugging on the pant legs of his caretakers when he wanted a bottle.

nutrition through a feeding tube. He was also treated for pneumonia, a common problem in underdeveloped lungs.

“Once the antibiotics started working, and he was getting the oxygen and things he needed to start to bounce back, he was really a spunky little guy,” Leach said.

On a good day, Leach said Lil’ Bill behaved much like a regular, healthy calf—he would run, play and even butt at or tug on the pant legs of the students to let them know he was hungry.

Because he had immature joints, he was given leg splints so he could continue his playful ways and enjoy supervised time outside.

“It’s very common in our profession to get attached to our patients, especially the mildmannered ones like Lil’ Bill,” Leach confessed. “I think that’s just because we are very passionate and compassionate driven people.”

It wasn’t only the CVM veterinarians and students who were attached to the lovable bull.

When photos of Lil’ Bill were shared on social media, the photogenic calf became an internet sensation, with people locally and around the world following his story. And like any compelling story, Lil’ Bill’s had ups and downs, and ultimately left a lasting impression on all involved.

Acacia Cooper, a fourth-year veterinary medicine student from Jackson, said she is still using the knowledge she gained while overseeing the bull’s care.

“I know as a vet I’m going to have easy cases and challenging cases,” Cooper explained. “This taught me more about providing good patient care and being realistic about the situation so animals aren’t suffering and have the best possible quality of life.”

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Fourth-year veterinary medicine students Katie Garrett (left) and Acacia Cooper (right) apply splints to Lil’ Bill’s legs to protect his immature joints from damage. As his health improved, the calf’s playfulness was described as “puppy-like” by the attending veterinarians. The splints allowed him to enjoy supervised frolicking without injuring himself.

In all, nearly 100 Mississippi State veterinary students contributed to Lil’ Bill’s care, developing skills that will translate into every case they take on as doctors. The bull was always expected to have an abbreviated life span, but the CVM team worked to give him the best life possible, for as long as possible.

Lil’ Bill died May 27 after receiving the best care available for seven months. Though it was a short life, it was much longer than anyone involved expected.

“We honestly didn’t think he was going to live through those first few days. But he responded well to treatment and was a pretty happy, healthy calf,” Grissett said. “Even though we knew he was never going to be a productive member of a herd, we felt as long as he was comfortable and happy it was worth all of the effort to keep him going, to give him a chance. And in the end, we learned a ton from him, and he had a good quality of life.”

The legacy Lil’ Bill leaves behind will not only live in the experience his treating veterinarians will take into their future cases. He also helped demonstrate the expansive animal care capabilities of Mississippi State’s CVM and its associated clinics. Grissett said the attention generated by his case has increased interest in the college’s large and food animal programs by both potential students and possible clients, and it proved to her just how powerful hard work and the will to live can be.

“This really proved to me that cattle can be resilient and overcome things, you just have to be willing to put in the work, the TLC and the brainpower,” Grissett said. “And seeing what can happen when you put in the hard work is a great thing for our students to learn.” n

Campus Campus NEWS NEWS

Inspired to Serve

MSU Extension Undergraduate Apprentice Program shapes career paths

By Keri Collins Lewis, Photos by Kevin Hudson

Marina Denny (left) and Alisha Hardman (right) began the MSU Extension Undergraduate Apprentice Program in 2016 to introduce students to Extension careers and related graduate studies in agriculture and life sciences.

M

att Oswald loaded the trail camera’s memory card into his computer and pulled up images captured over the course of 30 days in LeFleur’s Bluff State Park located in downtown Jackson. An eastern coyote walking slowly toward the camera, nose to the ground. A plethora of possums.

And a close-up of a raccoon’s whiskers as it meticulously inspects the camera.

The surveillance was part of his work with Adam Rohnke, a senior Extension associate and wildlife biologist, through the MSU Extension Undergraduate Apprentice Program to study how wildlife adapts to and uses urban areas.

The apprentice program began in 2016 with funding from a U.S. Department of Agriculture–National Institute of Food and Agriculture Research and Extension Experiential Undergraduate Fellowship program grant. Each summer, seven or eight undergraduates spend 10 to 12 weeks learning from Extension mentors

while providing support for county, state and regional programs.

Oswald, a senior at Coastal Carolina University majoring in marine science, wanted to broaden his understanding of the natural resources field.

“I had never heard of Extension before I applied,” he shared. “I thought it would be a great opportunity to gain hands-on experience while working alongside an experienced professional.”

His lack of familiarity with the 105-year-old organization illustrates one reason co-primary investigators Marina Denny and Alisha Hardman created the program.

“Extension as a career is a wellkept secret,” Denny said. “We wanted undergrads to be more aware of what Extension is and what the career options are.”

She explained students have been drawn in by the research component, with Extension deliverables taking second

Matt Oswald, a 2019 apprentice, spent several weeks during the summer running a camera survey with Extension wildlife biologist Adam Rohnke to study how wildlife use developed areas, including cemeteries and parks.

ALUMNUS.MSSTATE.EDU 5

Campus NEWS Extension agents, and I don’t think that place in their minds. But Denny is has really happened,” Denny confessed. confident in the long-term benefits to “But student understanding and the students and Extension. appreciation for Extension has increased “If they are working in a career that tenfold. Students have changed graduate directly or indirectly supports Extension, school decisions to follow a more I see that as a win,” she said. “Extension Extension-oriented path of study. They is not a silo. Everything we do is about discovered a passion for service through community relationships and community applied research.” development. For example, if someone Continued funding also indicates becomes a nutrition educator working for success. Currently, the program is the health department, they’ll work with supported through 2023.

Extension. If they already understand This year’s participants are the what Extension personnel are trying to third class of apprentices, but it was do, it can strengthen that relationship.”

Rohnke’s first year Denny said the as a mentor. He apprenticeship gives had project-specific undergraduates "Everything we do is about goals for Oswald, a more realistic community relationships and such as conducting concept of research community development. For a camera trap survey and how it translates example, if someone becomes and creating related into something a nutrition educator working training materials to usable for the public. for the health department, help volunteers.

“We have a lot they’ll work with Extension."

He also of students who go ~ Marina Denny developed bigthrough college not picture goals for his knowing research is apprentice. more than a journal “I wanted him to learn how research article sitting on a shelf in the library,” and Extension go hand in hand with she observed. “Extension is the vehicle solving real-world problems,” Rohnke for making that transfer of information shared. “I wanted him to see that happen. Apprentices are learning the the application of wildlife science public value of Extension.” and education in the real world is Denny and Hardman measure the often challenging and messy, unlike program’s success in numerous ways. most classroom settings, yet it can be For example, the 2017 cohort developed tremendously rewarding when you stick seven poster presentations, six Extension to it.” publications, three oral presentations for Rohnke is a realist when it comes professional conferences and two journal to the changes facing Extension and its manuscripts. wide range of clients.

“I don’t think those mentors “Extension is adapting through the would have experienced that level of use of technology and by delivering productivity in such a short time without programs to nontraditional audiences, the apprentices,” Denny said. “The such as urbanites,” he explained. results were beyond what they expected “The world is becoming more when they took on being a mentor.” urbanized every year, and by engaging Apprentices reported significant undergraduates, many of whom are increases in knowledge of their discipline, urbanites themselves, we help them see their ability to work with diverse firsthand how Extension can not only people, problem-solving and teamwork improve people’s lives but also teach skills, and both written and oral them how to conserve natural resources communication skills.

“We thought we would recruit future for future generations.” n 6

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CENTER: Eva McCormick (right), a 2019 apprentice from Harrisburg, Illinois, studying nutrition, worked with Extension food science specialist Courtney Crist. She said the experience helped her realize she wants to work with people directly either in community education or nutritional counseling. BOTTOM: Alisha Hardman (left) and Marina Denny (right) received additional funding from the USDA NIFA to continue their work into 2023.

Early research indicates the program increases participant understanding of Extension careers and positively influences their career choices.

MSU’s standing as a leading research institution in Mississippi and across the country. MSU conducts over half of all funded university research in Mississippi and has been designated an R1 “Very High Research Activity” university by the Carnegie Foundation.

After Shaw was named provost, Keenum announced Julie Jordan as interim vice president for research and economic development. Jordan, an MSU alumna, previously led MSU’s International Institute and worked with university leaders to cultivate new partnerships around the world.

“I have long admired Dr. Jordan’s leadership skills and solid work ethic,” Keenum said. “I have every confidence she will do an outstanding job as interim

Leadership changes COME TO

MSU’S ACADEMIC, RESEARCH ADMINISTRATION By James Carskadon, Photo by Megan Bean Mississippi State President Mark E. Keenum announced in June that longtime faculty member and administrator David Shaw will serve as the university’s new provost and executive vice president. Shaw’s promotion comes after nearly a decade of successfully leading MSU’s research and economic development efforts.

He succeeds Judith L. “Judy” Bonner as MSU’s provost. Bonner, a former president of the University of Alabama, announced in January her intention to retire after a long and distinguished career in higher education.

Keenum said Shaw was chosen after a national search that produced “three extremely well-qualified, visionary finalists,” and he expressed appreciation to members of the Provost Search Committee.

“I was impressed not only with Dr. Shaw’s exemplary record of leadership and accomplishment over the last three-plus decades at MSU, but also with his passionate vision and enthusiasm for academic excellence, student success, and expanding opportunity and access,” Keenum said.

“I’m confident that Dr. Shaw will make an

immediate impact on our university in this new and demanding role. He understands our land-grant mission and the diverse constituencies we serve. I have great personal confidence in his commitment to MSU.” As the university’s second-ranking administrative officer reporting directly to the president, Shaw will be responsible for all academic policies, integrity of the academic mission and academic operations of the university. He will provide direct oversight for eight academic colleges and two campuses, as well as many academic and non-academic support units.

During the application and interview process, Shaw offered a more detailed blueprint for recognizing faculty members for their achievements and seeking more private funding to endow professors and chairs. He also stressed the need to ensure the university’s academic offerings provide all students with an opportunity to achieve success in an evolving and increasingly competitive workplace.

As vice president for research and economic development, Shaw enhanced

"I was impressed not only with Dr. Shaw’s exemplary record of leadership and accomplishment over the last three-plus decades at MSU, but also with his passionate vision and enthusiasm for academic excellence, student success, and expanding opportunity and access." ~ Dr. Mark E. Keenum vice president for research and economic development.”

For seven years, Jordan served as director of the university’s Research and Curriculum Unit, where she managed a staff of 40 professionals while increasing external funding and expanding the unit’s impact. With more than 30 years of professional experience as a business owner, entrepreneur, teacher and trainer, Jordan also previously worked for the university as a project manager for the Mississippi State Community Action Team. n ALUMNUS.MSSTATE.EDU 7

Campus NEWS

Alicia D. Brown of Petal, is now Mississippi State’s 19th student to receive the prestigious Harry S. Truman Scholarship. A student in MSU’s Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College, she is receiving $30,000 in graduate-study expenses as part of the highly coveted national award honoring the nation’s 33rd president. As one of approximately 65 students selected from the 50 states this year, Brown is Mississippi’s only awardee and is committing to a career in public service following graduation. She is a senior chemical engineering major in the James Worth Bagley College of Engineering’s Dave C. Swalm School of Chemical Engineering. She also currently is receiving a John and Georgia Ann McPherson Presidential Endowed Scholarship through the university’s Presidential Endowed Scholarship program.

A veteran Mississippi State psychology professor is experiencing a rare and exceptional achievement in publishing an 8th textbook edition from a work that originated more than 30 years ago. The sole author of each edition, Stephen Klein said his textbook, “Learning: Principles and Applications,” undergoes substantial changes with each revision. It is used by hundreds of universities across the U.S., with the Spanish translation adopted by institutions in Spain and Central and South America.

Senior civil engineering major Phong Ly has been named to the prestigious New Faces of Civil Engineering for 2019 by the American Society of Civil Engineers. He is among just 10 U.S. college students selected for the honor.

Catherine Pierce, an associate professor of English received a $25,000 Creative Writing Fellowship from the National Endowment for 8

FALL 2019

the Arts. Selected from among nearly 1,700 eligible applications, this year’s 35 Fellows were chosen through a highly competitive, anonymous process and were judged solely on the artistic excellence of the work sample provided. Fellowships alternate between poetry and prose each year, and this year’s awards specifically support poetry.

Elton Moore, retired MSU College of Education associate dean and professor who also is a former director of the MSU-based National Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision, and Michele McDonnall, current NRTC director and MSU research professor, were recognized with prestigious honors from the American Foundation for the Blind for their impactful work in the blindness and low vision field. Moore earned the Migel Medal, the highest honor in the blindness field, while McDonnall received the Corinne Kirchner Research Award.

K. Raja Reddy was recognized as Mississippi State University’s winner of the 2019 Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award, which annually honors distinguished faculty from across the SEC. Reddy is a scientist in the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station and directs the university’s Soil-Plant-Atmosphere Research facility, discovering how environmental stressors influence agronomic crop processes.

He also is a research fellow with the university’s Geosystems Research Institute.

Mississippi State Vice President for Student Affairs Regina Young Hyatt has been elected by her peers as a regional leader in NASPA–Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. The leading association for the advancement, health and sustainability of the student affairs profession, NASPA provides highquality professional development, advocacy and research for 15,000 members in all 50 states, 25 countries and eight U.S. territories.

Robert Booker, a doctoral student in kinesiology at Mississippi State University, has been selected as a member of the inaugural cohort of the Robert Smith, M.D. Graduate Scholars Program as part of the Jackson Heart Study’s new Graduate Training and Education Center at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.

Adele Crudden, a social work professor, is the 2019 Social Worker of the Year for Mississippi’s chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. She received the award at the association’s recent annual conference for exemplifying “the best of the profession’s values and achievements.”

Senior architecture major Sarah Hoing of Randolph experienced the trip of a lifetime and learned more about her field of study this summer through firsthand visits to some of the world’s most renowned buildings. Through the $20,000 Aydelott Travel Award, she visited and researched buildings in England, Rome, Spain and the United Arab Emirates. She is the fourth MSU recipient since the endowed award was established in 2016.

Psychology major Rachel Booth, a graduating senior from Lindale, Texas, is the university’s newest Fulbright finalist.

She is representing MSU and the United States while spending 10 months studying cognitive psychology and conducting research at Germany’s Universität Ulm. Booth’s selection marks the third consecutive year at least one MSU student has been named a Fulbright finalist. She is a member of the Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College and earlier this year was inducted into the Gamma of Mississippi chapter of Phi Beta Kappa at MSU.

GRADUATE

• Master of Agribusiness Management • Master of Agriculture with a concentration in Animal and Dairy Sciences • Master of Science in Early Intervention • Master of Science in Educational Leadership with a concentration in School Administration • Master of Science in Technology

UNDERGRADUATE

• Bachelor of Business Administration

• Bachelor of Science in Industrial Technology

• Bachelor of Science in Psychology

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Discoveries

TURNING RED

Researchers analyze the effects of packaging on consumer purchasing embarrassment

By Susan Lassetter

She staked out her spot carefully. Nothing inconspicuous would do; she wanted to be front and center to see and be seen.

She landed in the pharmacy section of her local superstore. From a perch beside the blood-pressure checker, she found a clear view of the foot care aisle, with its antifungal creams and corn pads, and the family planning section, brimming with condoms, pregnancy tests and other sexual aids. From there she watched and waited, hoping to satisfy her curiosity.

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A doctoral student at the time, Carol Esmark Jones wanted to observe how people reacted to being watched when buying products of a personal nature.

“I would see these people come stand next to more innocuous products that were beside the embarrassing stuff. You could tell that was really what they were shopping for, but they wouldn’t because I was watching intently,” she recalled.

“This one guy looped around like three times,” she continued, chuckling at the memory. “He wanted to go down the condom aisle but wouldn’t because I was sitting there watching. I finally got up and left because I felt bad for the guy and, well, I didn’t want to prevent him from making his purchase.”

Survey respondents were then asked to identify what kinds of packaging—a box or a tube—and what colors—red or blue—were the most anonymous.

An in-store test confirmed that people prefer boxed items branded with cool colors like blue.

It was an informal experiment, but for the curious student it planted an idea, which she began exploring as a faculty member in Mississippi State University’s College of Business. Working with Adam Farmer, an assistant professor in the Department of Marketing, Quantitative Analysis and Business Law, and doctoral student Christian Barney, she investigated how product packaging affects consumers’ purchase intentions when it comes to products they’d rather not be seen with.

“People aren’t shopping for these embarrassing products because they love them,” Jones said. “They’re doing it because they need them. If we can find out what makes people feel exposed when buying them, maybe companies

can make changes to help customers feel more comfortable.”

The study involved three parts: determining what products people find “embarrassing,” exploring what packaging characteristics people find the most anonymous, and testing these packaging preferences in a real-world scenario.

Using an online survey tool, the team asked approximately 60 consumers ranging in age from 20-65 what three products they were most embarrassed to purchase in a store. After accounting for gender bias—more men named condoms and more women listed feminine products—they were left with two clear winners: hemorrhoid cream and personal lubricant. Survey respondents were then asked to identify what kinds of packaging—a box or a tube—and what colors—red or blue—were the most anonymous. An in-store test confirmed people prefer boxed items branded with cool colors like blue.

“It all came down to anonymity,” Jones said, explaining that they did experiments to discover why people preferred the blue boxed options. “Basically, blue stands out less than red, and boxes are more anonymous than tubes. People were oneand-a-half to two times more likely to choose that combination.”

The study’s results, which were published in the Harvard Business Review, call into question the prevailing marketing wisdom that it’s best to stand out on the shelf.

“People say you should always differentiate your product, but that might not always be true,” Farmer explained.

“One size doesn’t fit all for all products.

So, should you be on an endcap display?

Should you use bright packaging? Not necessarily because we found that when people are buying embarrassing products, if the packaging or location stands out then the customers feel like they stand out, too, and that’s not good.”

Farmer said marketing these items is about nuance and finding what’s best for a particular product because in

“If someone is embarrassed to buy their medication because it would let people know about a medical issue, or if they’re foregoing condoms out of embarrassment, there are obvious health implications to that.” ~ Adam Farmer the end that’s best for the retailer, the manufacturer and even the consumer.

“If someone is embarrassed to buy their medication because it would let people know about a medical issue, or if they’re foregoing condoms out of embarrassment, there are obvious health implications to that,” Farmer said.

“There’s also a higher rate of theft of these items. If you can help consumers cope with that embarrassment so they’ll still make those purchases, it’s better for everyone involved.”

Jones said the implications of this study are broad and open many more avenues of research. While this work took a broad look at personal preference and privacy, she said she believes there could be more to learn when looking at preferences based on gender or age.

There are also factors such as color associations and in-store placement to consider, as well as things that modify consumer behavior like discounts that might outweigh privacy concerns or curbside pick-up services that might increase comfort.

“This study is such a small piece of the story,” Jones said. “There’s so much more going on with it, this is just a starting point for a lot of interesting potential research.” n ALUMNUS.MSSTATE.EDU 11

Discoveries

MSU grape makes debut as nectar wine

By Bonnie Coblentz, Photos by Logan Kirkland

W

hen Mark Henderson of Lazy Magnolia Brewery in Kiln has an idea, he pushes until others share his vision.

The personalized beer mugs made by a local artisan and lining the walls behind the Lazy Magnolia bar are an example of his resolve.

“I’m a firm believer in talking and seeing where we can make things happen together,” he said.

So, when Mark met Eric Stafne, a fruit crops specialist with the MSU Extension Service, he saw a partnership in the making.

“I told him I was a horticulturist, and he got excited talking about grapes,” Stafne recalled of their 2012 meeting during a brewery tour.

It turns out Mark, who holds bachelor’s and master’s in electrical engineering from Mississippi State, and his wife, Leslie, a fellow MSU graduate with a bachelor’s and master’s in chemical engineering, had long been interested in making wine. They started experimenting with the process about 10 years ago using native muscadine grapes but were unsatisfied with the product.

“There is a mustiness in the flavor profile of muscadines that you can denature by cooking to make a great jam or jelly, but wine suffers a little from this,” Mark explained.

He wanted to try again using bunch grapes, but at the time, none were grown in Mississippi on a scale large enough to produce the amount of juice required.

“I told him I would work on it,” Stafne said.

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Employees of the MSU Extension South Mississippi Branch Experiment Station harvest MidSouth grapes at the McNeill Research Unit near Carriere in Pearl River County. Mark Stafne, a fruit crop specialist, propagated the vines which were developed to tolerate Mississippi’s hot, humid climate. All of the fruit is hand-picked across the approximately half acre of planting.

Stafne, who is also a scientist with the university’s Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, was working on muscadine production and expanded his work to include bunch grapes to assist the Gulf Coast brewery with product development and jump-start winemaking in Mississippi.

Mississippi’s climate can grow a wide range of crops, but it is not ideal for grapes.

The humidity makes fungal diseases a problem, and the difficult-to-control Pierce’s disease is prevalent. Hot summer nights make the fruit mature quickly, which does not allow for significant sugar accumulation, a necessary ingredient for fermentation.

So Stafne got to work collecting different grape cultivars and testing them at

the South Mississippi Branch Experiment Station in Poplarville. He worked with some hybrid varieties that came from U.S. Department of Agriculture work done in Meridian years ago.

“When they closed that location in the 1970s, all the plant material went to MSU,” Stafne said. “MSU released three bunch grapes—Miss Blanc, Miss Blue and MidSouth—that would tolerate Pierce’s disease and a lot of other grape diseases.”

Stafne propagated his vines and is now growing about a quarter acre of the MidSouth grapes at MSU’s McNeill Research Unit near Carriere in Pearl River County. This spring, he provided a local nursery about 100 MidSouth cuttings, so some may soon be available commercially.

Stafne first harvested enough MidSouth

grapes to press in 2015, and the Hendersons began experimenting with that meager quantity in the first years.

“By 2018, we had a decent crop on the vines and ended up with 68 gallons of juice for winemaking,” Stafne said. “This year, we had some losses due to disease caused by a huge rain event that blew up the anthracnose on the vines. We still managed to produce more than 100 gallons of juice.”

Mark and Leslie are also perfecting a wine using Blanc du Bois grown by Mike Crowe, an MSU alumnus who has participated in MSU Extension Service grape-growing and wine educational programs. The Hendersons have experimented with meads and are now trying to perfect the wine they are calling MidSouth nectar.

ALUMNUS.MSSTATE.EDU 13

Discoveries “MidSouth has an excellent flavor but a fundamental problem in terms of its acidity,” Mark Henderson said.

The MidSouth grapes’ total acidity starts at 9 on the pH scale, making it too tart to be enjoyed.

For comparison, a white wine has a total acidity of 7.

A technique known as cold stabilization takes off one point of acidity, and adding sodium bicarbonate eliminates one more point, bringing the wine into the acceptable acidity range.

The next step was to increase the sugar content of the juice going into the fermentation process so it reaches the alcohol levels required of wines.

Mississippi law allows the addition of local sources of sugar.

“We use the honey to fortify the sugar content of the grape juice,” Mark explained.

Their honey comes from Mark’s uncle Milton Henderson, an MSU-graduate living in Ellisville. They chose honey that comes from the pollen of rattan vines.

“The finished wine came out very fruit-forward with an acidity level that is quite drinkable,” Mark said.

Like many white wines, MidSouth has a tart flavor.

This one is described as tasting somewhat like a raspberry.

The grapes produce a deep, dark maroon-red juice, but the resulting wine looks white with barely a blush.

“The wine looks like a chardonnay with just a bit of a rose wine,” Mark said. “It tastes like something between a sauvignon blanc and a pinot gris.

We’re calling it a nectar.”

Winemaking occurs in late summer to early fall, which 14 FALL 2019

With his success in grape-growing at the McNeill Research Unit, Stafne provided about 100 MidSouth grape cuttings to a local nursery to help make the vines available commercially. TOP: David Lee (right) and Jonathan Smith (left) harvest grapes.

BOTTOM: Olga Mavrodi, Mike Ely, Mike Crowe and Stafne prepare lugs of grapes for transport.

TOP: Crowe, an MSU alumnus and grape grower, assisted with the Extension harvest. MIDDLE: This year’s grape harvest produced more than 100 gallons of juice. Mark Henderson (right) and son Odin (left) helped collect juice from the crushed grapes. BOTTOM: Mississippi State alumni Mark and Leslie Henderson, who own Lazy Magnolia, created a wine called Mississippi Nectar, which is described as a fruit-forward cross between a sauvignon blanc and a pinot gris.

fits well into the beer-making schedule of Lazy Magnolia, which became Mississippi’s first commercial brewery when it opened in 2003.

Now producing more than two dozen flavors of beer across three product lines, Lazy Magnolia products are now available in nine states and growing in popularity and consumer loyalty. Mark said they see their growth into winemaking as a logical business step with a positive economic impact for the state.

“We believe in Mississippi, and we believe we have to change the trade deficit in the state and stop shipping our dollars to other places,” Mark said.

“We see agriculture as a critical component of that.

“We make our beer well in advance of sales, and the peak time for beer production is summer,” he said. “We saw that winemaking would fit in the schedule, and it’s tied into our core belief structure about economic development.”

James Henderson, director of the MSU Coastal Research and Extension Center in Biloxi, said Stafne’s partnership with the Hendersons is a great example of how Extension can help develop new product markets by collaborating with local businesses.

“If this endeavor is successful, there will be a growing product market and demand for southern grapes produced in Mississippi,” James said. “This will provide small family farmers with another crop that will have a local product market. This is an excellent example of how Extension can help both farmers and local businesses.” n ALUMNUS.MSSTATE.EDU 15

Discoveries

Staff at the MSU Raspet Flight Research Laboratory perform post-flight procedures on the lab’s Outlaw G2E Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) at George M. Bryan Airfield in Starkville.

From L-R: UAS program manager Madison Dixon; Hannah Thach, ASSURE/ARDC technical director of research; and Clay Shires, facilities coordinator

ON THE RISE Conducting world-class unmanned aircraft research is no easy feat, but a dedicated team of scientists, technicians and managers at Mississippi State’s Raspet Flight Research Laboratory are proving every day they will rise to the challenge.

“Our vision is simple—to make Raspet Flight Research Laboratory the finest academic aviation and aerospace research, development, test and evaluation facility of its kind in the world,” said Dallas Brooks, director of the center. “With first-rate capabilities, tremendous support from the university and state, and nearly $30 million in funded research programs, I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished. But that’s nothing compared to the wonderful opportunities we have ahead of us.”

16 FALL 2019

MSU’s Raspet Flight Research Laboratory continues to impact UAS research

By Sasha Steinberg, Photos by Megan Bean

In 2015, the Federal Aviation Administration selected Mississippi State to serve as the lead academic institution for the Alliance for System Safety for UAS Research Excellence, or ASSURE. Brooks said ASSURE research is used by the FAA as the basis for setting rules and standards for unmanned aircraft system operation to ensure the safety, security and privacy for the American public.

“The ASSURE Center of Excellence was MSU’s first national ‘win’ for a major federal research facility, and we’re also quite proud that Mississippi won designation as the Department of Homeland Security’s National UAS Test Site,” Brooks said.

A 26-year U.S. Air Force veteran, Brooks said UAS are those capable of flight

without an onboard pilot. Normally, the “system” consists of an aircraft, or aerial vehicle; a control station on the ground, on a boat or in another aircraft; and a communication system linking the two.

UAS are both highly precise and highly automated, which makes them useful in accomplishing tasks considered too “dull or dangerous” for a human pilot.

Brooks said Raspet’s research requires the testing and flight of much larger and more capable aircraft than one may find at a typical university.

Overall, the lab’s UAS fleet is valued at around $2.5 million, with another $2 million of new aircraft slated to arrive this year. The newest addition to MSU’s fleet is the TigerShark XP3, an

approximately 500-pound aircraft with a nearly 22-foot wingspan. For the past two to three years, Raspet also has flown the Outlaw G2E, a 180-pound aircraft with a 14-foot wingspan.

Both aircraft, Brooks said, are capable of carrying substantial electronic equipment, or “payload,” such as highresolution sensors including radar systems, thermal measuring equipment and multi-spectral cameras, as well as powerful communications systems, airsampling equipment and other scientific instruments that support Raspet’s ongoing research.

Through a partnership with the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, Brooks said Raspet is using its UAS capabilities to advise first responders and relief personnel on ways to better assess damage, locate downed power lines and assist communities in the aftermath of natural disasters.

“We’re also working with the University of Mississippi Medical Center to conduct research on how UAS can augment our state’s life-flight helicopter fleet to deliver life-saving drugs or other medical supplies to remote areas faster and more cheaply than ever before,” he said.

Raspet also is working with county and local governments to attract advanced technology initiatives and projects to the Magnolia State through a Mississippi UAS Partnership. In addition to MSU, partners include Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center near Hattiesburg, the Singing River Island former naval facility near Pascagoula and the John C. Stennis Space Center on the Gulf Coast.

“The successful first phase of our Mississippi UAS Partnership has spawned a second phase, focused on helping to bring this wonderful technology to our farmers in Mississippi’s Delta,” he said. “Through this partnership, we are pursuing targeted federal and state research grants and contracts in the areas of agriculture, environmental assessment and as always, safety.”

On May 8, Brooks shared “stellar” examples of Mississippi’s national leadership in UAS research development

Raspet Director Dallas Brooks with UAS aircraft Griffon Outlaw G2E (Bully-1 and Bully-2)

Northern Gulf Institute. on Capitol Hill in testimony before the “I’ve worked in many states and U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, countries around the world, and I’ve never Science and Transportation. Brooks said seen the kind of teamwork and support his experience at the Pentagon helped him that Mississippians bring to the table," ready remarks.

Brooks said. "It’s not just a matter of “Sens. Ted Cruz, Marsha Blackburn what they do; it’s who they are—kind, and Roger Wicker all were very interested hardworking and in how this technology passionate in helping could be employed “THE ASSURE CENTER OF their neighbors and to help improve the their state find the lives of everyday EXCELLENCE WAS MSU’S FIRST success they so richly Americans, and also in NATIONAL ‘WIN’ FOR A MAJOR deserve. the protections that we FEDERAL RESEARCH FACILITY, AND “The UAS field is are building to ensure so fresh, innovative and safety and privacy are WE’RE ALSO QUITE PROUD THAT limitless that the only protected,” he said. “It MISSISSIPPI WON DESIGNATION things holding us back was an experience I’ll AS THE DEPARTMENT OF are the boundaries we always remember.”

HOMELAND SECURITY’S place upon ourselves,” Moving forward, he continued. “Our Brooks said UAS NATIONAL UAS TEST SITE." staff gets to wake up research success at ~ DALLAS BROOKS every day and realize MSU will, as it always that we’re likely going has, start and end with to do something that no one has ever done good people doing great things together. before. We’ve come incredibly far in just He said Raspet greatly benefits from the over three years, and I’m excited about the support of university leadership, including work our team will continue to do to meet MSU President Mark E. Keenum; David the challenges of today’s most promising Shaw, former vice president for research aviation technology.” and economic development, now provost For more information on Raspet, visit and executive vice president; and Robert www.raspet.msstate.edu. Find ASSURE Moorhead, director of MSU’s at www.assureuas.org. n Geosystems Research Institute and ALUMNUS.MSSTATE.EDU 17

Discoveries

Mississippi State-developed vaccination technologies are being commercialized to help the catfish industry save millions for the state that leads the nation in production. Licensed and delivered by DelTaq Fish Health LLC using an MSU-designed platform, the oral catfish vaccination service based in Bolivar County is helping combat a devastating bacterial disease that could cost the Magnolia State industry more than $40 million annually. Leading the decadelong development of the vaccine and delivery method is MSU research professor David Wise, who said higher survival, better feed conversion and better catfish growth due to the vaccine translates into more pounds of fish harvested per acre for the state’s producers.

Rani Sullivan, Richard H. Johnson Chair and professor of aerospace engineering, and MSU aerospace graduate Leeanna Meadows received the 2018 George Stephenson Gold Medal, awarded for the best original paper published by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

Laura Allen, an assistant professor of psychology, is being honored by the Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences with an early career impact award to recognize her research on cognitive processes that drive multiple text comprehension.

Mississippi State University and Uzbekistan’s Tashkent State Agrarian University are planning future academic and research collaborations after leaders from both institutions signed a memorandum of understanding in February at MSU. The two universities are looking to develop alliances focused in specif ic areas of agriculture, which will help TSAU develop needed expertise in a sector that is signif icant to the Uzbekistan economy. The agreement encourages the mutual exchange of faculty and technical experts, opportunities for TSAU students to enroll at MSU, exchanges of technical information, as well as the development of dual degree programs and collaborative research projects. Initial research will focus on irrigation and water management in horticulture.

18 FALL 2019

Mississippi State University is developing new partnerships with the Moroccan institute that oversees one of the world’s most important archaeological sites, creating potential opportunities for MSU students and researchers in the African nation. During a recent trip to Morocco, faculty from MSU’s Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures met with leaders of the Institut National des Sciences de l’Archéologie et du Patrimoine, or INSAP, to discuss collaborations that could benefit from complementary strengths in the field of archaeology.

INSAP is currently in charge of the Jebel Irhoud site, where in 2017, archeologists discovered the world’s oldest known Homo sapien remains.

Mississippi State biological research developed using an $832,000 National Science Foundation grant garnered international attention in Current Biology, a premier bimonthly scientific journal. The paper, authored by Matthew Brown, an assistant professor in biological sciences, explores how he and his team work to link ancient fossils to modern living organisms using a new method, advanced in his lab, which bypasses genome sequencing.

For her groundbreaking research on gender inequality in sports, Rachel Allison, an assistant professor of sociology, is receiving a $15,000 scholarship from the Fédération Internationale de Football Association to study the atmosphere and community of women’s soccer fans.

MSU hosted a grand opening ceremony for the Marvin B. Dow Stitched Composites Development Center at the MSU Advanced Composites Institute. During the ceremony, MSU President Mark E. Keenum noted that the university’s research and development activities, often carried out with government and industry partners, have a substantial impact on Mississippi’s economy, leading to the development of new companies and new jobs.

Make your giving go further for MSU. There is no better time to consider Mississippi State University in your yearly charitable giving plans. Annual gifts benefit MSU immediately; however, by adding a planned gift, such as including us in your will, you can:

• • • •

Increase the impact of your giving.

Receive greater tax savings.

Preserve wealth for you and your family.

Leave your legacy for Mississippi State’s future.

For more information on creating a planned gift, contact the MSU Foundation Office of Planned Giving.

MSU is an AA/EEO university.

Wes Gordon, Director of Planned Giving (662) 325-3707 | wgordon@foundation.msstate.edu ALUMNUS.MSSTATE.EDU 19

State SNAPSHOT

STEALING THE SHOW: Bully XXI,

otherwise known as Jak, greeted adoring fans from the stage of Bulldog Bash 2019. Now in its 20th year, the September event drew thousands of people to Starkville’s historic downtown district. Hip-hop artist T-Pain headlined the free event, which is known as “the largest outdoor concert in Mississippi.”

Photo by Logan Kirkland

20 FALL 2019

ALUMNUS.MSSTATE.EDU 21

TASTES OF

Bulldog creations bring Southern staples to the table

By Vanessa Beeson, Photos by Heather Rowe & Submitted

Southerners take food seriously.

More than a meal, it’s often part of a larger story that’s shaped families and communities for generations.

The Bulldog family is no exception as alumni have dedicated their lives to bringing unique tastes and products to dinner tables across the region.

22 FALL 2019

Crop to Pop At Six Mile Farms in Tribbett, business is popping. John Mark Looney’s family farm, named after two six-milelong bayous that run through the land, produces soybeans, field corn and, most recently, popping corn.

Looney, a 2006 and 2009 MSU graduate with a bachelor’s in agronomy and master’s in agribusiness management, respectively, first planted the unconventional crop in 2016 at the behest of a food-industry friend. He started with 1 acre of the movie-theater staple and from there Crop to Pop was born.

Called butterfly popcorn for its postpopped shape, the kernels are harvested with a combine, just like field corn. The kernels are then processed through a seed cleaner and packaged for retail outlets.

Looney has worked on the farm since 2008 with his father Mark, a 1974 agricultural engineering technology and business graduate. He said the initial acre of popcorn yielded about 1,800 bags of Crop to Pop. In 2018, he increased production from 1 acre to 35 acres of butterfly popcorn and 5 acres of mushroom popcorn, which is used to make caramel corn. This year he’s planted essentially the same on the Washington County farm.

He credits Mississippi State and his experience with the National AgriMarketing Association’s student chapter for helping him garner the confidence to pursue this venture.

“Each year we created a marketing campaign for an agricultural business and competed nationally,” Looney said. “Two particular plans included marketing for a Simmons Catfish product as well as a sweet-potato-based deer feed the team named Sweet Buck.”

Looney said that experience, along with watching friends like Julia Tatum of Delta Grind, develop and hone their products, have helped him build a road map for Crop to Pop’s future. He’s

“Whether you’re using Crop to Pop as croutons in a salad or something else creative, or just as a movie night snack, be sure to tag us on social media.” ~ John Mark Looney

ALUMNUS.MSSTATE.EDU 23

interested in taking his product to the next level, trying out marketing ideas and more.

Above all, he wants to know how customers are enjoying his crop.

“Whether you’re using Crop to Pop as croutons in a salad or something else creative, or just as a movie night snack, be sure to tag us on social media,” he said.

Crop to Pop can be found at boutique retailers and restaurants throughout Mississippi and select businesses in the mid-South. Its social media includes Instagram and Facebook accounts under sixmilefarmsllc. More information can be found at www.sixmilefarmsllc.com.

24 FALL 2019

Simmons Catfish After a short stint in the U.S. Army, Harry Simmons, a 1972 agricultural economics graduate, returned to his native Yazoo City to take up farming.

“We had 40 acres of family land, and I was able to purchase 600 adjacent acres and rent another 350 acres to start a soybean and cotton operation,” Simmons said.

While the first year was smooth sailing, the second year had more than its fair share of challenges. That’s when Simmons

turned to farm-raised catfish to diversify his operation.

“I saw catfish farming as a way to offset risks in the row-cropping operation and vice versa,” Simmons explained.

Simmons harvested his first catfish crop more than 40 years ago. Now, he has 2,000 acres of ponds across several Mississippi farms and a processing facility that’s been in operation for 37 years. When the plant opened, it had the capacity to process 20,000 pounds of catfish weekly; now the plant processes 80,000 to 100,000 pounds daily.

As the operation has grown in quantity,

Pan-seared Catfish Tacos with Hoover Sauce Reduction An easy weeknight recipe

¼ Cup low-sodium soy sauce 1 Tbsp fresh ground black pepper

3-4 catfish fillets, thawed

Combine all ingredients in a small saute pan and slightly

Cooking oil 1-2 Tbsp no-sodium Tony Chachere’s Seasoning 1-2 Tbsp fresh ground black pepper 1 Cup panko bread crumbs

reduce the mixture until all ingredients are blended and warm. Remove from the heat.

TACO ASSEMBLY

Pat the fillets dry with a paper towel. Slice the catfish across the grain into strips about 1-inch wide, and place in a shallow glass baking dish. Lightly coat the fillets with cooking oil—just enough to help the seasonings and bread crumbs stick. Sprinkle both sides of the fillets with Tony Chachere’s Seasoning, pepper and bread crumbs. Prepare a medium-sized skillet with about ½-inch of cooking oil and bring to about 325 F. Lightly pan-sear the catfish strips until crispy and slightly brown on the outside but still flaky and tender on the inside, about 10 minutes. Remove them from the pan and drain on a wire cooling rack. Do not place them on paper

Simmons Catfish has also become steeped in Bulldog tradition. Simmons’ daughter Katy, a culinary school graduate, runs the company’s brand and marketing development, while son-in-law Andy Prosser, who holds a 2002 bachelor’s in agriculture and 2003 MBA from Mississippi State, oversees the plant.

Nephew Dan Bradshaw, a 2003 MSU business graduate, has managed the farm for the past 15 years. Longtime friend Seger Collier, a 1975 agriculture economics alumnus, is director of operations and one of many employees who has been with the company since its

1 Cup Hoover Sauce ½ Cup of your favorite barbecue sauce

PAN-SEARED CATFISH

towels for draining or they will get soggy.

HOOVER SAUCE REDUCTION

6-8 Large, soft tortilla tacos shells Pan-seared catfish 4 Cups shredded fresh cabbage 2 Cups of sharp cheddar or pepper jack cheese Hoover Sauce Reduction Lay a taco shell on a plate and place two to three catfish strips on the shell. Cover the shells with a serving of shredded cabbage and top with cheese.

Cup the taco in your hand and drizzle with the Hoover Sauce reduction. Gently roll the taco shell, with its ingredients inside, and serve immediately.

“We are not an automated plant so we do a lot more processing by hand, which I think enhances the quality.

We also chill the catfish as soon as they arrive, which I think improves quality too.” ~ Harry Simmons ALUMNUS.MSSTATE.EDU 25

early days—around 20 have been there for more than 30 years.

Simmons said attention to detail, good quality and pride in the product have contributed to their success.

“I think our brand and process are unique,” Simmons explained. “For one thing, we are not an automated plant so we do a lot more processing by hand, which I think enhances the quality. We also chill the catfish as soon as they arrive, which I think improves quality too.”

He said most of his business is earned by word-of-mouth.

“People buy the product, compliment us and pass the word onto other people,” Simmons said. “That makes me think the pride we take in packaging the fish means something to people. Quality matters when it’s your name on the box.”

For a list of restaurants and grocers that carry Simmons Catfish, visit www. simmonscatfish.com/find-us.

Eubanks Produce Allen Eubanks’ growing empire began in the early 1990s on 120 acres of family land. Now Eubanks Produce and Charlie’s U-Pik encompasses nearly 3,000 acres.

A fourth-generation farmer, the 1992 agricultural economics graduate owns and operates the Lucedalebased operation with his wife Janice.

However, their four children aged 13 to 21 help with the enterprise, especially during the prime harvest time.

Their son, Andrew, is an agricultural engineering technology major at MSU, while their daughter Allison joined the Bulldog family as a business major in the spring of 2019.

Along with his own children, Eubanks said they hire about 50 high school and college students to help out at Charlie’s U-Pik locations during the summer months.

26 FALL 2019

a quality product as possible. We also always try to follow through on what we promise.”

Eubanks Produce is distributed at numerous retailers throughout the Southeast. Visit www.eubanksproduce. com or www.charliesupik.com for more information.

“Early on, I saw brands come and go. Some people seem more interested in making a dollar than having a good product and reputation. I always made sure we had as good a quality product as possible. We also always try to follow through on what we promise.” ~ Allen Eubanks “We employ around 300 H-2A workers on the Eubanks Produce side,” Eubanks said. “Since we’ve started, some folks have retired, and some of their grown children are now working on the farm.”

In 2016, the Eubanks added a second Charlie’s U-Pik location in Wiggins. It’s named after his father who ran the self-pick program when it started, but it was Eubanks’ grandfather Pat who introduced the family to produce farming.

Eubanks said the brand has been built through hard work, followthrough and commitment to quality.

“Early on, I saw brands come and go. Some people seem more interested in making a dollar than having a good product and reputation,” Eubanks said.

“I always made sure we had as good

Delta Blues Rice From its 4,000 acres in the heart of the Mississippi Delta, the Arant family wants to help people, “Feed the body.

Feel the soul.”

Located in Ruleville, the makers of Delta Blues Rice produce white long grain, brown long grain and, most recently, jasmine varieties of rice, but it’s their rice grits that have emerged as a Southern staple.

In 2016, the company’s signature rice grits garnered national attention as the winner of Garden & Gun magazine’s Made in the South Food Award, and its rice won a Southern Living Food Award. While the white rice grits are the most popular, brown rice grits are also available.

David Arant Jr., a 2006 civil engineering graduate, works on the day-to-day operation and runs the Delta Blues Rice side of the family farm. He also manages corn and soybean production on the farm. He found that when he talked to folks about his family’s rice production, they were surprised the starchy staple is grown in Mississippi.

In fact, Mississippi rice, which accounted for $105 million production value in 2017, is grown on more than 2,590 farms throughout the state.

“Delta Blues Rice is our way to educate consumers on the local story of rice,” Arant said.

Arant said his grandfather bought a

“Rice grits can be used for traditional grits recipes, but they also make a great risotto, a delicious rice pudding, and an excellent arancini." ~ David Arant Jr. rice mill decades ago. The family began milling long-grain rice during the holidays and giving free bags to friends and neighbors.

“Everyone always said they loved the way our rice tasted. We didn’t know if it was because it was better or free,” Arant said with a laugh.

Arant said that the company’s popular rice grits are the byproduct of milling its long-grain white and brown rice, which is a variety developed by the university’s Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. The grits are coarsely ground and make a creamier dish than traditional longgrain rice. He describes them as a versatile pantry staple.

“Rice grits can be used for traditional grits recipes, but they also make a great risotto, a delicious rice pudding, and an excellent arancini. DBR customers can find many recipes on our website and can also see how we use the products in our kitchen by watching our videos on Facebook or YouTube,” Arant said.

Arant works with his dad, David

Arant Sr., a 1978 agricultural economics graduate, and his uncle Hugh Arant, a 1973 agriculture graduate. His wife, Rebekkah, a 2006 English education graduate, helps with marketing, product development and recipes.

Delta Blues Rice can be found in the MAFES Sales Store, at various grocery stores throughout the state and online at www.deltabluesrice.com. Search @deltabluesrice to find the company on social media.

Hoover Sauce Back in 1955, when Hoover Lee was a business major at Mississippi State University, his friend, Ed Joe, asked him to accompany him on a double date. More than 60 years later, Lee and Freeda, who was his date that night, are happily married with three grown children and a very successful business steeped in family tradition.

After earning a degree in business information systems and completing a stint in the U.S. Army, Lee and his wife returned to his hometown of Louise to take over his father’s grocery store. The store, called Lee Hong Company, has been in operation just over a century and is currently under the leadership of Lee’s sons Stan, a 1982 education graduate, and Tim, who earned a business degree in 1992.

Daughter Shari, a 1984 business graduate, manages a somewhat newer side of the family business that is devoted to Hoover Sauce, a nowfamous Mississippi staple Lee first bottled in 1975.

“There was always a community cookout, and Dad would make ribs or wings. It was because of these cookouts that Hoover Sauce was born,” she said.

Hoover Sauce, by way of its namesake, is named after the U.S.S. Hoover, which brought an infant Lee and his family to the U.S. when they

emigrated from China. It was inspired by the Magnolia State’s lack of quality Chinese food in the 1970s.

“Dad wanted to make a true Cantonese duck sauce but wanted to incorporate flavors he’d come to love while growing up in the Delta,” Shari explained.

The result is a sweet and savory sauce that’s gained an impressive following.

The sauce has been featured by chefs around the country and highlighted in national magazines.

Shari said there’s a new sauce in the works; this one inspired by Freeda.

“My mom makes a spicy tomatorelish that folks put on the foot-long hotdogs we sell in the family store,” Shari said. “We hope to get that bottled soon.”

For now, fans can purchase Hoover Sauce online or at various grocers and retailers throughout the state, including the family’s store in Louise. Visit www.facebook.com/hooversauce for more information.

“Dad wanted to make a true Cantonese duck sauce but wanted to incorporate flavors he’d come to love while growing up in the Delta." ~ Shari Lee ALUMNUS.MSSTATE.EDU 27

“We pride ourselves on helping everyone in the community. A business that can attract people from all walks of life really speaks to the community atmosphere Shane has created and how far he’s gone to make sure everyone feels welcome.” ~ Katelyn Reed

Strange Brew Shane Reed wants to keep Starkville strange. As the owner of Strange Brew Coffeehouse, which he runs with his wife Katelyn, the 2000 archaeology graduate has been cooking up strange concoctions for a dozen years.

Shane said creative drinks, like the shop’s famous Albino Squirrel frappe made with white chocolate and hazelnut, are the cornerstone of the brand. He also said high-quality coffee is an essential ingredient for its success. Since the beginning, he’s opted for local beans roasted in microbatches from New Albany-based High Point 28 FALL 2019

Roasters. Strange Brew’s signature Blueberry Cobbler coffee has a fan base all of its own.

The Reeds draw inspiration from everywhere: the King Cake frappe was created after a trip to New Orleans, while Girl Scout cookie season inspired three cookie-themed flavors. Pop culture also plays a role with items like Barb’s Ginger Cookies, named after the “Stranger Things” character.

Those kooky flavors and Shane’s quirky sense of humor have created a cultlike following. He estimates the brand’s social media has around 50,000 followers across all platforms, where he says it’s all about interaction.

“We had a Facebook group of about 5,000 people before there were even company pages on the platform,” Shane said. “That allowed us to get in early and ask people what they wanted.”

Shane noted that the store opened in 2005, a week before the end of the semester. He made a decision that first year to stay open 24 hours a day during finals week and has kept the tradition going ever since.

“It was great to see everyone’s reaction and how excited they were for a real, premium coffeehouse to open up in Starkville. That excitement fueled us every day,” Shane said. “It didn’t really hit me though until I was working at

3 a.m. during that first finals week and walked upstairs. Every seat was taken, and we’d been open less than a month. It was insane.”

The Philadelphia native didn’t start out as an entrepreneur, but it’s something that is in his blood.

In fact, in the early 1990s, the current Strange Brew location was actually one of his family’s gas stations.

The giant bulldog now mounted atop the store’s massive bookcase was displayed in a glass case when Shane’s father, Woody, ran the convenience store.

“Back then, customers would stick money in the glass case for MSU’s athletic program and about once a year Jackie Sherrill would come to collect the donation and take a quick photo with my dad for the paper,” Shane recalled.

Now, farmers, college students and soccer moms all visit the establishment to grab an afternoon pickme-up in the form of a caffeinated drink or scratchbaked treat.

The Reed family’s specialty ice cream shop, Churn & Spoon, is right next door, offering its own eclectic flavors and concoctions. In 2017, the couple opened a Tupelo-based branch of Strange Brew in a renovated 1940s gas station. That location has its very own vibe drawing from the rock-n-roll roots of Elvis’ hometown.

Katelyn said the magic of all their stores comes from the customers themselves and the Brew Crew, a tightknit group of employees—many of them students.

“We’ve had two sets of brewistas fall in love and get married,” she said. “As far as the customers, we pride ourselves on helping everyone in the community. A business that can attract people from all walks of life really speaks to the community atmosphere Shane has created and how far he’s gone to make sure everyone feels welcome.”

A third Brew was announced in 2018, set to open soon in Midtown Starkville, a mixed-use development near downtown.

“This new location gives us the opportunity to do something a little different,” Katelyn said. “While the midtown spot will still have a coffee heart, it gives us a chance to expand our menu to include craft cocktails and small plates.”

The new storefront gives the Reeds double the chance to keep Starkville strange.

To find Strange Brew online, search across all social platforms for @sbcoffeehouse, @churnandspoon for the ice cream shop, @brewpelo for the Tupelo location, and @sbcoho for the new Midtown Starkville location. n

MAFES Sales Store

In 1938, a rush shipment of 10 teakwood cheese molds left a port in the Netherlands, destined for Mississippi State University. These molds provided the form for MSU’s now-famous “cannonball” Edam cheese.

More than 80 years later, the university produces 50,000 of these 3-pound balls annually. It’s the signature product of the MAFES Sales Store.

A self-sustaining unit of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, the store sells more than 50 products, many made from products grown on campus or produced by Mississippi farmers and artisans.

The Bearden Dairy Research Center provides 475,000 gallons of milk annually to make all of the MAFES Sales Store’s cheese and dairy products.

In addition to Edam, cheddar and Vallagret— with its Swiss-like flavor—are made on-site at the Custer Dairy Processing Plant, adjacent to the store. The plant also produces cheddar and jalapeño cheddar cheese spreads, as well as 11 flavors of ice cream, 2% white milk, whole chocolate milk and butter.

The store also sells a variety of jellies, jams, preserves, salsas, spices, Delta Blues Rice, biscuit mix, coffees, peanuts and more. Beef, lamb and pork from the MAFES Foundation Herds are also available at the store.

To purchase these products or learn more, visit www.msucheese.com.

ALUMNUS.MSSTATE.EDU 29

Bulldog Angel Network Helps MSU Entrepreneurs Set Their Eyes on the Prize

By Allison Mathews, Photos by Megan Bean, Logan Kirkland & Beth Wynn, Illustration by Eric Abbott

A

s Mississippi State continues to build its entrepreneurial culture for students, faculty, staff and alumni, one alumnus’ visionary efforts will ensure these startup businesses have access to the final variable in the formula for success.

Through the establishment of the Bulldog Angel Network, Wade Patterson, a 1983 electrical engineering graduate, is helping link university-related entrepreneurs with Mississippi State alumni and friends who can serve as investors and advisers.

The network follows the framework of traditional angel investment partnerships in which a “business angel” invests money into an early-stage business venture in exchange for an ownership share of the enterprise.

What makes it unique is that all of the startup companies considered for funding

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are majority-owned by members of the Mississippi State family.

Patterson, who throughout his career has established and operated successful businesses, sold profitable companies and licensed patented technologies, created the Bulldog Angel Network in 2017. The Huntsville, Alabama, resident said he recognized a need for MSU entrepreneurs to have a stronger launch pad and a more level playing field with those starting companies in areas such as Silicon Valley, where venture capital is more readily available.

“The MSU entrepreneurship program was more advanced than most Southeastern Conference schools, but there was no investment path for students who had strong business plans and evolving businesses to raise funds to continue down

the entrepreneurial path,” explained Patterson who serves as president of the network. “Establishing the Bulldog Angel Network was clearly the right next step.”

Patterson’s love of entrepreneurship prompted him to become involved with MSU’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach, commonly called the E-Center, in the early 2000s. During regular visits to campus, he said he enjoyed hearing student ideas. He soon became a reliable adviser for the center’s staff and students and gained an understanding of the scope of its work.

Each year, the E-Center mentors approximately 100 student businesses, which are developed with support from the center and a co-curricular program known as VentureCatalyst.

Both are under the leadership of Eric Hill, the center director, as well as an advisory board of business experts.

Housed in the College of Business, the center is open to students from any major, as well as faculty, staff and alumni.

Hill said the university awards up to $7,500 in seed money to qualifying companies, but the startup process inevitably created the need for larger amounts of investment capital.

“For years, there were angel investors out there, but there was no well-organized effort to drive early investment,” Hill said. “Without the Bulldog Angel Network, we were building companies that didn’t have the money to actually launch.

“It’s like we were helping students to build cars but not giving them any fuel,” Hill continued. “Angel investment was the critical missing link to provide some working capital before there could be a sellable product or enough revenue to support the team.”

Since startups with a new product or service represent a higher investment risk than other loans,

securing traditional bank financing is not always an option. Hill said the Bulldog Angel Network plays a crucial role in finding investors who are positioned to provide needed capital.

While these individuals are willing to accept higher levels of risk, they also enjoy the prospect of higher returns.

“They are providing the money that helps company founders with cost-of-living and the ability to forgo a job elsewhere to focus on their business while simultaneously instilling the Bulldog spirit of giving in to the next generation,” Hill said.

“It’s not a charity, nor does it have a philanthropic mission, but the focus on investing in MSU founders gives this continuity of investing in the Bulldog family’s future.”

In 2018, the Bulldog Angel Network, which is a separate entity from the university, invested in three companies with more than $600,000.

This year, the network is on track to meet or exceed that amount with additional investments.

Patterson’s vision in launching the Bulldog Angel Network was couched in his understanding that knowledgeable business mentors are just as crucial as investment dollars to entrepreneurs. He said the network members bring diverse experiences and backgrounds to the organization, but all have at least two things in common—an innate business sense and a love for Mississippi State and the Bulldog family.

While these angel investors always hope for a profitable overall return on their angel investments, Patterson said most of those motivated to be part of the Bulldog Angel Network do not approach their role strictly from a financial standpoint but also as a way of supporting the university and mentoring a generation of future leaders.

Stephen Buehler, a Starkville native and MSU Adkerson School

Wade Patterson, a 1983 electrical engineering graduate, founded the Bulldog Angel Network to link MSU entrepreneurs to inventors and advisers.

The MSU entrepreneurship program was more advanced than most Southeastern Conference schools, but there was no investment path for students who had strong business plans and evolving businesses to raise funds to continue down the entrepreneurial path.

Establishing the Bulldog Angel Network was clearly the right next step.” ~ Wade Patterson

ALUMNUS.MSSTATE.EDU 31

Accounting alumnus Stephen Buehler, right, discusses business plans with Vibe leaders Hagan Walker, an electrical engineering graduate, and Anna Barker, who earned bachelor’s degrees in business and foreign language. Buehler is an investor and board member for the Starkville-based startup.

Vibe’s signature product, Glo, is a line of liquid-activated, light-up cubes in a variety of colors and themes.

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of Accountancy alumnus who has spent most of his career in New York City’s financial realm, connected with Patterson because of their shared passion for helping the university’s student entrepreneurs.

An executive with Blackstone at the time, Buehler knew the company’s charitable foundation offered $250,000 grants to help universities strengthen their local entrepreneurial ecosystems and support high growth startups.

Wanting MSU to benefit from this program, he reached out to his alma mater to encourage the E-Center to apply. When the proposal was selected for funding, Hill traveled to New York City to formally accept the grant on behalf of the E-Center. Shortly thereafter, Buehler traveled to Starkville for a celebration.

While visiting campus, Buehler had the opportunity to meet and speak with many of the talented students in the VentureCatalyst program. It was at this time that Buehler met Hagan Walker and Kaylie Mitchell, the student cofounders of the Starkville-based startup Vibe. Buehler soon learned much more about their business venture, including

its signature product line Glo. He continued offering guidance and support—and ultimately, investment capital.

“They are extremely bright and capable, and I’ve probably learned as much from them as they’ve learned from me,” Buehler said, noting his admiration for their entrepreneurial spirit.

Buehler continues as a board member and close adviser for the growing company, now run by Walker and Anna Barker, also an MSU alumna.

“I’ve always believed that Mississippi and MSU have students who are as smart and talented as those anywhere in the country,” explained Buehler, who recently relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, where he is a founding partner and CEO of MAG CAP, short for Magnolia Capital, an investment and wealth management firm.

“My goal is to take a lot of what I’ve learned working at Blackstone and bring it back to Mississippi,” he continued. “It’s a big part of why I am involved in the Bulldog Angel Network.”

To learn more about the Bulldog Angel Network, visit www.ban. clubexpress.com.

Success Story DueT Technology LLC

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hen Mississippi State agricultural engineering technology and business alumnus Thomas White started cutting hair as a hobby, he came across a problem barbers have faced for decades— his electric clippers kept getting uncomfortably hot.

With the help of MSU’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach, White and classmate Tyler Anthony engineered clippers that do not overheat and have founded DueT Technology LLC. The company has been working with the MSU E-Center for more than two years and this spring received over $130,000 in investment funding from the Bulldog Angel Network.

“In an industry that touches nearly every human head, they’re still basically using 60-year-old technology,” said Anthony, a senior computer engineering major from Jonesboro, Georgia. “Our product solves the problem of clippers overheating within 25 minutes.”

The clippers have a patentpending design that uses an autonomous system to cool the device. The company expects to formally launch the product next year.

The team, which also includes Vicki Jordan, a Meridian native who studied psychology at MSU and serves as vice president of marketing and operations, has spent the last year building a brand to connect with both amateur and professional barbers. The company’s YouTube channel—Barber Style Directory— has tutorials that have received millions of views.

White said he’s glad company funding is coming from fellow Bulldogs through the Bulldog Angel Network.

“Just knowing that they’re alumni or they have associations with Mississippi State makes you feel more comfortable about everything and have a little more trust in the process,” White said.

DueT Technology was founded by alumnus Thomas White (center) and computer engineering major Tyler Anthony (right). Vicki Jordan (left), who studied psychology, serves as the company’s vice president of marketing and operations. The company has created electric clippers that don’t become uncomfortably hot, solving a problem that’s faced barbers for decades.

“In an industry that touches nearly every human head, they’re still basically using 60-year-old technology. Our product solves the problem of clippers overheating within 25 minutes.” ~ Tyler Anthony ALUMNUS.MSSTATE.EDU 33

Founded by electrical engineering alumnus Conor Ferguson, WISPer Systems received the largest Bulldog Angel investment of 2018 at $450,000.

Success Story WISPer Systems

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ISPr Systems was the first MSU student startup company to complete VentureCatalyst, a guided five-stage program at MSU’s E-Center that helps entrepreneurs turn a business concept into a funded company.

Led by president and CEO Conor Ferguson, a 2017 electrical engineering graduate, the company also received the largest Bulldog Angel Network investment in 2018 at $450,000.

Valued at nearly $2 million in 2018, the company now operates near the ArenaOne complex in Batesville, where young alumni are transforming the fixed wireless internet service provider (WISP) industry. This work could mean big improvements for internet access in rural areas of the U.S. and has the potential to make a global impact.

WISPr Systems aims to make internet access in rural areas much more practical and affordable. With the FCC moving away from funding fiber companies and promising more than $24 billion over the next decade to WISP, Ferguson said the industry is growing at a tremendous rate.

With novel technology, the company

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builds advanced automation tools such as drones for wireless internet service providers that eliminate the cost-intensive process of optimizing antenna placement.

Until now, establishing internet service for a new customer meant technicians climbing into bucket trucks and juggling a laptop and large antenna arrays to determine the best placement for optimal signals.

WISPr Systems’ uniquely engineered drones, equipped with proprietary software, make it simple for operators to scan a property automatically for the best antenna placement.

“This automated process will make it vastly more affordable to connect people anywhere to the internet,” said Ferguson, adding that the process cuts costs by at least 50% and saves significant time.

The company was brought to life during Ferguson’s student days at MSU, where engineering professors supported his interest in drones and helped develop his technical skills, and a team of E-Center advisers and mentors helped him prepare and vet his business plan. n

Valued at nearly $2 million in 2018, the company now operates near the ArenaOne complex in Batesville, where young alumni are transforming the fixed wireless internet service provider (WISP) industry.

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Campus clinic exemplifies the mission of Mississippi State University

By Emmalyne Beck, Photos by Logan Kirkland & Beth Wynn

Hayden Smith sits with Kasee StrattonGadke on the porch of MSU’s Autism and Developmental Disability Clinic.

n the fringe of Mississippi State’s campus, a mother leads her son into a nondescript yellow house with an inviting porch. It’s an unassuming face for a building that houses invaluable tools for those in need.

Known as the Autism and Developmental Disability Clinic, it officially opened in the spring of 2014.

Dan Gadke, head of the counseling, educational psychology and foundations department in the College of Education, co-directs the clinic with his wife Kasee Stratton-Gadke, a fellow associate professor. The graduate student-run clinic serves 85 to 100 clients from preschoolage to emerging adults providing individualized care for those with a disability.

The ADDC is one of the only comprehensive, pediatric behavioral psychology clinics offering academic and behavior services, skill-building and assessments, in north Mississippi, according to Gadke.

“We’re giving skills and we’re trying to help kids be more autonomous, functional and the best versions of themselves so they can go do whatever they want,” Gadke said.

That’s why this mother and son pair is here. Every other week, Lori Beth Smith drives an hour and 48 minutes with her 15-year-old son Hayden to the ADDC so he can receive services ranging from basic life skills to communication strategies.

Hayden was born almost completely deaf, with a clubbed foot, a cleft palate and had open heart surgery at 4 days old.

“A normal day for me is all about Hayden,” Lori Beth said. “People don’t realize that I do get lonely. I talk to him all day and he can’t talk back, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. He’s my whole world. I don’t know what I would do without him.”

Hayden smiles, waves and sticks out his hand when he meets someone; his mother laughs and said he has never met a stranger. He was diagnosed with CHARGE syndrome at 6 years old.

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Every two weeks, Lori Beth Smith makes the nearly two hour drive to Mississippi State’s Autism and Developmental Disability Clinic with her son Hayden so he can receive services ranging from communication strategies to basic life skills.

CHARGE syndrome is rare, occurring in about one in 10,000 births, with its letters representing common features of the syndrome such as coloboma of the eye, heart defect, atresia of choanae, restricted growth and development, genital urinary abnormalities, and ear abnormalities.

While CHARGE is an abbreviation for these conditions, Stratton-Gadke, who researches the syndrome, said the presentation varies in every individual.

“It’s a very medically complex population,” Stratton-Gadke said. “One individual with CHARGE syndrome might have really complex and lifethreatening features while another individual might have multiple medical procedures that are not life-threatening.

Simply, it’s a very rare, deaf-blind 36 FALL 2019

condition that comes with a host of medical problems.”

Lori Beth said since his birth, Hayden has had 20 surgeries ranging from major to minor due to CHARGE syndrome.

Hayden started going to the ADDC about two and a half years ago, when it “fell into my lap,” according to Lori Beth. The Mississippi State alumna said the clinic has helped her son learn to communicate his needs and desires, much of which he learned through structured instruction in the intervention sessions with two graduate students who encourage his communication.

“He has learned a level of maturity and independence,” said Lori Beth, who graduated in 1992 with a triple major in political science, history and English.

“They are teaching Hayden deductive reasoning and problem-solving like, ‘OK, Hayden, you asked for this, therefore, this is the consequence.’”

Hayden comes to the clinic excited to work as he signs “work” to his mother before his session at the ADDC. “When we get here, he will look at me and say that it is time to work. He knows,” Lori Beth said.

Parental involvement in the services provided to clients is very important to the ADDC. Lori Beth said she sits in most of Hayden’s sessions, learning from the graduate students and Stratton-Gadke how to better work with her son at home.

“I tell everybody, ‘God gave me Hayden to teach me patience,’” Lori Beth said while crying. “He hasn’t just made

me a good mom, he’s made me a better person. He really has. He really, really, truly has. I didn’t realize how selfish I was.”

Hayden can speak about 10 words, but his mother said they mainly use sign language to communicate.

“When I realized he was almost totally deaf, I went and bought an American Sign Language dictionary and I said, ‘OK, dude, we’ve got to learn,’” Lori Beth said.

“I started getting my hands on every DVD I could find that taught sign. We actually learned together.”

The ADDC has improved Hayden’s communication, working with him and Lori Beth to learn how to use a communication board.

“They don’t just work with the child, they work with the parent,” Lori Beth said.

“They have taught me how to continue teaching him at home. They are helping me prepare for his future.”

Accomplishments that may seem small to other parents, Lori Beth rejoices over.

She said her son is now able to bring her the movie he wants to watch, figure out how to open a door when his hands are full, and clear his place at the table.

“Five years ago, I never, ever dreamed that he would be where he is today,” Lori Beth said. “I know he’s always going to have limitations; I’ve made peace with that. But I’m also never going to stop trying.”

While the ADDC has provided Hayden with one-on-one psychological treatment such as behavioral and academic services, the Bulldog CHARGE Syndrome Research Laboratory located on campus provides research and resources to people around the world concerning CHARGE syndrome. Stratton-Gadke, whose office is surrounded by photographs of individuals with CHARGE syndrome, runs the lab, which is one of only two in the world. At the lab, she and graduate students specifically look at clients affected with CHARGE syndrome, working to train future professionals for the benefit of the diagnosed child.

“For us, it’s really important that

we research what those complexities are and how we can better serve not only the individual with CHARGE, but all the people that might come into contact with them,” Stratton-Gadke said.

“With siblings, what’s that relationship like? What’s the relationship like with educators? How can we better train them to support that child with CHARGE syndrome?”

“I tell everybody, ‘God gave me Hayden to teach me patience.’ He hasn’t just made me a good mom, he’s made me a better person. He really has. He really, really, truly has. I didn’t realize how selfish I was.” ~Lori Beth Smith Gadke and Stratton-Gadke came to MSU with the goal to start the Autism and Developmental Disability Clinic. While they are both licensed psychologists, they decided to become professors in order to train others as school psychologists so they could ultimately help more people.

“I actually never planned to have this type of a job,” said Stratton-Gadke, who was recently named director of the university’s T.K. Martin Center for Technology and Disability. “I really thought I’d be working one-on-one with kids with behavioral concerns who have disabilities, but I was really drawn to this because I felt like I could make much more of an impact in the field by training students. They’ll go out and see many more children and serve many more school districts than what I could individually.”

After applying to over 20 universities, Gadke and Stratton-Gadke chose Mississippi State because of the encouraging atmosphere they found.

“A lot of universities, a lot of places, will have you come in and kind of just fit into a role and just do that, but this university does a really good job of letting people be masters of their own destinies,” Gadke said. “Mississippi State does that well. This idea that you want to come in, you want to do something, the powers that be, whoever those are and whatever unit you’re in, going all the way up to the provost and the president’s office, they are interested in being supportive of that.”

According to Gadke, the ADDC represents the three prongs of Mississippi State: teaching, service and research. He said it is necessary for a university unit to meet the mission of its university.

“First, from a teaching and training aspect, we wanted a location where graduate students, particularly in our school psychology program, could come and get hands-on training and practice working with people with a whole host of different disabilities,” Gadke said.

“They did some of that out at the schools maybe, but it’s different than having to go out and find a place to do that. We’re just in-house. We can make sure that we’re training them in a best-practice format that doesn’t necessarily always happen in the real world.”

He said the clinic also provides unique services to those in need.

“Being able to provide a service to a community where there are tons of kids and adolescents that needed help with a variety of skills and didn’t have other places to go and get these types of services is another aspect,” Gadke said. “We wanted to make sure we provided a service for the community.”

Finally, Gadke said the ADDC concentrates on research.

“Everything we do is with research integrity, which is really common in our field, and behavioral analysis practice so that the students can learn how to be ALUMNUS.MSSTATE.EDU 37

Megan Anderson (left) and Lyndsay Fairchild (right), who are both doctoral students in educational psychology, work with Hayden Smith during a session at the Autism and Developmental Disability Clinic.

Lori Beth Smith sits in on her son’s sessions to learn how to better work with him at home.

She said accomplishments that may seem small to other parents are things she rejoices over as he becomes more independent and communicative.

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scholars and we can collect meaningful data and do meaningful practice that can help inform how other people help folks at other places and spread that,” he said.

Gadke said the ADDC has a waiting list partly because the services are not time-limited, even if the client greatly improves, goals may shift to new skills.

“Let’s say we were tantruming a lot when we were 4, and we’ve got tantrums under control. Now we’re 6 and we still don’t have the right social skills we need, so now we’ve got to work on social skills,” Gadke said. “It’s a progression through life. It’s the same challenges and trajectories that typical kids go through, it’s just a different trajectory requiring

and trains students,” Gadke said.

The clinic also provides services to MSU students who have autism through Autism Liaison Services which partners with MSU’s Student Support Services.

The ADDC hosts social skills groups, assessment services and summer academic and behavior camps which run in the month of July.

The clinic provides graduate students with extensive hands-on experience while they are earning their degrees. Gadke said first-year graduate students are put on cases as secondaries but are given their own clients their second year. Every graduate student sees at least two clients, but some see up to 10.

decision to come to Mississippi State for graduate school.

“The highlight of the program was that I would receive training within the clinical setting with actual kids with autism instead of the typical learning and learning and learning about kids with disabilities and then maybe working with them once or twice throughout training,” Clarke said. “It’s a unique opportunity that we have here at State with this clinic.”

Clarke said he appreciates that the clinic exposes graduate students to individuals with a variety of developmental disabilities.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity to become more well-versed in my own

“I really thought I’d be working one-on-one with kids with behavioral concerns who have disabilities, but I was really drawn to this because I felt like I could make much more of an impact in the field by training students. They’ll go out and see many more children and serve many more school districts than what I could individually.” ~ Kasee Stratton-Gadke more targeted support on those things over time. My point is, people aren’t going away. Nobody is coming to us for two weeks and being like, ‘We got this, we’re good.’”

Gadke said most of the clients hear about the clinic by word-of-mouth and since last April, the clinic has served individuals from 22 counties in Mississippi. The ADDC also has clients from the surrounding states who travel to Starkville for services provided by the clinic.

The clinic is funded by grants, private donors and fundraisers. According to Gadke, this funding allows ADDC to offer its services to individuals free of charge.

Both Gadke and Stratton-Gadke said they are thankful for Mississippi State University’s support of the ADDC and the CHARGE lab.

“It’s just part of the university unit now, one they see that serves the community

“Before they even leave for an internship, our students have anywhere between 1,300 and 2,200 practicum hours depending on if they are specialist or doctoral students,” Gadke said.

Alexander Clarke, a fourth-year doctoral student in school psychology, said working as a graduate student while receiving training is a rare and important opportunity for graduate students.

“It’s always fun in the classroom hearing stories, learning about how to typically go about an intervention case from start to the end,” Clarke said. “For me, especially this last year, it’s been fun to start taking my own path and taking what I’ve learned and modifying it just a little based on my past experiences with different clients. It’s really allowed me to become more well-versed as a growing professional in this field to have my own track and procedures that I go through with clients.”

Clarke said the ADDC influenced his

training,” Clarke said. “I plan to embark on a career working with kids in a clinical setting and providing treatment. The more clients I see with a wide range of disability or referral concerns will allow me to have a better skill set to work with kids later in life.”

Clarke said he sees about eight clients a week, discerning their needs, developing specified intervention plans and implementing the interventions into the appointments. He said a majority of the clients work on improving functional life skills and communication skills.

He wants to work as a psychologist in a hospital or become a research professor after he receives his doctorate, and said his favorite thing about the clinic is seeing the parents’ reactions to what their children have learned in the clinic.

“We work on all this stuff during treatment with their child and it is things that they’ve never seen their child really do before,” Clarke said. “I’ve had a couple ALUMNUS.MSSTATE.EDU 39

Kasee Stratton-Gadke, who co-directs the Autism and Developmental Disability Clinic with her husband Dan Gadke, also runs the Bulldog CHARGE Syndrome Laboratory, one of only two labs in the world that specifically researches the disorder.

of clients who had never spoken a word in their lives and now they’re finally speaking to their parents. When I bring the parents in to observe, just watching the parents’ reaction is emotional all-around.”

While the ADDC is led by graduate students, the clinic also offers undergraduates volunteer and research experience. Gadke said undergraduates help in the clinic according to their comfort level, whether that is observing or actually leading the intervention themselves. This allows them to collect data alongside graduate students.

“We’ve had undergrads present at symposiums here but we’ve also had undergrads travel with us around the country with grad students and present their own research as well,” Gadke said.

“They get the full training through volunteering which almost doubles as a research opportunity if you want to take advantage of that.

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Martha Rose Wright, who graduated in May with a bachelor’s in psychology, has volunteered with the clinic since

“We’re giving skills and we’re trying to help kids be more autonomous, functional and the best versions of themselves so they can go do whatever they want.” ~ Dan Gadke the spring semester of 2018. She has a brother with autism and decided to volunteer at the clinic after hearing about it from a friend.

“Even though everyone on the spectrum is different, I wanted to offer help since I have a bit of prior experience,” Wright said. “Also, I figured it might be hard for people in or around Starkville to find solid resources for people with autism since it is rather rural so I wanted to help out in any way I could.”

Wright said this experience has shown her how different each individual with autism is. She said she plans on becoming a school counselor after graduation and that volunteering at the clinic has strengthened her desire.

“I think the hands-on experience the clinic gives is really important for people trying to move toward professional clinical jobs,” Wright said. “It provides great experience for future clinical situations in graduate school and the professional world. It has definitely helped my educational experience at Mississippi State.” n

CHARGE LAB Mississippi State University houses one of the two labs in the world that specifically researches CHARGE syndrome in regards to quality of life and how to improve it. The Bulldog CHARGE Syndrome Laboratory works holistically with families, caregivers, teachers, therapists and others, and Stratton-Gadke travels internationally to train individuals in caring for those with CHARGE. Because CHARGE syndrome is such a rare condition and differs case to case, it is difficult for doctors to diagnose, according to Stratton-Gadke. She said receiving a diagnosis gives parents closure and provides guidance for the medical needs of their children.

“Many of our parents worry about if they’re going to die, if it’s going to be something that takes their child’s life too soon,” Stratton-Gadke said. “If they don’t have an answer to what the condition is, they don’t have an answer to that.”

Stratton-Gadke works with parents to address their fears and concerns regarding CHARGE. “The CHARGE lab answers those questions and also serves as a lifeline,” she said. “Its gives them somebody who knows enough about the condition that they don’t have to worry about sounding irrational when they say these things. I think it’s also a source of community, with parents talking to parents; nobody understands what that life is like unless you live it or know it well enough.

I think that’s the criticalness of our lab. I don’t care how many publications it has, I don’t care what kind of prestige it gets from a university, as long as it connects us to the family that needs the lifeline, that’s kind of all that matters.”

The CHARGE lab, which is funded by grants and donations, is not confined to one building or location.

“We’re not a lab with microscopes and that kind of thing,” Stratton-Gadke said. “We are a psychology lab, which means we just need a space to think and meet with people. That means our lab is portable. Sometimes it is my office, sometimes it’s in the autism clinic.”

While the CHARGE lab works primarily with research, if families nearby need services, they receive care through the Autism and Developmental Disability Clinic and usually allow the outcomes as research for the lab.

About 15 to 20 graduate students work in the CHARGE Laboratory on projects, manuscripts or presentations.

Stratton-Gadke said the lab also brings in undergraduate students to assist in some lab duties.

“It takes a team to go through some of the data we collect,” Stratton-Gadke said.

Prescott’s foundation raises $20,000 for T.K. Martin Center

By Sasha Steinberg, Photos submitted

Mississippi State alumnus and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott’s Faith, Fight, Finish Foundation has raised thousands of dollars that will support life-changing work at the university’s T.K. Martin Center for Technology and Disability.

During the foundation’s first official fundraiser, a painting by 19-year-old Kemper County resident Kendrell Daniels was purchased for $20,000 by Gene Jones, wife of Cowboys owner and fellow art collector Jerry Jones. Proceeds will benefit the T.K. Martin Center’s efforts to provide comprehensive assistive technology, art, early intervention and dyslexia services to individuals of all ages with disabilities.

Daniels, who was born without arms and paints with his feet, has been part of the T.K. Martin Center’s Express Yourself program for about three years. Using Artistic Realization Technologies (A.R.T.), the program provides a means for Daniels and other Mississippians with the most severe disabilities to feel the power of self-expression through art.

Daniels creates Cowboys-themed art inspired by Prescott.

As explained in ESPN’s Sports Emmy Award-nominated video “Artist born without arms provides inspiration for Prescott,” Daniels’ and Prescott’s friendship inspires them to be the best they can be in their parallel commitment to “Fight, Faith, Finish,” a motto Daniels illustrates in one of his paintings for Prescott.

The MSU Foundation offers alumni and friends multiple ways to support the T.K. Martin Center for Technology and Disability, which is part of MSU’s College of Education. For more on these opportunities, contact Trish Cunetto, director of development, at TCunetto@foundation.msstate.edu. Learn more about the college and center at www.educ.msstate.edu and www.tkmartin.msstate.edu. n ALUMNUS.MSSTATE.EDU 41

PROFILES

THE CONCERT KING

TUPELO NATIVE SHARES MEMORIES AND LESSONS FROM MSU, MUSIC INDUSTRY CAREERS

By Sasha Steinberg, Photo by Karen Segrave

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ne of the first songs Michael “Mike” Marion remembers as a kid was a vinyl record of “Love Me Do” by the Beatles. For a smalltown boy from Tupelo, the idea of meeting one of the iconic singer-songwriters behind this No. 1 hit would have seemed like a fantasy. However, as he later learned from decades in the music industry, you’ve got to dream big if you want to make big things happen.

“Paul McCartney was just as gracious as he could be. And you’re thinking ‘Come on, you’re a Beatle.’ But he was just so nice,” recalls Marion, general manager of the Verizon Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas, where McCartney performed in 2016. “As building manager, I take the opportunity to welcome the artists to the arena, say hello and present them with something. My favorite picture on the wall in my office is the one I got with Paul McCartney.”

Marion, a self-described music buff with a passion for concert-going, got his start as a freshman management major at Mississippi State in 1973. He worked for the campus radio station WMSV 91.1 FM for a few years, developing a “good knowledge of music” that he later used to book concerts as chair of the

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Student Association’s social committee, now known as Music Maker Productions.

While earning an MBA, Marion was hired by fellow MSU alumnus Andy Rhodes to coordinate concerts, movies and a lecture series as the student union’s program adviser. Billy Joel, Jimmy Buffett, Linda Ronstadt, Dan Fogelberg, Bruce Springsteen, Hall and Oates, Air Supply, Ronnie Millsap, the Commodores, and Earth, Wind and Fire, are among the late ’70s and early ’80s acts Marion helped bring to campus.

“If you ask me my best booking at Mississippi State, I would immediately say Bruce Springsteen in 1981,” Marion said. “I still have the poster that MSU graphic design professor Jamie Mixon designed back when tickets were $8.50 and $9.50. Since then, I’ve seen Bruce over 25 times.

“Yeah, I’m one of those crazy people,” he joked.

Marion left Starkville in 1982 for Los Angeles to serve as a music agent for Triad Artists, the agency with whom he had worked to book The Pointer Sisters during his time at MSU. That performance ultimately did not come to fruition, but Marion said the experience taught him the importance of making a

good first impression and building relationships with agents and artists.

During his six-year stint in the City of Angels, Marion worked as a booking agent for Whitney Houston, Robert Palmer, Steve Winwood and Little River Band. He also organized Tina Turner’s Nov. 14, 1985, performance at MSU. “When I went on the road with Tina Turner, it gave me a much better understanding of what life on the road was like for artists,” he explained. “It sounds glamorous, but it’s not easy.”

Marion returned home to Tupelo in 1988 to take his next step in the entertainment business. He oversaw the design and construction of the Tupelo Coliseum, now known as the BancorpSouth Arena, as general manager. For nearly a decade, he booked “a little bit of everything,” from George Strait, Reba McEntire and Alan Jackson to Tom Petty, KISS and ZZ Top.

“DON’T BE SCARED TO STEP UP AND MAKE YOURSELF KNOWN. LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO SHOW THAT YOU’RE GOOD AT WHAT YOU DO. DON’T SHORT YOURSELF JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE FROM OR LIVE IN A SMALL TOWN.” ~ MIKE MARION “Booking a sold-out Eagles concert as part of their ‘Hell Freezes Over Tour’ in 1995 was probably the highlight of my career in Tupelo,” Marion said. “I remember we got a call from a radio station in Memphis wanting to know how in the world we got the Eagles on Saturday night in Tupelo. I said, ‘It was my wit and charm, what can I say.’ Actually, the Eagles booking agent was an old boss of mine, Peter Grosslight. He called me and said if we can play Boise, Idaho, we can play Tupelo. The concert sold out in one day.”

In 1997, Marion relocated to Little Rock to help with design and construction of the Verizon Arena. Under his leadership—which includes overseeing 25 full-time employees and hundreds more on show day—the facility now annually welcomes 400,000 people.

Serving as 2019 chair of the International Association of Venue Managers also keeps Marion’s job interesting.

“As a manager, I have the attitude that we all have to work, and I try to make the culture and the environment as positive as I can because our business can be stressful and has odd hours,” he said.

“You’ve got to be able to roll with the punches pretty well. A lot of things can change.”

One thing that will never change, Marion said, is his mission to provide audiences and entertainers with the hospitality they deserve. Whether it’s setting up an artist-only backstage dining area or offering free Dippin’ Dots to the road crew, Marion and his staff want visitors to feel welcome.

“Carrie Underwood came to perform in May for the third time, and as always, she was very sweet and down to earth,” he said.

“Each time, we’ve presented her with something. I live in a sea of

Jamie Mixon, professor of graphic design in MSU’s art department, and Mike Marion met as members of Music Maker Productions back in their college days on campus. Since 2004, Marion has worked with Mixon on poster designs for several large acts that have come to the Verizon Arena in Little Rock.

Above are several Mixon has created in coordination with Marion.

ALUMNUS.MSSTATE.EDU 43

PROFILES (University of Arkansas) Razorbacks, so I have to be very cognizant of that. She just had a baby, so we got her some Razorback baby clothes. She really appreciated it. It’s those little things that can make a big difference.”

Marion said his “can-do” attitude was inspired by one of his greatest mentors, Gaddis Hunt. The retired MSU facilities administrator and Starkville native is a former associate vice president for business affairs who began his career as the union program director. Hunt’s son, Todd, has served for the past 12 years as executive director of the BancorpSouth Arena and was a member of Music Maker Productions when he and Marion were MSU students.

“When I was at State working in the Union, Gaddis was running Humphrey Coliseum. His favorite thing to say was ‘Let me see what I can do,’” Marion said.

“Whenever I come to town, we always go to Starkville Cafe and have breakfast. Gaddis is just a treat to talk to, and I’ve learned a lot from him.”

Marion also enjoys returning to Starkville two or three times a year for MSU football games, or as he likes to say, “have cowbell, will travel.”

“Pam Jones, a good friend of mine who was a Music Maker, lets me stay at her place,” he said. “I’ve met other MSU people all over.

Todd Hunt and I go to Nashville once a year to call on agents, and my marketing director Jana DeGeorge goes with us. Last time, we went from one agency to another, and other State people kept talking to Todd when they saw his State shirt. Todd and I would sit and talk State stuff, and Jana would ask ‘Is that all you guys talk about?’ I’d reply, ‘What else is there to talk about?,’ ” Marion said with a laugh.

To students and others aspiring to a career in the music industry, Marion offered some helpful advice.

“Don’t be scared to step up and make yourself known. Look for opportunities to show that you’re good at what you do. Don’t short yourself just because you are from or live in a small town,” he said. “Whether in Starkville, Tupelo or Little Rock, I’ve always said we’re going to deliver the expectations of a big city. If you have a positive attitude and work to make the most of your situation, I think that really helps.” n 44 FALL 2019

MIKE MARION’S TOP 10 BOOKINGS Throughout his career, Mike Marion has had the opportunity to secure many big-name, elusive or hotticket acts for the venues he has served. Below he ranks the following as the best “gets” of his career.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN; 1981; MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY Since booking him for MSU, I’ve seen him over 25 times. Best concert artist ever.

PAUL MCCARTNEY; 2016; VERIZON ARENA, LITTLE ROCK, ARK. I usually don’t get to watch much of a show when it’s in our building, but I got to watch Sir Paul’s sound check the night before his show with my friend and promoter, Don Fox. Watching a Beatle was a treat.

Meeting him was even better.

THE EAGLES; 1995; TUPELO COLISEUM (NOW BANCORPSOUTH ARENA) I remember walking in the lobby during sound check and thinking, “The Eagles are playing my hometown.” Amazing.

BILLY JOEL; 1976; MCCARTHY GYM—MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY The first show I booked as concert chairman for the MSU Student Association. He came back the following two years to Humphrey Coliseum.

ERIC CLAPTON; 2004; VERIZON ARENA, LITTLE ROCK, ARK. We booked him for his first play ever in Little Rock. After I got my work done during the first part of the show, I told the staff they could find me under the risers next to the stage watching the show. He made his guitar cry and sing.

THE WHO; 1974; MID-SOUTH COLISEUM, MEMPHIS, TENN. It was “The Who By Numbers Tour.” The late Keith Moon, the drummer, was still with them. I still have the T-shirt from that one.

LINDA RONSTADT; EARLY 1980s; MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY She played MSU twice, once in the cow barn (Newell-Grissom) and once at the coliseum. When she came out wearing an MSU jersey and red boots at the coliseum show, everyone went wild.

EARTH, WIND AND FIRE; EARLY 1980s; MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY Gaddis Hunt, former manager of Humphrey Coliseum, said this was the best show we ever did. I never argue with Gaddis.

ANDY KAUFMAN; LATE 1970S; UNION BALLROOM, MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY A true comic genius. The Music Makers took him out to dinner.

He was very excited to learn that Elvis’ birthplace in Tupelo was only an hour away. After dinner, he headed up the road to see it.

STEVIE WONDER; 2015; VERIZON ARENA, LITTLE ROCK, ARK. A living legend who I’d seen but never booked. He was very gracious and took pictures with the backstage security team, as well as other staff members. We gave him an acrylic plaque with a “Welcome to Arkansas” message engraved in Braille.

FORMER FOOTBALL STAR THRIVES IN BUSINESS COMMUNITY

By James Carskadon, Photos by MSU Athletics & Submitted

W

ayne Madkin has always made a point to stand out from the competition.

As a football player, he stood out by breaking records and leading one of the most successful stints in Mississippi State football history. Since the end of his playing days, Madkin has used his drive for constant improvement to stand out from his peers in the business community.

For the better part of two decades, Madkin has held various corporate jobs in Mississippi and Alabama. Currently, he works at Entergy Services Inc. in Jackson, where he supports the strategic sourcing and key agreements department.

Since beginning his professional career, he has earned an MBA from the University of North Alabama, maintained a Certified Professional Contract Manager designation from the National Contracts Management Association and completed an executive leadership program at Cornell University.

“I wanted to make sure that if I sat in anyone’s office they wouldn’t be able to say ‘Wayne, we like you, but you don’t have this or that,’” Madkin said. “I wanted to make sure I checked all the boxes. Once you go through the grind in corporate America, you realize again that you have to differentiate yourself.”

One way Madkin differentiated himself in college was through his chosen field of study. The Huntsville, Alabama, native chose to major in agribusiness, which he felt would help him stand out among young people looking to enter business careers. While he may not have worked for an agriculturally focused business in his career, Madkin said the experience helped him gain an understanding of business fundamentals and learn how to interact with people from different backgrounds.

“For me, being an urban kid and a city slicker, coming into Lloyd-Ricks ALUMNUS.MSSTATE.EDU 45

PROFILES where they still had ‘no chewing tobacco’ signs on the walls was quite a cultural difference,” said Madkin, who earned a bachelor's degree in agribusiness in 2001.

“At that time, everybody on the football team wore a patch on their uniform representing the college they were a part of. I was the only one with the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences patch.”

Madkin came to MSU in part because of former coach Jackie Sherrill’s willingness to play black quarterbacks, which at the time was a novelty. As a teenager, Madkin watched former MSU quarterbacks Sleepy Robinson and Derrick Taite get their chances to succeed at the position.

Sherrill gave Madkin an opportunity to play during his freshman season in 1998, while the Bulldogs were in pursuit of the SEC West championship. Madkin said that the lessons he learned while trying to lead his teammates toward success stick with him to this day.

“It was quite challenging,” he said.

“I learned at a very young age that servant leadership is important. Creating relationships with your teammates is also important. I take those life lessons with me in my day-to-day activities in corporate America now.”

After leading MSU to the SEC Championship game and the Cotton Bowl in 1998, Madkin went on to lead the team to two more bowl games and set numerous individual university records.

His time at MSU was marked by several thrilling comebacks and big wins. In 2016, Madkin was inducted into the MSU Sports Hall of Fame.

“I’m thankful to have been a part of a special era,” Madkin said. “We were the reason why Mississippi State finally bought retractable field goal posts. The fans were tearing the posts up every game. We would go down 14 points, turn around and win it, then the goal posts were coming down.”

Among his favorite memories off the 46 FALL 2019

field is playing basketball in the Joe Frank Sanderson Center, which opened while Madkin was a student. The building was a gathering place for student-athletes of all sports, which naturally led to competition.

“I always remember going in there and having basketball games with the MSU basketball team,” Madkin said. “As the football team, we had a lot of fun playing with those guys. I actually dunked on [former All-SEC center and NBA draft pick] Tyrone Washington. I shut down the gym when I dunked on him.”

Now living in Clinton with his wife and three children, Madkin enjoys being able to make a name for himself in the business community. Among other accolades, he was named to the Mississippi Business Journal Top 50 Under 40 and was recognized as the 2018 Buyer of the Year by the Southern Region Minority Supplier Development Council.

“I see a lot of potential in Mississippi,” he said. “We have to continue to grow business, grow cities, give young students the opportunity to make a good salary here, bring in new tech and manufacturing jobs. There’s a flurry of opportunity for Mississippi if we tap into it.”

Madkin serves on the executive committee of the M-Club Alumni Association, which helps him stay connected to MSU. He stays in touch with Sherrill and has watched football evolve as teams embrace playing with dual-threat quarterbacks who can run and throw. While he said he wonders what could have been if he played in today’s offenses, he would not trade his experience at MSU for anything.

“I was fortunate to be in a situation where I was in a leadership role and had expectations to grow and provide results,” Madkin said. “Were there times where I was nervous or overwhelmed? Yes. But that’s what made me the man I am today.

That’s what has given me the relentless drive to succeed and provide results.” n

“I learned at a very young age that servant leadership is important.

Creating relationships with your teammates is also important. I take those life lessons with me in my day-to-day activities in corporate America now.” ~ Wayne Madkin

n i s g w Da

As the Bulldog alumni family reaches nearly 146,000 members, it’s influence can be seen around the world. Nowhere is it felt more heavily than in Mississippi’s capital city. With more than 6,000 alumni active in the Central Mississippi alumni chapter, Maroon and White faithful in Jackson and the surrounding areas are leaving a mark and creating lasting legacies in the Magnolia State.

FAMILY AFFAIR

For more than 25 years, Camille Scales Young has seen Mississippi State from two perspectives—student and alumna.

Now, she is enjoying opportunities to see her beloved university through a different lens—proud Bulldog mom.

“It’s been really neat as an alumna to have my children here and see them experience the university. They know campus like the back of their hands because we’ve done athletic events since they were born. We tailgate every football game, and we’re here a lot through other activities,” said Young, who earned a bachelor’s degree in communication management and a master’s in agriculture and extension education from MSU. A Shannon native, Young, an MSU Alumni Association past president, said her decision to attend MSU was inspired by her mother Patty Tucker, who attended as a business major.

“It’s so funny. My mom lived in Critz and then in Butler,

Camile Scales Young with two of her children, Amber and Will.

ALUMNUS.MSSTATE.EDU 47

PROFILES and when I was a freshman, I lived in the other boomerang,” she explained, speaking of Hightower and Critz residence halls, which earned the nickname from their distinctive shapes.

While that connection to her mother and 4-H experiences on campus helped Young feel a sense of “home” at Mississippi State, her own children are happy to be blazing their own trails—as far as residence halls are concerned—as they have benefited from the recent campus housing boom and its new additions. Instead, her two collegeaged children have an established sense of “home” at MSU thanks to constant campus exposure during their formative years.

“I can remember Amber’s freshman year when she brought her friends to our tailgate,” Young said. “She was like ‘Mom, when you were here, where was your tailgate?’ And I was like ‘We didn’t do this.’

“When I was in college, we had about eight RVs that would park outside the stadium. We didn’t have the Junction and even though my kids have always known it, it’s still really new for people of my generation, so it’s been really cool to experience those kinds of things with them.

You don’t appreciate the Junction unless you experienced Malfunction Junction,” she joked.

The Youngs’ eldest child, Amber, a junior elementary education major, has been active on campus as a Roadrunner, Orientation Leader and member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, to which Young also belongs. Son Will, a freshman, is pursuing an MSU kinesiology degree.

Asked if youngest daughter Kayla, a high school junior, will follow in her mom and siblings’ college footsteps, Young said she is optimistic, but will be supportive either way.

“We sure hope so, but it has to be her decision. It’s been every one of our childrens’ decisions to come here. Maybe a little coercion,” she quipped, “but it’s been their decisions.”

More than anything, Young wants to see her children enjoy opportunities to make friends from all walks of life during their college years.

“I met people in school that I’m still friends with now and still run into professionally,” she said. “I want my children to experience that too because the people they meet during their time here on campus will be leading our state and country. When you realize later on that you know someone from your time on campus, it’s a cool concept.” n

Robert Barnes and BAAC scholarship recipients

Robert Barnes and Bully

CONNECTED THROUGH SERVICE

Brad Reeves 48 FALL 2019

As a bright young person looking for a comfortable place to learn and grow, Brad Reeves found Mississippi State to be the perfect “home away from home” for his college career.

“My father studied business and finance at MSU, and I liked the availability of scholarships, but it really was the personal attention and information I received as a prospective student that made me realize what a great institution MSU was," Reeves said. "Everything I needed was right here, so I said ‘Why not stay home in Mississippi?’”

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS Brookhaven native Robert Barnes is a man of many interests, but like many fellow Bulldogs, his two greatest are family and Mississippi State.

The 1968 Eva H. Harris High School graduate fell in love with MSU after accompanying his county agent to Starkville for a 4-H Club tree identification demonstration.

“After I saw the campus, I said ‘Wow, this is where I want to go to school,’” recalled Barnes, a science and human behavior lover who ultimately graduated in 1972 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology.

Barnes, who was the first African American ROTC graduate of Mississippi State to be commissioned into the Army, said his favorite MSU memories stem from the people he met as a student, with many of those friendships continuing to this day. He is an active member of the Alumni Association’s Central Mississippi chapter and serves as chair of the Black Alumni Advisory Council (BAAC), which was founded in 2017.

“After more than 40 years of graduating other black alumni, I thought it was

important as a group that we reach back and talk to some of the other black students in Mississippi to tell them about the great opportunities at MSU,” Barnes said.

With help from generous donations made through the MSU Foundation, the BAAC awarded endowed and annual scholarships last year to four deserving students and three more this year.

“It’s important for us to target firstgeneration students because college degrees still matter, and it uplifts that person, their family and their community when even one child goes to a university,” Barnes said. “And of course, we want them to go to the best university in the state.

“You might be the first in your family to attend college, but you should also reach out to others so that you are not the last,” he continued.

In addition to scholarship and recruitment, retention and engagement are important aspects of the BAAC’s mission, Barnes said. Along with talking one-on-one with students during school visits and maintaining relationships with school counselors, Barnes has worked with other alumni in the Jackson area to host a cookout at his home for the student leadership and adult cadre of the JROTC at Jackson Public Schools. The response

from potential students has been very positive, he said.

“It’s one of those things where if you’re paying attention to a student, a student will pay attention to you. The first communication needs to come from the adult, but if you’re interested in students, they will be interested in you and the things you like to talk about,” he said.

As part of its retention efforts, the BAAC has established a mentor program where the university’s Holmes Cultural Diversity Center pairs MSU students with black alumni in Mississippi and beyond.

Alumni who are interested in volunteering as program mentors and in other areas are encouraged to contact the center.

Barnes said he loves to show his MSU pride by wearing school colors, especially when traveling. While departing a ship in Venice, Italy, during a recent cruise along the Mediterranean, he ran into Barry Wood, co-owner of popular Starkville barbecue restaurant The Little Dooey.

“We had been on the ship with each other for two weeks and didn’t know it until I wore maroon and white,” Barnes said. “We just both happened to have our MSU shirts on and started talking. There’s more of us Bulldogs out there than you may realize.” n

That’s just what Reeves did, and it was a decision he remains grateful for to this day. As a G.V. “Sonny” Montgomery Scholar and former Mr. MSU, Reeves majored in management of construction and land development, graduating in 2002.

“I really enjoyed my major, and a lot of what I do now in my law practice is real estate related, so it was a good fit,” Reeves said, adding that he developed a particular interest in real estate law while earning a law degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law. Reeves has been a partner for six years at the Jackson law firm of Randall, Segrest, Weeks & Reeves PLLC, where he primarily focuses on real estate and business law. Since 2009, Reeves also has been enjoying a “fun side project”—

ownership of Brent’s Drugs, a sevendecade staple that he helped save from closure in Jackson’s historic Fondren neighborhood. In 2013, the soda fountain and diner added The Apothecary at Brent’s Drugs, a speakeasy that Reeves said is similar to the Guest Room in Starkville.

“It’s been a neat experience,” he said of the endeavor. “There’s so much history and so many customers who support Brent’s Drugs and want to see it stay in the community. There are people who grew up going there and now they’re taking their kids and grandkids. We’ve made it 10 years and are excited to keep it going.”

Reeves also is looking forward to continuing a strong relationship with the MSU Alumni Association, where

he has held a national board seat since 2010, including two-year terms as both president and vice president. Along with serving two more years as past president, he plans to remain active with the Central Mississippi alumni chapter and as a mentor for the association’s newly established Young Alumni Advisory Council.

“It’s been fun to serve and get to know people, and I want to keep helping in any way I can,” he said. “My wife (Dr. Mandy Armstrong Reeves, ’03) has gotten involved with the new Doctor Dawgs organization, and we’ve hosted events for that and the Mississippi Central Alumni chapter at Brent’s Drugs. We want to continue providing space for those and other events in the Jackson area.” n ALUMNUS.MSSTATE.EDU 49

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ALUMNUS.MSSTATE.EDU 51

GIVING STATE ments Back

STRIKING THE RIGHT CHORD New music building on the horizon

By Amy Cagle, Photo by Beth Wynn and Submitted

M

usic education students and faculty will soon have an opportunity to creatively collaborate in harmony with state-ofthe-art equipment in a new environment.

Mississippi State’s Department of Music in the College of Education is slated to break ground on the southeast side of campus next year for a one-story structure that will bring much-needed classroom and studio space for teacher and student interaction.

A combination of state bonds and university funds will make possible the 36,935-square-foot facility designed

by Allred Architectural Group P.A. of Ocean Springs. Additional support for

52 FALL 2019

enhancements will come from gifts by alumni and friends, and a cornerstone commitment for the entire facility can bring with it a special naming opportunity.

Once complete, the facility will house classrooms, faculty and student practice studios, a student lounge, a large lecture hall, the department head’s suite, a choir suite, and administrative offices. The new building will also accommodate the department’s faculty of 24 full-time and 13 part-time members.

Planned construction on Hardy Road will position the new building adjacent to the existing band and choral rehearsal hall. A courtyard will adjoin the two, while

an outdoor plaza will connect the new building and the existing Lance Practice Field, which was made possible through an endowment effort led by James J. Rouse, a 1962 industrial management alumnus and retired vice president of ExxonMobil Co., and his wife, Julia, of Suwanee, Georgia. This configuration between new and existing structures will enable the Department of Music to form an epicenter of musical arts.

“A new music building will serve our college threefold by improving departmental operations, providing instruction and learning facilities for our faculty and students, and increasing productive interaction among these two

core groups,” said Richard Blackbourn, College of Education dean. “Additionally, the building will enhance the arts culture of the Starkville-MSU community.”

Developing quality music educators for Mississippi and the Southeast region and providing advanced study of music in the liberal arts tradition are the primary missions of the Department of Music.

Accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music, the department currently offers undergraduate degrees in music and music education, with specific concentrations in instrumental music, vocal music, piano and guitar.

The department has approximately 120 majors, along with 40 more with music as their minor field of study.

“In the coming years, we will see an enrollment growth of 15 to 20 music majors, giving us 200 at MSU, and the new state-of-the-art facility will go a long way toward attracting these additional numbers,” said Barry E. Kopetz, department head. “The facility will aid in our ability to recruit the top music students and top music faculty from across the nation.”

Furthermore, the new building will significantly advance the Department of Music in its quest to receive the enviable All-Steinway School designation, as awarded by Steinway

& Sons, the internationally renowned manufacturer of pianos.

“It is our collective vision when the new building opens its doors that every studio, practice room and classroom will contain the world’s finest piano, the Steinway,” Kopetz said. “Because we are striving to become an All-Steinway

“A new music building will serve our college threefold by improving departmental operations, providing instruction and learning facilities for our faculty and students, and increasing productive interaction among these two core groups.” ~ Richard Blackbourn School, this building must be as acoustically perfect as humanly possible, with acoustical treatment that blocks out external sounds and vibrations.”

Kopetz continued, “Through generous gifts, donors can contribute to the quality of the new facility and to the training of the next generation of musicians. These young artists enter the musical world underprepared when forced to learn on subpar instruments,

and we can rectify this by providing world-class Steinway pianos in each and every classroom, studio and practice room.”

Rosângela Sebba, a professor in the department, has earned the distinctive Steinway Artist designation, an honor few achieve. Promising students will train with Sebba and other internationally-recognized faculty within the new building.

With more than 100 concerts, recitals and other programs annually, the department regularly contributes to the cultural atmosphere of Starkville and the Golden Triangle. A combined lecture and recital hall within the facility will feature two nine-foot Steinway concert grands. The first was donated by longtime professor Jackie Edwards-Henry, in memory of her late parents and her late husband. A second Steinway concert grand came through the generosity of Kathy Olsen of Nashville, Tennessee, who graduated from MSU in 1973 with a Bachelor of Arts in music and in 1974 with a master’s in music education.

For completion of the Steinway Initiative, between 25-28 additional Steinway upright pianos are needed through private gifts. The department hopes the completion of the ALUMNUS.MSSTATE.EDU 53

GIVING Back

All-Steinway Initiative will align with the building’s official opening. Any contribution can help fulfill the All-Steinway Initiative, and a special 88 Keys Program enables contributors to participate at any level. Gifts help purchase single or multiple keys on a piano, benches, faculty and practice room upright pianos, and grand pianos.

Beyond contributions to purchase new Steinways, the Department of Music seeks funds for an endowment for the future. Earnings from the endowment will ensure proper maintenance of the Steinways over time.

Alumni and friends can help make the facility a reality. Donors may name select areas such as classrooms, studios, the lecture hall or the choir director suite in honor or in memory of family members, friends or mentors. All commitments are payable over a five-year period. For specifics about contributing or naming the facility, contact Trish Cunetto, the College of Education’s director of development, at 662.325.6762 or TCunetto@foundation.msstate.edu.

Learn more about the Department of Music and its activities by visiting www.music.msstate.edu. n 54 FALL 2019

FEATURED NAMING OPPORTUNITIES • Choir Hall $250,000

• Computer Lab $100,000

• Plaza $250,000

• Small Percussion Room $100,000 (with storage)

• Recording Studio $250,000 (with control room)

• Chamber Rehearsal Room $50,000

• Lecture Hall $500,000

• Student Lounge $50,000

• Department Head Suite $225,000 (with Steinway piano)

• Three Major Classrooms $50,000 each (with study rooms)

• Piano Lab $150,000

• Offices $25,000 each

• Choir Director Suite $100,000

• Practice Rooms & Studios $25,000 each

Cutting a ribbon to formally open the James W. Nicholson Reading Room during dedication ceremonies in October were Associate Dean of MSU Libraries Stephen Cunetto; MSU President Mark E. Keenum; MSU alumna and facility benefactor Janice I. Nicholson; Dean of Libraries Frances Coleman; and Provost and Executive Vice President David Shaw. The room on Mitchell Memorial Library’s second floor is a tribute to Nicholson’s late brother, an MSU alumnus, longtime educator and Glen Allan resident who died in 2017.

Nicholson honors brother with

LIBRARY READING ROOM By Amy Cagle

O

verlooking the historic Drill Field, a newly transformed area in the Mitchell Memorial Library gives MSU students a vantage point to appreciate the beauty of the university’s campus while devoting essential time to their academic studies.

The Dr. James W. Nicholson Reading Room honors the life of the late Mississippi educator and MSU alumnus for which it is named.

“James would have loved the beautiful view and thought if someone needs to study what a great way to accommodate that in a state-of-the-art environment,” said Janice I. Nicholson, his younger sister and the room’s benefactor. “The library is the center of education and naming this space within the library is a fitting tribute to his life and career.”

In 2017, James, a Glen Allan resident, passed away, and Janice chose to honor him at the university from which they both earned education degrees. A gift from her names the student reading room and establishes an endowment that will

maintain the room over time.

As much of Mississippi State’s student population capitalizes on the resources of Mitchell Memorial Library, so too, will they utilize the study room.

Located behind Einstein Bros. Bagels on the library’s second floor, the James W. Nicholson Reading Room features two presentation areas, as well as structured and casual seating with ample electronic portals situated for optimum use.

“My brother and I devoted our lives to education, and I wanted to honor him in a meaningful way,” said Janice, a longtime resident of Florence, Alabama.

“Beyond being siblings, we were truly lifelong friends, and it brings me great pleasure to associate his name with MSU in this manner.”

Janice said she fondly recalls growing up with James in the Mississippi town of Booneville. Their parents, James and Lena Rivers Nicholson, stressed the importance of education, and the siblings carried the belief that education brings great opportunity throughout their lives.

Janice Nicholson with brother James Nicholson

“Education is an important equalizer for all people, and we both put that philosophy into practice in our careers, sharing a common bond as teachers and administrators as we helped educate students across the South,” Janice said.

She continued, “James positively impacted students during his lifetime, many of them in the Mississippi Delta, and his impact will always be felt by MSU students because of the reading room’s offerings.”

The siblings forged similar paths to Mississippi State University. Later in life, the MSU campus became the site of many of their family gatherings and reunions. The two were avid sports fans.

ALUMNUS.MSSTATE.EDU 55

GIVING Back From Mississippi State, James earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education in 1965 and 1970, respectively.

He later earned a doctoral degree from the University of Mississippi. He was a lifelong educator for the state of Mississippi, having served in public education as a high school teacher, community college instructor, high school principal, assistant superintendent and superintendent. After retiring as superintendent of Anguilla Public Schools in Sharkey County, James continued his career as executive director of the Delta Area Association for Improvement of Schools, housed at Delta State University. He was also a longtime District 3 secretary of the Mississippi High School Activities Association.

Like her brother, Janice, a professor emerita at the University of North Alabama, always wanted to become an educator. In a career spanning more than 50 years in teaching and administration,

she has devoted her life to making significant impacts in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi, and encouraging the cultivation of teachers with scholarships.

At MSU, her financial support includes a Loyalty Scholarship, two endowed scholarships in the College of Education and a faculty award. She was the College of Education’s 2013 Alumni Fellow and 2018 Alumna of the Year. She earned master’s and doctoral degrees from MSU in 1967 and 1977, respectively, along with an undergraduate degree from Blue Mountain College and an education specialist degree from Vanderbilt University.

At Mississippi State, the reading room will stand as a tribute to James and a perpetual symbol of the importance of education to a family of loyal and passionate Bulldog graduates.

“The James W. Nicholson Reading Room will serve thousands of students over the course of their academic pursuits,”

Gathered for the James W. Nicholson Reading Room dedication and ribbon cutting are MSU alumna Janice I. Nicholson, facility benefactor, center front, with her brother’s family, front left, wife Mary Jane McGee Nicholson, an MSU alumna; front right, daughter-in-law Sherri Nicholson; and back from left, son-in-law Chris Barr, daughter and MSU alumna Jane Nicholson Barr, and son and MSU alumnus James W. Nicholson III.

said Frances Coleman, dean of University Libraries. “We are grateful for the support of Janice Nicholson and the opportunity to prominently honor an outstanding educator in Dr. James Nicholson within the Mitchell Memorial Library.” n

CORPORATE SUPPORT IMPACTS 4-H PROGRAM The 4-H Youth Development Program makes a positive difference in the lives of students across the state from ages 5-18, and corporate support at the state’s leading university is helping make possible vital programs that are keeping the organization relevant for today’s participants.

With roots in Mississippi dating back over a century, the 4-H Youth Development Program is one of the oldest 4-H programs in the nation. And MSU Extension, through which 4-H in Mississippi operates, continues to uphold the organization’s longstanding tradition of youth and youth development programs that benefit current 4-H members within the state’s 82 counties.

Today, the organization boasts more than 60,000 members in 4-H community chapters statewide. These young people are involved in 4-H projects, including citizenship, public speaking, livestock 56 FALL 2019

showing, leadership, robotics and shooting sports. These programs are allowing students to develop leadership and citizenship skills in an inclusive environment that will last a lifetime.

In recent years, 4-H programs have seen growth. In 2018, the programs experienced the largest state 4-H Congress in the organization’s history and 4-Hers from all over the United States attended Bug Camp, the only 4-H entomological camp for children in the world. The programs have also introduced new interest areas, like robotics, to stay on the cutting edge of what will become important future careers.

A number of contributors continuously infuse 4-H with annual support for the development of tomorrow’s leaders. Among the growing list of supporters are AT&T; Mississippi Cattlemen’s Association; Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation;

Electric Cooperatives of Mississippi and Tennessee Valley Authority.

By investing in the Mississippi 4-H Youth Development Programs contributors can provide valuable resources and once-in-a-lifetime experiences that foster important outreach and service. For more on supporting the programs, contact Will Staggers, assistant director of development for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and MSU Extension, at 662.325.2837 or wstaggers@foundation. msstate.edu. Gifts may also be made online at www.msufoundation.com. n

Tennessee couple establishes education scholarship in honor of daughter

M

ark and Lisa Robbins can’t recall a time when their daughter Sydney Elizabeth Robbins didn’t want to be a teacher.

Growing up in Franklin, Tennessee, not only did she have a heart for teaching, but she also had a heart for helping others.

This helping spirit was what led Sydney to fine-tune her future career and earn a bachelor’s degree in educational psychology with a minor in speech therapy at Mississippi State University.

“Sydney did acts of kindness, and it almost seemed like the more someone was at a disadvantage in one way or another, the more she tried to reach out.

That was always just something that was so special about her,” Mark said.

Sydney attended Mississippi State from 2014 to 2018. After graduation, she began work at Poplar Grove Middle School in her hometown where she was an aide to students with special needs, in particular, one with autism. The student, who was also nonverbal, took to Sydney immediately confirming to her that working with students who have speech needs was indeed her vocation.

Mark and Lisa said they knew their daughter was brave to attend Mississippi State, a college four and a half hours from home. It was also courageous of them to push their worries aside and encourage her to reach for her goals. Especially when they were often concerned for her health. When she was only 2 years old, Sydney was diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis, a condition that results from a rapid breakdown of muscle tissue.

“I worried greatly about her, but I also wanted her to experience the things my husband and I had experienced,” Lisa explained. “She had a great drive and determination to go to school and get an education, and I had to let her go and do that. There was no way I could put her in a bubble.”

Even with rhabdomyolysis, Sydney lived big. She was a competitive

By Camille Carskadon

cheerleader throughout her school days, cheering at football games and competitions. Both her mother and father agree that she was wise beyond her years.

She never wanted anyone to treat her like she was fragile or let her condition get in the way of living her life, including traveling to Africa on a mission trip.

“She came to us and said, ‘I’m going to go to Africa. I flipped out and said, ‘Oh no, you’re not,” Lisa said. “But she was determined to go, and she wore us down.”

To help ensure their daughter's memory and passion for helping others will live on, Mark and Lisa Robbins have created a memorial scholarship, with generous contributions from family and friends.

To experience episodes of rhabdomyolysis, a person needs to be born with the genetic predisposition that sits dormant until something triggers the first episode. Individuals can go their whole lives and never experience a trigger, but it can be triggered at any time, at any age. For most with a genetic predisposition for the condition, exercise or some type muscle trauma such as a bad car accident is usually the cause, but Sydney’s doctors could never determine what caused her episodes, which began when she was 2 and a half years old. She had four episodes over the next three years, then went episode free for the next 16 years. Then in December 2016, she experienced an episode followed by another in the fall of 2018, one which proved too much for her heart. On Oct. 28 of that year, Sydney passed away.

Even after her death, Sydney’s spirit still shines. During her memorial, her parents placed cards for friends and family to record their favorite memories of Sydney. Many of the friends she made

Sydney Elizabeth Robbins

at Mississippi State shared a similar memory: Sydney coming up to them and introducing herself with a simple “My name is Sydney Robbins. I don’t know anyone here. Do you want to be my friend?”

That simple question earned Sydney countless friends in her sorority, Chi Omega, and beyond the Greek system at Mississippi State. Stories like these only confirmed what Mark and Lisa already knew about their daughter: she was kind and funny, she went out of her way to help others, she blazed her own trail even if it might seem scary at the time, and she would be remembered.

To help ensure her memory and passion for helping others will live on, Mark and Lisa have created a memorial scholarship, with generous contributions from family and friends.

“Sydney would be thrilled that this money will help people,” Mark said.

The Sydney Elizabeth Robbins Memorial Endowed Scholarship in Education will be available for students in the College of Education majoring in elementary, secondary or special education. For students to receive the scholarship, they must have some financial need. As the endowment grows, more recipients can earn a degree and help the world just like Sydney hoped to do. Through the scholarship, a piece of her will be forever connected with her university. n

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GIVING Back

COLLECTIVE SUPPORT IN HIGH VOLTAGE LAB

By Addie Mayf ield

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T

ucked behind thick cement walls in Simrall Hall, home of MSU’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the Paul B. Jacob High Voltage Lab sits largely unnoticed by passersby. But as the largest universityoperated high voltage laboratory in North America, this treasured space has hosted top government and military officials, world-renowned scientists and astronauts who have walked on the moon.

“High voltage engineering is essentially the backbone for all electrical systems,” said David Wallace, lab manager and a 1989 graduate who spent time working in the lab as a student. “The high voltage lab at Mississippi State is a unique and outstanding resource because it allows us to replicate and investigate full-scale phenomena encountered in these energy systems. Being able to study the effects of these events in a controlled environment helps identify innovative solutions and ensures reliable transmission of energy from production to consumption.”

Inside the laboratory is an array of extraordinary tools including standard wet test facilities; environmental, salt-fog and UV chambers; and temperature-rise, thermal cycling and erosion setups—all of which offer remarkable capabilities. From producing million-volt lightning bolts to arc discharges with higher temperatures than the surface of the sun, these devices have served as valuable resources for students and industry alike throughout the lab’s storied history.

“The high voltage laboratory experience and practical hands-on knowledge provided by MSU are unparalleled by any other university in North America,” Wallace said.

“Not only are students and researchers exposed to specialized instrumentation, rare equipment and unique facilities, they also benefit from exposure to industrial standards and practices, form relationships with potential employers and remain up-to-date on modern advances and trends.”

The lab began in the late 1940s under the leadership of its namesake and inaugural director, Paul B. Jacob, a 1944

MSU alumnus who served as a member of the faculty for 43 years. Recruiting support from outside sources to launch a high voltage program at his alma mater, Jacob was able to establish an initial modest-size lab in Patterson Hall. The larger and better equipped current facility followed in 1977 as part of Simrall’s construction. The lab was named in Jacob’s honor following his retirement as professor emeritus of electrical engineering and associate department head in 1988.

Proving that good investments last, much of the lab’s equipment in use today came from initial investments driven

by Jacob. Over time, however, updates are necessary to maintain the quality standards of safety and excellence that have become synonymous with the high voltage lab. Thanks to generous commitments from corporate partners, such renovations are now being addressed to secure the lab’s ongoing viability.

“The necessary investments and maintenance expenses related to operating a high voltage laboratory can be daunting, however, if investments are made wisely, using high quality components and modern technologies, such upgrades are not needed very often,” Wallace said.

“Although a lot of the large, foundational ‘grandfather’ pieces of the system are old, they are still fully functional. But the smaller machines that control those big pieces are shorter-lived and many of them have exceeded their technical lifetime.”

With lead gifts from Electric Cooperatives of Mississippi of Ridgeland and Entergy Mississippi of Jackson, along with contributions from other strategic partners including TVA Starkville Utilities, Irby Company of Columbus, Siemens Industry Inc. of Jackson, and Quanta Technology of Raleigh, North Carolina, over $750,000 in collective support will be provided for vital updates and additional related priorities.

“We are incredibly grateful for corporate partners like Electric Cooperatives of Mississippi, Entergy, Siemens, TVA, Quanta and Irby,” said Jason Keith, dean of the James Worth

Former electrical engineering faculty working on lab equipment (L-R): Karl W. Carlson, Paul B. Jacobs and John W. Herring

Bagley College of Engineering and holder of the Earnest W. and Mary Ann Deavenport Chair in Engineering.

“This is an investment not only in the laboratory and the services it provides to industry but also in the workforce of the future, as evidenced by the many engineers at these companies who trained in the high voltage lab as students.”

Serving as an independent, nonindustrial, multipurpose facility designed to meet the evaluation needs of the industry and provide the necessary environment for academic research and education in high voltage engineering, the lab is a significant resource for many private and public sector companies.

In addition to providing a world-class learning environment on campus, the facility and its programs have helped shape advancements in high voltage development across the world.

“Because the high voltage lab is almost entirely self-funded through revenue from its external services, its ability to sustain safe and reliable operations that meet the needs of the industry are crucial,” Wallace said. “This investment will help the facility to grow and become more competitive and will ensure continued success for many decades to come.” n ALUMNUS.MSSTATE.EDU 59

GIVING Back

Ted Porter, MSU architecture alumnus, with his travel award recipients. L-R: Porter, Emily Turner of Starkville, Trey Box of Jackson, Kaitlyn Breland of Wiggins.

Porter furthers students’ architecture aspirations with travel scholarship

T

ravel often provides inspiration for creative minds, and students at Mississippi State University are gaining a window to explore architecture firsthand through a generous travel award.

The Trussell Travel Award assists selected students in the College of Architecture, Art and Design in their quest to experience architecture in real places and in real time each summer.

“Architecture is all about space and form, and it is impossible to fully appreciate these essential qualities in 2D images in books or magazines or on an electronic device. There is no substitute for seeing architecture and appreciating its complexity and beauty in person,” said Ted Trussell Porter, an MSU alumnus and the award’s benefactor.

The 2018 Trussell Travel Award recipient, Charles “Trey” Box III agrees.

“I feel like (as students) we can look at things online all day, but you’re confined to a certain resolution,” Box said. “Seeing structures in person gives you a full range of motion to see all the details and flaws they 60 FALL 2019

By Walt Harrington, Photo by Megan Bean

have to offer, and that’s what this award gave to me.”

Since 2012, Porter, an award-winning New York architect, has supported the School of Architecture with a travel award, helping make possible the opportunity for recipients to broaden their horizons and experiences in architecture around the world.

With the financial assistance of the award and other support, Box visited Paris and Arles in France; London, England; Barcelona, Spain; and Delft, Amsterdam, and Rotterdam in the Netherlands, observing several works of architecture.

From his observations, Box gained an outside perspective that will help him achieve his goals as a future architect. The senior architecture major will enter the fifthyear of MSU’s architecture program, housed in his hometown of Jackson, this fall.

“Architecture is a challenge of intuition and logic that satisfies my creative side,” Box said. “Buildings can influence the way we work, live and exist. As an architect, hopefully, I can make a place better and in

turn make someone’s life better.”

For consideration for the $5,000 travel award, third-year architecture students must meet established criteria, including an essay, proposed itinerary and explanation of what they hope to learn at their desired destination. Upon return, recipients share their experiences with fellow students, faculty and members of the MSU community.

“Although there are examples of great architecture in Mississippi, I want to enable architecture students to see renowned works in other parts of the world,” Porter, a New Albany native, said.

With the award’s assistance, Emily Turner traveled to Sao Paolo, Brazil; Paris, France; Barcelona, Spain; Dublin, Ireland; and Tokyo, Japan in 2017.

A senior architecture major, Turner was first drawn to architecture by her love of history. Growing up, the Starkville native loved to visit historical homes and held a high school internship with a historical preservationist.

“Over the span of my summer abroad, I gained a greater appreciation for preserving modern architecture,” Turner said. “It was amazing seeing structures in person, and I know I have an expanded definition of what historic preservation really is.”

Current recipient Kaitlyn Breland, a senior architecture major from Wiggins, traveled this summer to learn more about wood as a sustainable building material. Breland observed some of the oldest and newest wooden structures known to man in Japan, Norway and Sweden.

“My trip was exciting,” Breland said. “It helped me gain skills that will allow me to become a great architect one day. Seeing buildings in person gave me the opportunity to study different techniques up close. Not only did I focus on specific buildings, but I also immersed myself in the culture of the parts of the world where I visited.”

Passion for architecture still drives Porter.

Following graduation from MSU, he obtained a master’s in architecture from Yale University.

After serving as an architect for I.M. Pei and Partners in New York City and working on several international projects, Porter helped found Ryall Porter Architects. Today, he is the principal architect for Ted Porter Architecture also based in New York City.

Two things piqued Porter’s interest in architecture. Growing up in the Mississippi town of New Albany, Porter’s father owned a building supply lumber yard and that, coupled with observing the family home being designed, cultivated his interest at an early age. The Trussell Travel Award honors his mother’s family, the Trussells, with whom he lived in Ackerman while pursuing his undergraduate study at MSU. If Porter could suggest an itinerary for recipients, he said he would encourage western Europe.

“I went on a tour of several capitals in Europe while in school,” he said. “St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome was probably my favorite structure that I saw, and it was amazing,” he said.

However, Porter, thinks students should visit wherever inspires them.

“I think a lot of young architecture students place a focus on new architecture, but it’s important for them to see great examples of historic architecture and city planning,” he said. “I would hope along with seeing great architecture globally that my recipients would learn to appreciate the diverse cultures across the world.”

For more about MSU’s School of Architecture, visit www.caad.msstate.edu/sarc. n ALUMNUS.MSSTATE.EDU 61

ALUMNI News

NEW ALUMNI TAILGATES DEBUT

AT HUNTER HENRY CENTER

Alumni and friends are enjoying the excitement of gameday tailgates for football in a new location. The MSU Alumni Association tailgates have relocated from The Junction to the Hunter Henry Center, home of the MSU Division of Development and Alumni.

For each home football game, alumni and friends can visit with fellow Bulldogs and learn about the latest happenings at Mississippi State. This new setup allows all eight academic colleges to participate as they share achievements and upcoming event plans for their respective areas.

Guests have the opportunity to enjoy food and drinks along with other special features, including the spotlight of local businesses such as the Queen’s Reward Meadery and Montgomery B&B. Pompoms, stickers, face painting, music and other entertainment equate fun for the Bulldog faithful.

Visit alumni.msstate.edu to purchase tickets and join with fellow alumni and friends to cheer for the Bulldogs during home games.

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ALUMNI News

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ALUMNI News

Senior Celebration L ARGEST IN MSU HISTORY

The MSU Alumni Association and the MSU Alumni Delegates annually host Senior Celebration to honor the university’s seniors as they prepare for spring commencement ceremonies.

The 2019 party was held in April at the Hunter Henry Center with a new spin on the traditional event. Seniors enjoyed complimentary appetizers and drinks along with chances to win raffle prizes that included: 2019 season football tickets, a personalized brick located on Compass Walk in The Junction, and signed sports memorabilia.

Thanks to the Alumni Association and sponsors, Clark Beverage Group Inc. and Lazy Magnolia, more than 550 seniors enjoyed one of the largest graduation celebrations in MSU history.

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ALUMNI News

The compass scholars walk, located south of Davis Wade Stadium in The Junction, offers opportunities for the Bulldog family to acquire customizable bricks and pavers to be placed in the heart of gameday territory.

Your contributions to the Compass Scholarship Program give the university a competitive advantage in recruiting the best students who will excel and uphold MSU’s long-standing tradition of excellence and service.

The most popular choice is to engrave a brick with your name and class year, but many other opportunities exist. You can:

• memorialize a loved one, • recognize a family member, or • pay tribute to an influential faculty member.

TO ORDER: Visit msufoundation.com/ compasswalk, scroll to the bottom, and click “purchase your brick here.” Secure as many as you like and include your inscription(s) (subject to approval by the MSU Foundation).

FOR QUESTIONS: Contact the Office of Annual Giving at 662.325.5975.

16” X 16” BLACK GRANITE PAVERS

Compass Scholarship pledge of $1,500 or more annually over five years per paver

8” X 4” BRICKS: Gifts of $500 each

68 FALL 2019

8” X 8” BRICKS: Gifts of $750 each

ALUMNI News

MSU ALUMNI ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES NEW NATIONAL OFFICERS, DIRECTORS A new slate of officers for the MSU Alumni Association officially began new two-year terms in July for fiscal years 2019-2021. They are: Sherri Carr Bevis of Gulfport as president; Patrick White of Spring, Texas, as vice president; and Jerry L. Toney of Starkville as treasurer. Brad M. Reeves of Jackson remains with the board as immediate former national president. The group was elected in March at the association’s annual business meeting.

“These new national leaders will continue a long-standing tradition of tirelessly leading our association, involving even more alumni and friends in our offerings and promoting Mississippi State around the world,” said Jeff Davis, the association’s executive director. “At this juncture, our association continues its growth, particularly in the number of active alumni of Mississippi State, which stands at some 46,774.”

Bevis assumes the presidency following a two-year term as vice president of the Alumni Association. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in communication from MSU in 1986 and serves the Mississippi Secretary of State’s office as assistant secretary of state for external marketing. She has been president of the Hancock County alumni chapter and treasurer of the Washington, D.C. alumni chapter and served the association’s national board as South 3 Region director.

White is a 1990 Bachelor of Arts in communication graduate. He is an account executive with LSI Industries. Most recently, White served the association’s national board as Out-of-State Region 1 director. He remains active with the Houston, Texas, alumni chapter, where he earlier served as president and was instrumental in bringing MSU license plates to the state of Texas.

In particular, he continues his work to strengthen student recruitment efforts.

Toney is a 1996 Bachelor of Business Administration in real estate and mortgage finance graduate. He is president of Cadence Bank for Mississippi and a senior financial adviser for the bank’s investment services division. A former MSU Alumni Association national president, his service on the national board spans 16 years. He also

has served as president of the Oktibbeha County alumni chapter.

As immediate past president, Reeves assumes the office following a two-year term as president. He has held a national board seat since 2010. Reeves graduated from MSU in 2002 with a Bachelor of Business Administration in management of construction and land development and later earned a law degree at the University of Mississippi. He is a partner at the law firm of Randall, Segrest, Weeks and Reeves PLLC. He remains active with the Central Mississippi alumni chapter, where he has served as president, among other roles.

Along with incoming officers, the association welcomes two new directors for its national board.

Davis W. “Dave” Dickson, a 1987 BBA in banking and finance graduate, joins the national board as Out-of-State Region 1 director. He is president and CEO of Union Bank and Trust Company in Monticello, Arkansas, where he resides.

Dickson is active in the Southeast Arkansas Alumni Club, and he is a longtime Alumni Recruitment Network volunteer, encouraging students to attend MSU and hosting the annual Southeast Arkansas send-off party.

Also incoming is Bradley A. Garrison of Hartley, Texas, a 2000 landscape management graduate, who joins the national board as director for the state of Texas. He has been a volunteer and served in various roles with the Nashville, Tennessee, alumni chapter and the Kansas City alumni club. He has been president of the Dallas, Texas, alumni chapter.

Professionally, Garrison serves as director of special projects for AgriVision Farm Management.

The alumni association was founded June 17, 1885, by the first three graduating classes of the then Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College. A full-service organization, the association now includes over 100 chapters and clubs.

Mississippi State currently has nearly 146,000 living alumni.

For more information about the MSU Alumni Association, contact Davis at 662.325.7000 or jdavis@alumni.msstate.edu. n

Bevis

White

Toney

Reeves

Dickson

Garrison ALUMNUS.MSSTATE.EDU 69

ALUMNI News

CO-CHAIRS GEAR UP FOR 2020 BLACK ALUMNI WEEKEND The MSU Alumni Association is preparing for its biennial Black Alumni Weekend next year. Hosted by the BAW 2020 planning committee, the event is scheduled for March 27-29. Led by co-chairs Crystal Vincent and Zwan Landfair, in conjunction with the alumni association and Back Alumni Advisory Council, the event is open to all alumni and friends of Mississippi State. This third installment of the biennial event will encompass a variety of educational and social events.

For more on BAW 2020, visit alumni.msstate.edu/BAW20.

Giving back: With the help of other MSU alumni and friends, the Vincents started the Jordan Kingsley Sanders Memorial annual and endowed scholarships for minority male students at MSU.

Name: Crystal J. Vincent, BAW 2020 co-chair Hometown: Birmingham, Alabama Education: Bachelor’s in business administration, with an emphasis in marketing, Mississippi State, ’05; MBA with a concentration in computer information systems, University of North Alabama,’10.

Name: Zwan Landfair, BAW 2020 co-chair Hometown: Starkville native living in Olive Branch

Career: President and CEO of Prestige Quality Consulting LLC; adjunct computer information systems instructor, Lawson State Community College

Education: Bachelor’s in industrial technology, ‘93 Career: Sales logistics site manager for Zimmer Biomet Holdings; owner of NZJ Event Logistics

Favorite MSU Memory: Witnessing LaToya Thomas on the basketball court as I worked as a women’s basketball team manager.

Why I volunteer: I want to make a positive difference in peoples' lives and ultimately leave an imprint on the world. I was afforded the opportunity to have volunteers and mentors who helped shape me into the individual I am today.

Without them and their direct impact on my life, I could have easily taken a different path. I feel that it is now a sense of obligation to pay it forward.

Family: Husband Branden Vincent, a MSU 2005 graduate and member of the 2002-04 men’s basketball team, and two children—Michael, 7, and Braylei, 5.

Favorite MSU Memory: Pancakes at Perry Cafeteria Family: Wife Kisha Bishop-Landfair and children Jordan Nelson, 24, Zavien Landfair, 19, and Nyiah Landfair 13.

Why I volunteer: I volunteer because MSU’s mission, “to provide access and opportunity to students from all sectors of the state’s diverse population, as well as from other states and countries,” speaks directly to my passion toward people in general. Volunteering within our alumni groups also allows me to have a positive impact on the MSU mission while encouraging my peers to become more involved.

Wigginton receives ‘free’ tuition

Tuition winner Kyle B. Wigginton of Tupelo with Alumni Delegates members. L-R: Brittany Corder, president; Parker Thoms; Nate Bell, secretary; Wigginton; Kerry Steen, vice president of education; Osvaldo Ballesteros Garcia, vice president of publicity; Roshni Patel and Emily McGinity. (Photo by Beth Wynn) 70 FALL 2019

Kyle B. Wigginton of Tupelo is the latest winner of the Mississippi State University Alumni Association’s tuition drawing. A freshman aerospace engineering major, he received full-time tuition for this fall semester. Initiated in 2013 by the association’s Alumni Delegates student organization, the drawing is open each fall and spring semester to any student enrolled full time at MSU. The ongoing project provides funding for 12 academic credit hours at the land-grant institution—$4,455 or the equivalent of a typical semester’s in-state tuition. This spring, the Alumni Delegates raised $11,540 in ticket sales to parents. Funds raised beyond the cost of tuition benefit scholarships and priority programs within the association.

ASSOCIATION HONORS MSU FACULTY

Three esteemed MSU faculty members earned special recognition from the Alumni Association as part of the university-wide 2019 Faculty Awards and Recognition Program.

Jeff Davis, executive director of the MSU Alumni Association, far right, presented faculty and staff members with awards for outstanding teaching and mentorship of students throughout their academic careers. Recipients included, from left to right:

• • •

Nicholas Fitzkee, associate professor of chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences, recipient of the Graduate Teaching Excellence Award; Peter Summerlin, assistant professor of landscape architecture, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, recipient of the Early Career Undergraduate Teaching Excellence Award; and Stacy Haynes, associate professor of sociology, College of Arts and Sciences, recipient of the Outstanding Graduate Student Mentor Award.

PURCHASE YOUR MSU TAG IN THESE STATES:

MSU Mississippi

Alabama

Tennessee

South Carolina

Georgia

Texas

Washington, D.C.

FOR MORE INFORMATION about purchasing a Mississippi State University car tag, visit our website.

ALUMNI.MSSTATE.EDU/CARTAG

318 Howard St • Greenwood, MS 662.453.2114 • thealluvian.com

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ALUMNI News

Annual alumni picnics highlight summer

Summertime provides the perfect atmosphere for gathering family and friends and strengthening their Mississippi State University connections. The MSU Alumni Association and several of its chapters have a long tradition of hosting summer picnics that not only bring together Bulldogs of all ages, but also celebrate the university’s beloved home state of Mississippi.

The Mississippi Society of Washington, D.C., gathered for its annual picnic on the National Mall in June. In its 29th year, the event featured live music, a catfish dinner and lots of Southern hospitality. The Washington, D.C. alumni chapter also hosted a social for young alumni.

Also, that month, the Atlanta, Georgia chapter with the Mississippi Society of Georgia hosted a multiday celebration in the Peach State, consisting of a Mississippi night with Atlanta Braves baseball and a Mississippi in the Park picnic in Chastain Park. The chapter, along with the association, extended the MSU hospitality with a tent for the picnic and ensured "Bully" made a special appearance.

For more information on MSU alumni events, visit alumni.msstate.edu.

Washington, D.C.

Atlanta, GA

ANNUAL CEREMONY AGAIN HONORS

CLASS RING RECIPIENTS

The MSU Alumni Association hosts The Ring at MSU, a commemorative ceremony for the presentation of the university’s official class rings purchased during ring days, prior to each spring and fall commencement. The historic Chapel of Memories serves as the backdrop for this semesterly celebration as MSU President Mark E. Keenum presents the official rings. In May, 50 Bulldogs received rings, and a special part of the ceremony recognized one of MSU’s most loyal volunteers as the association’s spring ring honoree—Ron E. Black of Meridian, a 1980 marketing alumnus and director of human resources for Southern Pipe & Supply Company Inc. Since 2009, Black has served on the National 72 FALL 2019

Alumni Association board of directors, including a 2015-17 stint as National Alumni Association president and most recently a two-year term as immediate past president. He and his wife, Jan, are longtime volunteers with the Lauderdale County Alumni Chapter and host the area’s annual send-off party at their home. For more information on official MSU class rings, visit alumni.msstate.edu.

L-R: Ron E. Black and President Mark E. Keenum

2020 Destinations*

JANUARY • Wolves of Yellowstone • Expedition to Antarctica

FEBRUARY • Tanzania during the Great Migration • Sailing the Windward Islands (Grenada, Grenadine, Martinique, St. Lucia, Vincent and Barbados) MARCH • Legends to Lagoons (Papeete, Mo'orea, Fakarava, Nuku Hiva, Rangiroa and Bora Bora) • A week in Ireland: St. Patrick’s Day • Uniquely Israel

Embark on an

ADVENTURE with the

MSU Alumni Association

April • Historic South and Golden Isles Cruise (Jacksonville to Charleston) • California Rail (featuring Lake Tahoe, San Francisco and the Napa Valley Wine Train) May • Adriatic and Aegean Allure (Venice to Athens) June • Celtic Lands • Easy Company: England to the Eagle’s Nest with the WWII Museum • Discover Southeast Alaska July • Great Journey Through Europe (Cruising the Rhine River and featuring the Glacial Express) • Oberammergau Passion Play and Cruising the Danube River August • National Parks and Lodges of the Old West • Gems of the Danube • Baltic and Scandinavian Emperors (Copenhagen to Stockholm) SEPTEMBER • Morocco Discovery • Great Trains and Grand Canyons • Ryder Cup • Fall Splendors of Canada and New England (New York to Montreal) October • Romance of the Douro River (Featuring Lisbon, Porto and Alto Douro Wine Region) November • Cosmopolitan Havens (Rome to Monte Carlo) December • Holiday Markets Cruise (Basel to Cologne)

alumni.msstate.edu/travel

*All trips and dates subject to change.

Visit our website for the most current information.

The MSU Alumni Association annually sponsors trips across the globe through the Traveling Bulldogs program. Itineraries are booked through 2020. Explore our website for more information at alumni.msstate.edu/travel or contact the Alumni Association at (662) 325-7000.

ALUMNUS.MSSTATE.EDU 73

CLASS Notes

1960s

William “Bill” Haskins (B.S. business administration, ’60) has been named president of the Mississippi Commercial Association of Realtors. He has been recognized by the industry’s top exchange, CoStar, with a Top Broker award for the past six years. He is also an honorary life member of the Mississippi Economic Development Association, which he has also served as president.

A debut novel from Bill Fountain (B.A. mathematics, ‘65) is now available. “Bach’s Air” is a science fiction novel about a high school teacher who stumbles upon a phenomenon that could save airlines money bringing him into intellectual property conflict with a foreign government.

The book’s protagonist is a graduate of Mississippi State and the university’s facilities serve as a backdrop for part of the book’s action.

Billy Moore (B.A. history, ’67) has published six books in his second career as a novelist, available through online booksellers.

He taught for 42 years at various levels, including stints at Florida State University and Rice University. He also coached football in Florida and Texas.

1970s

A new book by Benny Graves (B.S., M.S. plant pathology, ’77, ’79) is now available. “Dancing with Trees: A Family Journal” is a collection of photographs and stories that explore a Mississippi family’s journey through life under the watchful eyes of individual trees.

74 FALL 2019

Lynn Phillips-Gaines (B.A. communication, ’78) was named to Forbes 2019 BestIn-State Wealth Advisors for the second consecutive year. She was also included on Barron’s list of the Top 1,200 Advisors in the country for the fifth consecutive year.

She is a certified financial planner at Phillips Financial and a financial adviser with Raymond James.

Richard McNeel (B.A. architecture, ’79) is the new chair of the Southern Conference of the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards. He has served as president of three statewide organizations: the Mississippi chapter of the American Institute of Architects, Mississippi Architects Foundation and the State Board of Architecture. He is the CEO of JBHM Architects P.A. and serves as the chair of Mississippi State’s School of Architecture Advisory Council.

1980s

Lee Vaughn (B.S. geology, ’81) has released “Impractical Python Projects: Playful Programming Activities to Make You Smarter,” from No Starch Press of San Francisco. The eclectic collection of annotated, practice projects is designed to promote STEM education and help early-stage coders improve their skills. He retired in 2017 as the senior technical professional of geological modeling at ExxonMobil, an executive scientist position second only to the chief geologist of the corporation.

Paul Hardin (B.S. agricultural engineering technology, business, ’83) is the 2019 president of the Mississippi Coalition of Appraisers. He previously

served as vice president and director. He is the owner of pH Real Estate Services Inc. in Madison, which provides real estate services, as well as commercial, industrial and agricultural appraisals.

Jerome Goddard (Ph.D. entomology, ’84; extension professor) has a new book available from Livingston Press. “Soul Traveler” is a scientific thriller about traumatic memories and how they can infect other people and even are purposely moved from one person to another by an unethical scientist. It is the sequel to his previous work “Living Memories.”

Sharon Devine Harris (B.S. business administration, ’85) is now vice president of human resources for Anovo Specialty Pharmacy. Headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, Anovo cares for patients with rare and chronic conditions. She is serving as a board trustee with LeMoyne Owen College and a board member with Gilda’s Club of Memphis. She is a member of the Memphis chapter of The Links Inc., Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and the National Smart Set Memphis chapter.

Jacqueline A. “Jackie” Turner (B.S. professional accountancy, ‘87) was appointed executive director of the Mississippi Department of Employment Security

by Gov. Phil Bryant. She has served as deputy executive director since 2013, and was previously director of the Office of Comptroller.

Know a Bulldog who has news or a recent promotion? Send an email to alumnus@msstate.edu.

1990s

machining and subassembly operations in the Southeastern United States.

technical advice and guidance to individuals and small businesses in the community.

2010s

Cindy Simpson (B.S. interior design, ‘96) was named a Fellow of the International Interior Design Association.

She is a principal and managing director of Gensler in Dallas, Texas.

Rachel W. Faught (B.S. biological sciences, ‘06) is now triple boarded by the American Board of Internal Medicine in the fields of internal medicine, pulmonary medicine and critical care. She is a physician with Greenwood Leflore Hospital and is a member of the American College of Chest Physicians and the American Thoracic Society.

Kendell Neal Churchwell (B.S. computer science, mathematics, ’93; MBA, ‘14) was one of seven women included in an article by IBM about how female leaders in the tech world confront the gender gap.

She is a senior marketing data analyst for Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance.

Bill Stewart (Ph.D. higher education administration, ‘97) received the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society’s Shirley B. Gordon Award of Distinction, which is presented to college presidents who have shown strong support of student success.

President of East Central Community College, he was nominated by student members of the ECCC chapter on the Decatur campus. He has served almost 30 years in various teaching and administrative positions in all levels of education in the state of Mississippi.

David Neil McCarty (B.A. political science, ’99) was elected to the Court of Appeals for the State of Mississippi.

He was previously a solo practitioner in Jackson focusing on appeals and complex litigation. In that time, he was counsel in over 80 appeals to the Mississippi Supreme Court, Court of Appeals of Mississippi and the Fifth Circuit. He is a graduate of the Mississippi College School of Law where he has served as an adjunct professor since 2005.

2000s

Jon Riley (B.S. mechanical engineering, ’04) was named president of Belzoni Auramo Inc. He was previously plant manager of the Hyster-Yale Group facility in Sulligent, Alabama, one of the largest

Dennis A. Prescott (Ph.D. technology, industrial arts technology education; ’06) was named executive associate with the international fundraising consulting firm Bentz Whaley Flessner. He has spent 35 years in philanthropy, including six years with BWF. He was vice president for external affairs at Mississippi State and CEO of the MSU Foundation from 1999-07.

Lindsey E. Harris (BBA marketing, ’07; MBA, ’08) was named senior director of government affairs for Europe and the Americas at Lockheed Martin’s Government Affairs office in Arlington, Virginia. She previously worked as a country portfolio director for the European and Middle Eastern regions supporting the U.S. Department of Defense’s Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.

Nashlie Sephus (B.S. computer engineering, ‘07) won a 2019 Ada Lovelace Award for software engineering.

The awards are designed to challenge the inequities that exist in the tech industry by celebrating the achievements of women despite the many obstacles they have faced on a variety of fronts. Sephus is the applied science manager for AWS AI-Rekognition, and was previously a software engineer with Amazon. She recently founded the Jackson-based nonprofit The Bean Path to provide

Tyson Raper (M.S. agriculture, ‘11) was named the 2019 Cotton Specialist of the Year at the Beltwide Cotton Conference in New Orleans. He was selected from among cotton specialists from 17 states. He is a small grains specialist for the University of Tennessee Agriculture Extension Service and holds a bachelor’s from Auburn University and a doctorate from the University of Arkansas, in addition to his degree from Mississippi State.

Phillip L. Vines (B.S. agronomy, ’12; M.S. agricultural life sciences, ‘16) has received from the Musser International Turfgrass Foundation the Musser Award of Excellence, which is given to outstanding doctoral candidates who, in the final phase of their studies, demonstrate overall excellence throughout their turfgrass research program. In addition to his degrees from MSU, he holds a master’s from Rutgers and is on track to receive a doctoral degree in plant breeding and genomics from the same institution.

BIRTH Announcements Abigail Adele Fowler on Aug. 16, 2018, to Kristie Baxter Fowler (’11, ’14) and Scott Fowler of Hattiesburg.

Elizabeth “Lily” Marlow Thomas on Nov.

17, 2018, to Edward Anthony Thomas Jr. (’03) and Katie Yates Thomas of Jackson.

Katie Evans Seale on Jan. 28, 2019, to

Denise Donald Seale (’07) and Ted Seale of Fairhope, Alabama.

ALUMNUS.MSSTATE.EDU 75

More than 100 startups at MSU have a CEO under age 22.

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Share your experience with student entrepreneurs building companies at the MSU Entrepreneurship Center. Visit msuceo.com/mentor

THE

CLASS RING SHOW YOUR BULLDOG

PRIDE AND JOIN THE

TRADITION ALUMNI.MSSTATE.EDU

76 FALL 2019

ALUMNUS.MSSTATE.EDU 77

Forever MAROON Robert Irwin Abbay III (attended) 71, Walls — After graduating from the University of Southern Mississippi, he spent his career farming, calling it a lifestyle rather than a job.

He was active in the Boy Scouts of America and Robinsonville United Methodist Church.

He was also past president of Norfolk Gin and commissioner with the DeSoto County Soil and Water Conservation District. — Sept. 9, 2018 Laurance Watson Carter (B.S. general agriculture, ’52) 88, Rolling Fork — He served as a pilot with the U.S. Army from 1952 until 1956, including 16 months in Korea. A lifelong farmer, he mentored people through the Boy Scouts and First Baptist Church of Rolling Fork, where he taught Sunday School and was a lifetime deacon. He was a member of the Yazoo Mississippi Delta Water Management District and a former board member with Farmers Grain Terminal and Farmers Inc. and served as a commissioner on the Mississippi Levee Board. He was named the Mississippi Farmer of the Year in 2005. — March 13, 2019 Gary Coleman Cheek Sr. (B.S. general business, ’66) 74, Kosciusko — He served in the Vietnam War with the Marines, earning two Purple Hearts for being wounded in combat and the Presidential Unit Citation (Navy) for Heroism from Richard Nixon.

After completing his degree at Mississippi State, he settled in South Carolina before returning to Kosciusko where he worked at the Cheer Company and 78 FALL 2019

later co-founded Square Deal Builders. — Jan. 3, 2019 Andra K. Daniels (B.S. business administration, ’07) 34, Pensacola, Florida — Accepted into the Disney College Program, she moved to Orlando, Florida, upon graduation. She remained there working in marketing after completing the program.

She returned to Meridian to become a certified nursing assistant before relocating to the Pensacola area. — Oct. 5, 2018 James E. “Jim” Davis (B.S. chemistry, ’56) 84, Atlanta — A native of Starkville, he was a member of the Famous Maroon Band and Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity. He then earned a doctoral degree in chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He later served as a chemistry professor at the University of Pennsylvania and Oakland University in Michigan before retiring as a professor from Harvard. — Dec. 9, 2018 Edgar Dearth Jr. (B.S. marketing, ’58) 82, Mechanicsville, Virginia — He was the head drummer for Mississippi State University and became a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army serving in Ethiopia and Heidelberg, West Germany. He was the officer in charge of the 503rd Truck Company and left the service as a captain. He completed an MBA at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Finance. He worked in the auto industry and for Union Pacific before moving to the savings and loan industry until retirement. — Jan. 17, 2019

John Patrick “Pat” Downey (B.S. secondary education, ’65) 75, Pearl River, Louisiana — A native of Vicksburg, he attended Hinds Junior College before attending Mississippi State. After earning his bachelor’s degree, he continued his studies at McNeese State and Southeastern Louisiana University. He served as a teacher, coach and administrator for 35 years at St. Aloysius, Slidell, Fairview and Pearl River High School, and Pearl River Junior High School.

— Jan. 10, 2019 Edward Gilbert “Gil” Foresman (B.S. general business, mechanical engineering; ’50, ’58) 90, Starkville — He served the U.S. Army and Mississippi Army National Guard for 30 years, earning the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal and the Mississippi Magnolia Medal. He retired as Energy Conservation Engineer for Keesler Air Force Base. He was Mississippi State’s first baseball manager, and was on the 1948 and 1949 teams that won the first and second SEC Championships. — Jan. 16, 2019 Amy Young McDaniel (B.S. education, ’97) 59, Senatobia — A native of Senatobia, she graduated from Northwest Community College before coming to MSU where she was a member of Golden Key. — April 8, 2019 Jimmy C. McLain (B.S. general agriculture, ’64; M.A. special education, ’82) 78, Senatobia — He had a passion for and commitment to the youth, farmers and cattlemen he served as a 4-H youth agent

and county agent. He was inducted into the Mississippi Cattlemen’s Association Hall of Fame in 1997. — Jan. 14, 2019 Walter Herbert Moore II (B.S. mathematics, ’61; M.S. education, ’67) 79, Tupelo — At Mississippi State, he was a member of the Famous Maroon Band and later toured with the Master’s Men Quartet of Raymond Baptist Church. He taught mathematics and physics in several school districts in Mississippi and Georgia. After completing a doctoral degree, he joined the Mississippi Department of Education to lead the development of special education programs.

He was named associate state superintendent in 1989 and served as interim state superintendent in 1990.

Following his retirement, he served two years as senior policy analyst for the Southeast Regional Resource Center out of North Carolina. He was named Outstanding Young Educator for the Pearl and Pelahatchie Jaycees, Mississippi Economic Council’s Star Teacher, and a finalist for Title I Coordinator of the Year. — Feb. 4, 2019 Donald C. Posey (B.S. physical education, ’70; M.Ed. guidance education, ’71) 79, Boonville — A graduate of Indianola High School, he served as an Oktibbeha County administrator and was a supporter of the Oktibbeha County Humane Society. — Jan. 9, 2019 Donald Ray Queen (BBA business statistics and data

Know someone who should be remembered in Forever Maroon? Send an email to alumnus@msstate.edu.

processing, ’83) 57, Missouri City, Texas — An active alumnus, he was a member of the Black Alumni Association and attended reunions in 2017 and 2018. He was a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. — Sept. 18, 2019 George R. Roesch Sr. (B.S. accounting, ’49) 90, Vicksburg — After graduation, he served in the U.S. Air Force. He was controller and treasurer with U.S. Rubber Reclaiming Co., later GSX Polymers Inc. for 24 years. Over the years he was active in the Vicksburg Jaycees, Knights of Columbus, the Vicksburg Chamber of Commerce and the Bulldog Club. — Aug. 7, 2018 Billy Jack Scarbrough (B.S., M.S. mathematics education; ’60, ’66) 84, Perkinston — He was a member of Sunflower Baptist Church, where he served as a deacon, for 59 years. He served in the Army for three years during the Korean War and later taught at Perkinston Grammar School, where he was also basketball coach.

He then taught mathematics at Perkinston AHS and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. He was dean of vocational technical education at the Perkinston campus until his retirement in 1986. He was also a Boy Scout leader. — March 14, 2019 James Simpson Jr. (B.S. agriculture economics, ’53; retired faculty) 87, Longview — He was a retired professor of agricultural economics and a longtime member of Longview Baptist Church. — Jan. 9, 2019

John David Sistrunk Jr. (B.S. geology, ’49) 91, Madison — A native of Clarksdale, he served two years in the U.S. Navy.

He was a lifelong supporter of Mississippi State and a member of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.

He founded Sistrunk Oil and Gas in 1973 in Dallas where he lived most of his life. He was past president of Dallas Petroleum Club and the Dallas Geological Geophysical Society.

— Jan. 4, 2019 Kenneth Gerald Strong (attended) 69, Forest — A graduate of Crystal Spring High School, he attended Mississippi State from 196669 before moving to Auburn University to earn a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. While at State, he was a member of the Farmhouse fraternity and Alpha Zeta, an agricultural organization. — Oct. 10, 2018 Rebecca Howell Trevino (BLA, landscape contracting, landscape architecture; ’89, ’90) 52, Salt Lake City, Utah — A native of Starkville, she moved to Utah with her husband in 2018 to follow professional aspirations. There she began exploring, hiking and camping at the many national and state parks in the area. A four-time cancer survivor, she began running full and half marathons at the age of 50 and was a finisher of the Chicago Marathon in 2018. — Jan. 8, 2019 Erwin Connell Ward Sr. (B.S. political science, ’55) 85, Madison — He entered Mississippi State on a football scholarship. He served three years on active duty with the

Marine Corps and subsequently earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Mississippi School of Law. He remained active in the Reserves after beginning his law practice in Jackson. During his 35-year career, he served as president of the Hinds County Bar Association and a member of several committees of the Mississippi Bar Association, which named him a Fellow

in 1981. An active Bulldog alumnus, he was president of the Hinds County chapter of the Alumni Association and the Central Mississippi District.

He served as chairman of several alumni committees and helped procure the legislation that established the College of Veterinary Medicine. He was also special legal counsel to MSU during the presidency of William Giles. — Feb. 1, 2019

IN MEMORY OF BILLIE BALL Billie Ball (B.S. chemical and electrical engineering, ’56; M.S. electrical engineering, ’59; retired professor and Emeritus head, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering) 89, Starkville — After completing his degrees at Mississippi State, he earned a doctoral degree from Texas A&M in 1962. He was an Army veteran and served during the Korean War. A native of Louin and Laurel, he returned to Starkville in 1964 to join the engineering faculty at Mississippi State. He served in various roles until retiring in 1992 as one of the longest serving heads of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. During that time his leadership and support provided a substantial foundation for the National Science FoundationMississippi State University Engineering Research Center established in 1990. It is among the earliest NSF engineering research centers.

A leader in a number of professional and technical organizations, he was instrumental in the formative years of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Heads Association and the Southeastern Electrical Engineering Department Heads Association, national and regional organizations for the leaders from accredited academic programs in the fields.

Since 2005, he has been honored within the James Worth Bagley College of Engineering through three professorships bearing his name, in recognition of the impact he had on the college and the university, and to perpetuate excellence in research and teaching. Each professorship was founded by the college’s namesake. — Nov. 1, 2018 ALUMNUS.MSSTATE.EDU 79

Back STORY

WITH ROBERT GREEN My grandparents lived in Starkville, and I was born in Starkville. We moved before I saved any memories of living here, but I spent many weeks with my grandparents. My grandfather worked for what was then known as the steam plant. At the time, MSU produced steam that it fed through underground tunnels to heat campus buildings and run steam engines to produce electricity. Filling of the campus water tanks was controlled from the steam plant, which also produced ice for the cafeteria and for sale.

As a child, I was fascinated with the equipment in the steam plant, especially the Skinner Steam Engines. I would visit my grandfather at work and watch as he turned on the campus street lights at dusk. Occasionally I was also able to turn on and off the water pumps.

I was amazed at how this machinery kept the campus running. I also met my grandfather’s co-workers who would tell stories of how things used to be on campus. But it was all of that machinery that interested me.

I was in high school in South Carolina when it came time to apply for college. I was interested in Clemson and MSU, my ultimate choice. First as a chemistry major and then changing to chemical engineering, my goal was to earn my degree, leave and make my fortune.

Life had other plans.

We were housed in Etheridge Hall at the time and were thankful for the generosity of Exxon and Dow who provided window air conditioners for the classrooms. I met great people, like John Weeks and Al Wehr, who shaped my education and life. Starting as a chemistry major, I had to take German and, in that class, I met Sara who is now my wonderful wife of 39 years. As I neared graduation, I decided graduate school interested me and I was, fortunately, accepted into the mechanical engineering program and given a very generous research assistantship in the MHD Energy Center, now the Institute of Clean Energy Technology.

Rather than leave to make my fortune, I ended up spending my career at Mississippi State. I was given full-time employment with the MHD Energy Center and enjoyed doing research with some truly remarkable engineers and scientists. During a time when funding was scarce, I was given the opportunity to teach a 80 FALL 2019

Green, second from left, with other engineers at Patterson Engineering Laboratories

RESPONSES Back STORY

Spring 2019

CHRIS MORROW (B.S. ARCHITECTURE, ’83)

Green stands with wife Sara and 14-day-old daughter Kathryn at an MHD Energy Center Staff Valentine’s Day party, the youngest Green’s first public outting.

class, and I realized I enjoyed teaching. I also saw how people at MSU looked out for each other.

I found that when help was needed, help was always offered. I saw that MSU truly is a family.

Over the years, much has changed on campus. The steam plant no longer generates electricity, most of the buildings have air conditioning, and enrollment has grown. But much has remained the same. MSU continues to produce outstanding graduates, it is still possible to get to know the faculty, people still care about people, students continue to meet their future spouses, and alumni continue to send their children to MSU just as my wife and I did with our daughter.

Robert A. Green is an assistant dean in Mississippi State’s James Worth Bagley College of Engineering.

He previously served the college as undergraduate coordinator for 20 years and a research engineer for 15.

In addition to teaching classes and guiding the college’s growing undergraduate population and curriculum, he is also active in many professional organizations. He was president of the National Society for Professional Engineers in 2013-14. He is also a captain with the U.S. Naval Reserves. From Mississippi State, he earned a bachelor’s in chemical engineering (’82), a master’s in mechanical engineering (’84) and a doctoral degree in public policy and administration (’17). He also holds a master’s in national security and strategic studies (’05) from the U.S. Naval War College.

As a founding principal of Pryor & Morrow Architects, we were lucky to be asked to design the Colvard Student Union Food Court in 1992.

This was very innovative for the time, and I believe it was proposed by Dr. George Verrall of MSU Business Affairs.

Warnie Kennington was the campus architect, the first to my knowledge. A group from MSU had traveled and visited a similar successful food service operation somewhere. The goal was to provide a venue on campus with contemporary fast food, keep students on campus, and make it profitable for the university. The previous venue in Colvard was sterile and cafeteria-like. We used it a great deal in the early ’80s when I was there, but not without complaint. I suspect it was losing money as well. MSU presented us with concept drawings prepared by a consultant with food court experience, and we developed it from there. From all accounts, it was very successful and remained so for many years. Like everything, tastes and expectations changed, as did the students.

As I recall, it was often promoted that MSU grew food on many of the farms, and it was served in the cafeteria. If this was ever true, I doubt this was happening in the ’80s, but by the ’90s private outsourcing of food service was catching on and almost every institution does so now.

Content has been edited for length and style consistency.

For full responses, visit www.alumnus.msstate.edu.

In this 1942 photo from the University Archives, Roy Wilson (B.S. aerospace engineering, ‘43) and Polly Hutchinson (unknown) sit in front of McCain Hall on the Tau Beta Phi Bent, one of several monuments and statues that have adored the Drill Field over the years. Share your memories of spending time with friends on the Drill Field, the heart of Mississippi State’s campus, by contacting us. Please include your major(s) and graduation year(s) as some responses may be published in print or online with the next issue.

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