ALUMNUS Fall 2014 - Mississippi State University

MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY

A Life Wrapped in Maroon and White Remembering the legendary ‘Voice of the Bulldogs’

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I N S I D E Fall 2014

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Cracking secrets, not eggs p. 12 | Global problem–Mississippi State solution p. 18 | Powered up p. 36 FALL 2014

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Table of CONTENTS

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Campus News

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Keenum chosen vice chairman of FFAR board

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New Maroon Camp promotes MSU history, traditions, participation

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First Freshman Convocation features Maroon Edition author

John P. Rush (’94, ’02)

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A life wrapped in maroon and white

Alumni Association Executive Director

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Preserving your past

Jeff Davis

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Bully through the years

Chief Communications Officer

Fall 2014 | Vol. 91 | No. 2 President

Mark E. Keenum (’83, ’84, ’88)

Vice President for Development and Alumni

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MSU Extension Service marks its first century

Sid Salter (’88)

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Cracking the secrets, not the eggs

Editorial Office

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MAFES scientists develop catfish vaccine

P.O. Box 5325, Mississippi State, MS 39762-5325 662-325-3442 harriet.laird@msstate.edu

Advertising

Libba Andrews 662-325-3479 landrews@alumni.msstate.edu

16 State Snapshot 34 Our People 34

Constructing new realities

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Powered up: Fisackerly brings energy, vision to public utility leadership

Harriet Laird Sammy McDavid (’70, ’75)

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Creating a southern narrative

41

Message from National Alumni President

Writers

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2014 Alumni Board of Directors

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Get Involved! Join fellow Bulldogs and create impact

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Association announces 2014-15 Alumni Delegates

Editors

Leah Barbour (’04, ’06) Vanessa Beeson Kaitlyn Byrne (’14) Amy Cagle Jim Laird Susan Lassetter (’07) Allison Matthews (’00) Sasha Steinberg (’14)

Designers

Heather Rowe Hayley Gilmore

Photographers

46 Infinite Impact 46

MSU, local school district partner to revolutionize rural education

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Landmark giving year ushers in growth, impact for MSU

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First ACCESS student gains certificate, independence

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Dow Chemical gift to support diversity in engineering

Megan Bean Russ Houston (’85) Keats Haupt Susan Lassetter (’07) Beth Wynn

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Foundation announces incoming fundraisers, new roles for others

Video Producers

56 Forever Maroon

David Garraway Brandon McAninch

54 Class Notes

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22 FEATURE ARTICLES 18

A global problem - a Mississippi State solution

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Tornado touched down; now what?

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Jigsaw campers take home skills that make a difference

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Homegrown success

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. telephone 662-325-7000; or email fcarr@advservices.msstate.edu. alumni.msstate.edu // twitter.com/msstatealumni // facebook.com/msstatealumni

Campus NEWS Keenum chosen vice chairman of FFAR board Mississippi State University President Mark E. Keenum was elected by his fellow directors as vice chairman of the 15-member board of the Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research Keenum (FFAR) at the group’s inaugural meeting this fall.

Keenum was appointed to a three-year term on the FFAR board of directors last month by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Thomas J. Vilsack. Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Daniel R. “Dan” Glickman was selected FFAR’s chairman.

Upon learning of his election, Keenum said: “I am honored to have been selected vice chairman by my new colleagues on this important new panel.

I look forward to serving in this capacity and working on initiatives that will have a tremendous impact on food and agricultural research now and for generations to come.”

At the group’s inaugural meeting, Keenum said the FFAR board adopted bylaws and voted to accept $200 million from the Commodity Credit Corporation to help establish the foundation.

Keenum is a graduate of MSU with degrees in agricultural economics, and he began his career at MSU as a faculty member with the Extension Service and the Department of Agricultural Economics, where his primary research and extension work focused on the marketing and economics of aquaculture, specialty crops and forestry. He went on to serve as chief of staff to U.S. Senator Thad Cochran in Washington, DC and was Under Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture prior to returning home to Mississippi State.

Authorized by Congress as part of the 2014 Farm Bill, FFAR will operate as a non-profit corporation seeking and accepting private donations in order to fund research activities that focus on problems of national and international significance. Congress also provided $200 million for the foundation which must be matched by non-federal funds as the foundation identifies and approves projects.

The research funded by FFAR will address issues including plant and animal health; food safety, nutrition and health; renewable energy, natural resources, and environment; agricultural and food security; and agriculture systems and technology.

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Counselors run toward the trophy during a skit at the conclusion of the inaugural New Maroon Camp. During the four-day, three-night student-led retreat, incoming students learned about university history, traditions and ways to get involved on campus.

Photo by Keats Haupt

New Maroon Camp promotes MSU history, traditions, participation More than 80 freshmen from Mississippi and 13 other states stretching from California to Virginia and New Hampshire to Texas are graduates of Mississippi State’s inaugural New Maroon Camp.

Led by an all-volunteer staff of current university students, the four-day, three-night experience was designed to provide interested new members of the campus community with information about the 136-year-old land-grant institution’s history and traditions. The program also provided information about the wide variety of student organizations and activities available to enhance their classroom experiences.

“New Maroon Camp not only introduces participants to concepts and practices that can help them become successful students, but it also instills an immediate sense of pride and spirit for MSU that can last a lifetime,” said Andrew Rendon, assistant dean of student affairs.

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To see more from the Freshman Convocation, visit us on the web at alumnus.msstate.edu

First Freshman Convocation features Maroon Edition author

M

ississippi State University’s inaugural Freshman Convocation offered more than 3,000 students in August the opportunity to celebrate their becoming part of the Class of 2018.

Sarah Thebarge, the author of this year’s common reading experience selection, “The Invisible Girls,” explained how the themes of her book already apply to the freshmen’s lives.

“What do you get the girl that has absolutely nothing? You get that girl an education. Getting an education opens your horizons, it gives you choices and it gives you a chance,” Thebarge said. “This is what I want for those little girls I wrote about in my book, and that’s what I want for you. At the core, all of us are just the same. All of us want to be known and loved and cared for: We all want people to celebrate us.”

The approximately 2,000 freshmen in attendance applauded Thebarge’s speech with a standing ovation before they recited the University Honor Code in unison and sang the alma mater, “Maroon and White.”

Also, the Class of 2018 received commemorative Freshman Convocation coins.

In addition to Thebarge, university administrators, including MSU President Mark E. Keenum and Provost and Executive Vice President Jerry Gilbert, along with Student Association President Brett Harris and Faculty Senate President Randy Follett, welcomed the new students.

Each leader affirmed that becoming part of the MSU family will be a special educational and social experience for the Class of 2018.

Attending MSU will change its students’ lives, Keenum emphasized. They will grow, learn and become the leaders who will answer the questions and the challenges of the 21st century, he said.

“Our goal is to ensure that you’re prepared to lead a good life and contribute to the community, state and nation, and all the people who are less fortunate than you are,” Keenum said. “Each one of you is capable of earning a degree from Mississippi State, and with that degree, you can literally do anything and be anything you want to be.”

Gilbert echoed those sentiments and encouraged students to learn both in classrooms and through activities.

All 3,000 members of Mississippi State University’s freshman class, the Class of 2018, received commemorative coins at the inaugural Freshman Convocation.

Photos by Megan Bean and Russ Houston

“Your journey to completing college will include much more than going to classes; you will be gaining life skills. I hope you will get involved in learning activities outside the classroom to reinforce the things you will learn in class.”

Jerry Gilbert

“We are excited to commemorate the beginning of your academic journey at MSU,” Gilbert told the Class of 2018. “Your journey to completing college will include much more than going to classes; you will be gaining life skills. I hope you will get involved in learning activities outside the classroom to reinforce the things you will learn in class, and I hope that you leave this ceremony inspired that you will be successful here at Mississippi State and in life.”

University leaders expect to continue the Freshman Convocation ceremony in future years, Keenum said.

www.alumnus.msstate.edu MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS

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Campus NEWS

A life wrapped in maroon and white

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he “Voice of the Bulldogs” will forever be wrapped in maroon and white memories.

The Mississippi State University Bulldog family gathered in the Humphrey Coliseum on September 11 to celebrate the life and play-by-play radio calls of Jacob Sanford “Jack” Cristil. He died September 7 at age 88.

For 58 years, from 1953 until 2011, Cristil was on the mic for the Mississippi State Radio Network’s broadcast of football and basketball games. He called 636 football games, 60 percent of all those played in MSU history, and 1,538 basketball games, or 55 percent of all the games played.

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“He made millions of friends for our university and did as much to promote Mississippi State and its good name as anybody ever has,” said MSU President Mark E. Keenum. “Jack was always a deeply caring, generous man.”

Cristil’s daughters, Kay Cristil Clouatre of Denham Springs, Louisiana, and Rebecca Cristil Nelson of Tupelo, thanked the MSU family for its support not only for their father, but also for them.

“I cannot tell you how much Mississippi State has meant to us as a family,” Clouatre said. “My home is not just in Tupelo: it will always be at Mississippi State University.”

Nelson echoed her sister.

“Our Mississippi State family has been incredibly generous to us, and it’s just as it was when Daddy first came to the campus in 1953,” Nelson said. “I thank you for loving my daddy.”

Larry Templeton, longtime MSU athletic director from 1987 to 2008, knew Cristil for many years.

“There’s heroes, and there’s legends,” Templeton said.

“At Mississippi State, we have heroes by the hundred, but we only have one legend–he taught us to wrap it in maroon and white.”

www.alumnus.msstate.edu

To hear more about the legend of Jack Cristil, watch a video at alumnus.msstate.edu.

LEFT: MSU’s Jack Cristil and storied play-by-play broadcaster of 58 years making calls along side Jeff Ellis. TOP: Kay Cristil Clouatre, right, daughter of “Voice of the Bulldogs” Jack Cristil, thanked the Mississippi State family for support of her late father at a memorial service on the Starkville Campus in September. Daughter Rebecca Cristil Nelson, left, also made remarks, as did Cristil’s longtime friend and former MSU athletic director Larry Templeton.

Several former and current coaches and players also reminisced about the legendary sportscaster who began his career with MSU in 1953.

Photos by Russ Houston and provided by MSU Athletics

“I’ll forever be indebted to Mr. Cristil; he made those basketball games come alive for my grandfather, and now, he’s gotten to meet him.

Many other MSU fans have gotten to meet him now that he’s gone from us, and he’s wrapping it up one more time in maroon and white.”

Greg Carter, former MSU basketball player and Starkville High School head basketball coach

“For nearly 60 years, for more than half of Mississippi State football games, he painted a picture for us in maroon and white.”

John Cohen, MSU head baseball coach

“Jack Cristil, forever the Voice of the Bulldogs--His gift of saying the right words at the right times has wrapped us all in maroon and white for decades.”

Jim Ellis, play-by-play announcer for the Mississippi State Radio Network

“There will never be another Jack Cristil. He was unique, original in a way that cannot be imitated…

As to his enduring legacy as a broadcaster, as one of the last truly great broadcasters, it’s simple–he told it like it was.”

Sid Salter, MSU chief communication officer and Cristil biographer

“I don’t believe we’ve ever had another person at Mississippi State who was loved and appreciated like Jack Cristil… He was a guy that I respected as much as any person I’ve ever met at Mississippi State University, and he was good; he was a tremendous person.”

Kermit Davis, former MSU basketball player and former head basketball coach

“Think about all the good games and the bad games… the bad we’re all familiar with, but Jack didn’t have bad games.”

Rockey Felker, MSU assistant football coach, former head football coach and former player

www.alumnus.msstate.edu MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS

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Campus NEWS

Preserving your past

BY LEAH BARBOUR

Whether they’re the special photos of your parents’ honeymoon or the letters your grandparents exchanged during World War I, you—and so many other members of the Bulldog Family—have important materials that future generations should get to enjoy.

When award-winning archivist Mona Vance-Ali presented at Mississippi State’s 12th E.O. Templeton Jr. History & Genealogy Fair during the summer, she shared techniques that you can use to ensure your family can hang on to the pictures and documents that tell your history.

1920

DOs… • Your collection should include the materials that matter most to you: photographs, scrapbooks, letters, papers, books, electronic records, etc.

• Handle materials as little as possible, and keep the work areas clean.

• Digitally scan or copy all your materials, print and photograph. One scan will not deteriorate your materials if they are in good condition, and you will have the advantage of electronic copies of the originals.

DON’Ts… • Never do anything to your materials that’s NOT easily reversible.

• Never store materials in the attic, basement, barn or garage.

• Never laminate or glue documents together. Never use staples or tape.

• Never write with pens on photos or other materials.

REMEMBER …

• While no brick-and-mortar stores in the greater Northeast Mississippi area sell archive-quality materials, experts in Mississippi State’s Mitchell Memorial Library can advise novice archivists, wherever they are, about appropriate materials and where to get them.

• For an appointment, contact Neil Guilbeau, coordinator of University Archives, Mississippiana and Rare Books, at 662-325-3935 or njg99@msstate.edu, or Ryan Semmes, interim coordinator of MSU’s Congressional and Political Research Center, at 662-325-9355 or rsemmes@library.msstate.edu.

• Consider installing ultraviolet protectors for lights and dehumidifiers set at 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

• Use quality, chemically inert archival supplies, including archival tape, archival storage boxes, alkaline- or lignin-free file folders, and Mylar film.

• Use chemically inert plastic paperclips to keep materials together.

Though a bump will result, these clips will not rust or stain the documents or photos.

• If an archival material is marked “acid-free” but doesn’t have a pH listed, be suspicious of whether it will chemically react with the item placed inside it.

• For photographs, materials should have a pH between 7.5 and 8.5 and they should pass the Photographic Activity Test, often signified by ANSI IT9.16 Photographic Activity Test (PAT). Learn more about the PAT at: https://www.imagepermanenceinstitute.org/testing/pat.

• Use a pencil to label materials separately from the archived materials, and include relevant information, such as who, what, when, where and why.

• Store materials only in temperature controlled areas where air circulates freely, such as in the central part of your home in boxes, closets or under beds or other furniture. n

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Bully 1926 Lived behind the cafeteria and tended by freshmen, according to R.Z. Pepper, a 1926 cheerleader, and Don Herrington, a freshman football player in 1926.

“Bull dog pup” 1905 Placed atop a casket representing the “dead athletic spirit” of University of Mississippi following its first gridiron loss to the Agricultural and Mechanical College of the State of Mississippi.

Bully III March 1942-July 1942 Donated by J.W. Parker of West Point, but no mentions of the mascot appear after the July 1942 Reflector.

Bully IV, “Big Dog on Campus” or “BDOG” Sept. 1942 Purchased from Webster Kennels, which bred Ptolemy, Bully I and Shirley, though no record exists of how long BDOG served as mascot.

Bully VIII 1957-Sept. 1964 Donated by Alex Dittler of Atlanta, through Mack Truck Co. Was painted in red and blue lead-based paint by University of Mississippi students and almost died of lead poisoning in 1958, the same year Mississippi State College was renamed Mississippi State University. Bulldogs became official mascot in 1961.

Bully IX, “Joker” 1964-Dec. 1966 Bought by Lambda Chi Alpha, which cared for Joker and his successors through 1974.

1960

Bully XIV, “Champion Bully of MSU” or “Champ” 1976-1982 Sired by the son of Trajan, Bully XIII-A, and Molly, a bulldog owned by Mrs. Frazier Thompson Jr. of Bentonia.

1980

Bully XV, “Little Bully” 1985-1991 Born and bred by Dr. Joe G. Martin, also the owner and veterinarian of Martin Kennels of Ripley. Little Bully was cremated and his ashes scattered on Scott Field in 1994 after 1992 retirement.

1990

COMPILED BY LEAH BARBOUR

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To see more photos of MSU’s past bulldogs, visit alumnus.msstate.edu.

MSU Mascot History: Bully through the years Ptolemy, “Tol” 1935 Given or loaned to Mississippi A&M by Edgar Webster of Webster Kennels in Memphis.

Considered the first “true” bulldog mascot at Mississippi State College, as Mississippi A&M was renamed in 1932.

Bully I, “Bully” 1935-1939 Born Tol’s littermate and donated by Joe Rice Dockery; hit by bus and buried with such estate that services were recorded in Life Magazine.

Shirley 1939 Loaned to MSU and born niece of Bully and Tol; completed the 1939 football season when Mississippi State beat University of Mississippi 18-6 in the final game.

Bully II, “Beau Legg” 1939-1941 Donated by Jayn Legg of Gulfport and killed by bus almost exactly two years after Bully I was killed by bus. Funeral proceedings and obituary featured in 1939-40 yearbook.

1930

1940

Bully V, Summer 1945Spring 1947 Bought from a private Greenwood resident by David L. Cline, student body president, though

by January 1946, the student newspaper was advertising to supply him a home. Died of “lack of exercise” in 1951.

Bully VI-A, “Big Dog on Campus” or “BDOC” Sept. 1947-Dec. 1951 Bought from Sid Parker of West Point by Athletics and Student Affairs to be mascot for the varsity football team. “Dog-napped” for first time in Mississippi State College history (by University of Georgia) in October 1951, though Mississippi State goes on to win the game, 6-0.

Bully VI-B Nov. 1947-May 1952 Given as gift to serve as the freshman team mascot and bought from Oklahoma City Kennels. Became mascot for both freshman and varsity teams after BDOC’s death.

Bully VII, “Mr. Muggs” Sept. 1953-Nov. 1956 Supplied by student Billy Underwood of Philadelphia and allowed to return on weekends to protect him from repeated “dog-nappings”

by Ole Miss and Southern Miss students.

1950 Bully X, “Sergeant Mac” 1967-1972 Killed by car just before 1972 homecoming; “failed to yield to an oncoming car on University Drive.”

Bully XI 1972 Borrowed from alumnus and appeared at a few games during the 1972 football season.

Bully XII, “Teeway’s Romeo” or “Romeo” 1972 Bought by Lambda Chi Alpha after death of Bully XI, but “murdered” following the 1972 football season and the perpetrators never identified.

Bully XIII-A, “Trajan” 1974-Sept. 1975 Born of Sissy, Bully XIII-B, and returned unharmed prior to the Nov. 23 Egg Bowl when University of Mississippi students discovered he was undergoing treatment for stomach cancer.

Bully XIII-B, “Sissy” 1974-1975 Bought in Jackson and the only female Bully in MSU history. Dog-napped but recovered when a University of Mississippi female student tried to smuggle her into the Egg Bowl. Continued making infrequent appearances with grandson Champ, Bully XIV, through 1977.

1970 Bully XVI, “Replica of Corker” or “Corker” 1990-1994 Bred by Whitley Wilson of Eupora and sired the present-day line of Bullys.

Bully XVII, “Lucky Be Happy,” or “Lucky” 1995-1998 Sired by Corker, Bully XVI.

Bully XVIII, “Dontae” 1998-1999 Donated by 1987 alumnus Greg Daly of Flowood.

Interim Bully XVIII, “Humphrey Hartsog” or “Humphrey” Oct. 1999Aug. 2001 Borrowed from alumni Jeff and Glenna Hartsog of Jackson; buried near the north end-zone bleachers in Davis Wade Stadium.

2000

Bully XIX, “TaTonka Gold” or “Tonka” Sept. 2001-Sept.

2009 Bred in Waynesboro, Ga. and the grandson of Lucky and the greatgrandson of Corker.

Bully XX, “TaTonka’s Golden Sun” or “Champ” Sept. 2009 present Sired by Tonka, Bully XIX, and appears at football, basketball and baseball games, as well as band practice, football practice, local elementary schools, and wherever “Bulldog spirit” is needed.

2010

Thanks to Mitchell Memorial Library archivists Neil Guilbeau and Ryan Semmes, and the staff at Special Collections for their research assistance. Archival materials supporting the information in this piece include MSU Archives, The Reflector, Bulldog Handbook, Reveille and Maroon and White. Other sources include Alumnus magazine, MSU Football Vault by Mike Nemeth, area newspapers, as well as an interview with Lisa Pritchard, MSU’s mascot event coordinator and guardian.

www.alumnus.msstate.edu MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS

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Campus NEWS

Mississippi State University Extension Service agents spent many hours beside farmers in cotton fields as they waged war against invasive boll weevils, which often robbed plants of their top bolls. Extension personnel helped organize the successful eradication efforts that resulted in Mississippi fields without boll weevils since 2009.

Photo courtesy of MSU Ag Communications

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MSU Extension Service marks its first century

BY LINDA BREAZEALE

M

ost centenarians are slowing down and avoiding modern technology, but the Mississippi State University Extension Service is doing neither as it celebrates its 100th birthday.

“Although the foundational goals established in the Smith-Lever Act of 1914 remain essential in our mission, Mississippi State’s Extension Service agents understand the issues in their communities, and they have taken advantage of the many options for delivering life-changing information,” said Gary Jackson, director of the MSU Extension Service.

“Technology is a key tool in educating people, and

our mission in Extension is to deliver researchproven information to the people of the state.”

The Smith-Lever Act, signed on May 8, 1914, established the Cooperative Extension Service, the nationwide education system operating through land-grant universities in partnership with federal, state and local governments.

“The Extension Service has evolved from something people absolutely needed in the early 20th century to a vibrant organization equipping citizens for living in the 21st century,” Jackson said. “County offices across the state are marking

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Extension’s flagship program for young people, 4-H, has also the centennial with a variety of celebrations. Along with evolved in the last 100 years, Jackson said. Mississippi received the our many state and local partners, we are celebrating our first federal dollar budgeted in the United States for the forerunner past accomplishments while maintaining a focus on the of today’s 4-H. This funding was for corn club programs in Holmes bright future ahead.”

County in 1907. These were precursors of 4-H, even before Jackson recently reflected on the many changes that Extension was created. have occurred during the last “Early youth clubs 100 years.

“The Extension Service has evolved sought to send children home “Our nation and state from something people absolutely to their families with better have come a long way since needed in the early 20th century skills in agriculture, food and 1914. We lived through to a vibrant organization equipping textiles,” he said. “Today’s boll weevil invasions, the citizens for living in the 21st century.”

4-H members still do those Depression and world wars. projects but so much more.”

Each one had crippling Gary Jackson Paula Threadgill, associate effects on the state, but director of the MSU Extension Extension agents were present Service, oversees the state 4-H program. to help see clients through those challenges and others,” “Youth are involved in technology projects, such as robotics, Jackson said. “For example, Mississippi’s cotton farms are and also programs like ATV safety and shooting sports,” she said.

100 percent boll weevil free today, due in a large part to “Leadership skills and citizenship projects are where we really get Extension’s efforts working with the farmers themselves, the reassurance that our future communities will be in good hands.” who all did what it took to eliminate cotton’s historic No. For more information on the Extension Service Centennial 1 pest.”

Celebration, visit the Extension Service Facebook page at www.

Kenneth Hood, a cotton grower in Bolivar County, facebook.com/MSUExtService or Twitter account at www.twitter. was chairman of the Boll Weevil Eradication Board during com/MSUExtService. n the eradication efforts.

“Had it not been for some key elements in Mississippi, such as MSU’s Extension Service, boll weevil eradication would not have happened,” Hood said. “Extension worked in all the state’s regions, at the state level and the county THE level, getting the information out to the farmers.”

Hood said the enormity of the program required several years of effort.

L.L.C writing enhancement for all professional documents “Mississippi was divided into four initial regions, and eventually one of those was divided to make a total of five regions. Each one had to have educational meetings, program votes and director elections,” Hood said. “Extension was Providing writing, editing and polishing for intensely involved in the program throughout the five years position papers, reports and white papers or so that each region needed to become boll weevil free.

Because of Extension’s and growers’ efforts, Mississippi THE growers no longer lose a single boll to boll weevils.”

Jackson described the eradication effort as a classic example of taking research-based information to the people L.L.C writing enhancement for all professional documents for better production methods.

“We can point to similar stories in other commodities, where simple or not-so-simple changes enabled growers to be more successful,” Jackson said.

Home demonstration clubs in the early years of Extension evolved into home economics programs and continue today in a variety of family and consumer science activities addressing topics such as nutrition, health, P.O. Box 2824 l Tupelo, Mississippi 38803 financial literacy, volunteer programs and home-based www.thewriteologist.com l anitabryan@thewriteologist.com businesses.

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Campus NEWS

Cracking the secrets, not the eggs

T

he sun beats down on John Paul Jones’ back, but he keeps on digging. The wind stirs the miniature dust tornadoes swirling around his feet. Somehow, the lack of vegetation makes the badlands seem even hotter. The longtime high school earth science and chemistry teacher stands up and scans the setting of the paleontological dig, his vacation spot. Clay rocks streaked with variegated sandstone dot the landscape and cut geometric shapes against the baby blue sky in the Missouri River Country of Southeast Montana.

He pushes his hat back and wipes the dripping sweat off his face before he looks down at the ground. He thinks he sees something.

He knows he sees something.

Jones hunches back down in the gully and keeps scraping away around an oval that looks like an egg. Other ovals begin to emerge… and the artifact looks like a clutch of four eggs, fused to a fossilized rock. But Jones shakes his head. He and his friends have already found what they believe to be fossilized bones, but a clutch of fossilized eggs? It’s so rare, that can’t be what they are.

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BY LEAH BARBOUR, PHOTOGRAPHY BY MEGAN BEAN

So all three men start digging, scraping, mining in earnest. Ten eggs emerge that day, but what kind of eggs are they? The quest to determine the genus and species of those eggs has changed the course of Jones’ life.

More than 12 years have passed. Jones left his Florida home and his teaching position of 17 years to come to Mississippi State. After he completed his master’s in geology in 2008, he knew he liked working with the geosciences department faculty, especially professor John Mylroie and his wife, instructor Joan Mylroie. With the encouragement of associate professor Brenda Kirkland, Jones enrolled in MSU’s earth and atmospheric sciences doctoral program, which he completed in August.

Jones continues to visit the gully where he found the eggs, and he keeps finding more.

Based on the Montana location where he found them, as well as the eggs’ size and shape, Jones hypothesizes that they’re hadrosaurs, some of the most common, widespread dinosaurs of the Upper Cretaceous period.

The herbivorous, duck-billed dinosaurs had hollow crests on their skulls that may have been used to make warning sounds or mating

calls. However, the question of which species of hadrosaur still looms before Jones.

Once he knew for sure that the treasure he found in 2002 was a clutch of dinosaur eggs, Jones vowed never to slice them. Though it’s generally regarded as the most reliable way to discover what kinds of embryos are inside, cutting up the eggs would destroy an artifact that’s been preserved for millions of years. “If you cut it, then you have a damaged egg,” he explains. “It’s just a rock that’s been sliced in half.”

With slicing out of the question, Jones turns to technology to give him the answers he’s looking for, and he recently accessed some of the most high-tech imaging equipment in the world. Because of geologist and assistant professor Rinat Gabitov’s connections to experts at Amgueddfa Cymru—National Museum Wales, the eggs went through the Diamond Light Source this summer. The extremely high resolution synchrotron CT scanner in Oxford, England, has generated 3D images from X-ray tomographic images, “virtual” slices.

“With the synchrotron technology, we’ll get the actual image that can make a model.

www.alumnus.msstate.edu

In 2012, four fossilized dinosaur eggs went through a high-resolution CT scanner, available through a partnership between MSU’s Institute for Imaging and Analytical Technology and Premier Imaging of Starkville. Fossilowner John Paul Jones used the images to determine that embryos still lie within some of the eggs.

We’re going to get a three-dimensional replica of the bones, and people will still be able to see the eggs,” Jones says.

The scanner’s resolution is so high and its scanning technique so involved, only very small structures can be scanned. In fact, the scan size is only about one-10th the diameter of human hair, so pinpointing the exact area of the four-egg clutch to scan is crucial. Thanks to Mississippi State’s partnership between Premier Imaging in Starkville and the university’s Institute for Imaging and Analytical Technologies (I2AT), Jones already had a pretty good idea about where to scan the fossilized clutch. In 2012, I2AT and Premier Imaging scanned the eggs with the LightSpeed VCT 64-Slice CT Scanner and generated more than 10,000 images by taking thousands of 2D X-rays around a single axis of the eggs and generating a 3D picture.

During the next 18 months, Jones examined each image. “I had to adjust the contrast and the brightness of the models to really zone in on what I was seeing,” he says. “One of the CT scans we did shows a definite and complete articulated embryo.

The skull, pelvis, ribs, tail and perhaps legs are visible. I also found one egg was partially hollow. It has a disarticulated embryo in it, but you can still see some bones, but in the other two eggs, the resolution just wasn’t high enough.

“Because of that, we’ve taken them to Wales, and it’ll be the first time anyone’s ever identified an embryo using the synchrotron method.”

Because the National Museum Wales has imaging equipment, Jones didn’t have to reconstruct the images after the scans. Still, he is playing a major role in identifying the species of the eggs. Clear images of the skull and pelvis are necessary to figure it out, and Jones remains optimistic he will complete his task by the beginning of the new year. He emphasizes how excited he is to be the first scientist to have the chance to discover the genus and species of dinosaur eggs without slicing the fossil.

“There’s potential for the future, too, that we may be able to learn more about the physiology of the embryo. We may be able to make conclusions about how they move. A lot of paleontologists are going to be looking at what we’re able to do,” he says.

While the National Museum Wales has displayed the eggs in the United Kingdom, the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C., has also agreed to display at least one of Jones’ egg fossils.

“People all over the world are interested in dinosaurs,” Jones says. “As technology gets better and better, our understanding of dinosaurs only gets better and better.” n

“If you cut it, then you have a damaged egg.

It’s just a rock that’s been sliced in half.”

John Paul Jones

www.alumnus.msstate.edu MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS

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Campus NEWS

MAFES M scientists develop

catfish vaccine

BY VANESSA BEESON

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SU scientists at the Thad Cochran Warmwater Aquaculture Center have developed a vaccine to protect catfish from commonly occurring bacteria that can cause death. During their first growing season, every catfish fingerling raised in the Mississippi Delta will be exposed to Edwardsiella ictaluri, the bacteria that cause enteric septicemia, or ESC. In 2013, catfish farms covered 48,600 surface acres of ponds across Mississippi. The production across 125 operations totaled $178 million. ESC is estimated to reduce production by 25-30 percent, costing the industry $30-40 million annually.

“This vaccine has the potential to fundamentally improve the economic viability of the catfish industry because of its positive effects on survival, growth and feed conversion,” said Wes Burger, associate director of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station.

“Scientists in the Experiment Station are focused on developing a commercialization strategy that will enable catfish producers to operate more efficiently with increased profitability.”

ESC outbreaks typically occur in late summer or early fall as water temperatures cool. Some ESC cases are mild while others cause death. The chronic infection occurs in, and subsequently kills, five to 20 percent of the surviving population that goes through an outbreak.

In 2008, David Wise, MAFES aquaculture scientist developed a live-attenuated vaccine and method of delivering the vaccine orally with commercially available feed. Over the next few years, the vaccine was shown safe and effective in laboratory tests, small pond trials and commercialscale field trials. Protocols for vaccine production and processing were developed and validated in field trials. By 2012, the team was using a catfish vaccine delivery system developed by MAFES agricultural and biological engineers in field trials. A utility patent on the vaccine and delivery method is currently pending.

The only time researchers can manipulate the catfish is when they leave the hatchery as fry or leave the nursery pond as adult catfish.

Previously, fry had been vaccinated through immersion baths at seven to 10 days old. The fry were too young with underdeveloped immune systems so the vaccine was only partially effective.

The immersion baths as the fish left the hatchery weren’t effective, and fish coming out of the nursery ponds were already exposed to the bacteria.

The new vaccine and method allowed researchers to vaccinate a fully developed fish in the nursery pond.

The team started off mixing the vaccine and feed in a little bucket. They ran a study and it worked.

www.alumnus.msstate.edu

To learn more about the MSU-developed catfish vaccine and delivery method, visit alumnus.msstate.edu.

“A lot of things you do in disease research don’t work,” Wise said. “I haven’t seen anything like this.”

The team proved the concept in five-gallon buckets, but needed a better delivery system.

“You can’t vaccinate a 10-acre pond with a five-gallon bucket,” Wise said. “We had to come up with a method of mixing and administering the vaccine in 500, 800 or 1,000 pounds of feed at a time.”

The challenge lied in the vaccine itself. It has to be live to work. Once the vaccine is absorbed into the feed, it has 20 minutes before it starts losing viability.

The team used a modified seed coater on 1-acre ponds. They were able to mix up 150 pounds of feed but needed something on a commercial scale.

Wise reached out to MSU’s agricultural and biological engineering department, which finished the prototype for the first delivery system in six months, just in time to start vaccinating the fish.

The first delivery system holds up to 1,000 pounds of feed and can administer feed to two 8-acre ponds before reloading. The team recently finished work on a larger delivery system that holds 2,000 pounds of feed and can feed up to four 8-acre ponds before reloading.

Survival and size of the catfish both increased as a result of the vaccine.

“In an aquaculture study, if you have a treatment effect that really improves survival, typically your fish get smaller. Economic returns are based on a balance between size and density,” Wise said. “You could have 100 percent survival in smaller catfish and actually make less money because there is a sliding scale on how catfish are priced.

A small catfish is worth less than a larger catfish. In this study, which is very unusual, we had twice as many catfish and they were 20 percent larger.”

The feed conversion ratio was also reduced from approximately 2.5 to 1.5, meaning that it takes a full pound less feed to produce a pound of fish. The team has seen similar results in repeated pond trials that have resulted in two-to-three fold increases in projected gross sales.

Collaborators include USDA’s National Biological Control Laboratory, the MSU Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department in conjunction with the USDA ARS Poultry Research Unit, MSU College of Veterinary Medicine, Thad Cochran Warm-water Aquaculture Center, and the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station.

Data required to support a USDA licensing application that would make the vaccine commercially available is currently being collected in field trials. n

CATFISH PRODUCTION #1: Mississippi is the largest producer of catfish in the U.S.

125 catfish operations in Mississippi in 2013

$

$178 million: Total amount of catfish production in Mississippi in 2013

48,600 water surface acres dedicated to catfish production in Mississippi

THE LIFE CYCLE OF A CATFISH (Approximately 18–36 months for Channel Catfish)

Eggs hatch 5-8 days after incubation.

Fry reared in hatchery for another 4-10 days.

Fry transferred to nursery pond, fed daily and harvested in autumn or winter as fingerlings.

Fingerlings stocked in fish-food grow-out ponds, fed daily and harvested at 1-2 pounds.

*Sources: MSU and USDA

www.alumnus.msstate.edu MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS

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www.alumnus.msstate.edu

State SNAPSHOT WIND POWERING MSU—Mississippi State University’s Simrall Electrical and Computer Engineering Building features an energy farm with solar panels and wind turbines on the roof. Graduate students check the wind turbine’s energy generation while assistant professor Yong Fu looks on. The farm is part of Fu’s renewable energy integration course, which teaches students about harvesting, converting, operating, planning and marketing various renewable energy resources, including wind and solar energies.

Photography by Megan Bean

www.alumnus.msstate.edu MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS

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A GLOBAL PROBLEM – A MISSISSIPPI STATE SOLUTION

MSU meets cybersecurity needs by training leading experts

BY ALLISON MATTHEWS

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www.alumnus.msstate.edu

I

n a world of increasing reliance on digital systems and applications for everything from banking to healthcare to municipal sewer systems, professionals who vigilantly prevent and defend against online threats are in high demand.

The benefits of global connectivity have enabled the modern innovations which people, businesses and governments have embraced. The Internet has revolutionized communication, commerce and lifestyles. But it also is built of windows that attract hackers of all kinds who try to pry their way into secure systems.

Mississippi State University is training top cybersecurity professionals. In many cases, these students are destined for government service in support of national defense.

Since 2001, MSU has been funded by both the National Science Foundation and the National Security Agency to produce security engineers for government service under Cyber Corps Scholarship for Service programs.

More than 125 Cyber Corps scholars have graduated from MSU. Scholars must be U.S. citizens eligible for federal service, and they must serve the government one year for every year of scholarship after graduation. The competitive scholarship pays all tuition and fees, as well as a stipend of $20,000-$30,000 for each ninemonth academic year.

“MSU is among a relatively elite group of schools helping the nation meet its need for highly-skilled cyber warriors,” said David A. Dampier, a professor of computer science and engineering.

Earlier this year, a Hewlett Packard-sponsored survey by the Michigan-based Ponemon Institute showed the university’s cybersecurity courses and degree programs rank among the top three in the nation for academic excellence and practical relevance.

Only the University of Texas at San Antonio and Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont, ranked higher at first and second, respectively. Syracuse University in New York state and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh tied for fourth place, while Purdue University in Indiana was fifth.

Last year, the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command designated MSU’s cyber operations program as a Center of Academic Excellence for providing superior cyber warfare programs. The university also holds national CAE designations in information assurance education, information assurance research and in information assurance/cyber defense.

The CAE program was started in 1999 to reduce the vulnerability of the nation’s cyber and network infrastructure by promoting information assurance in higher education and producing more graduates with the background and expertise in computer science and cyber defense disciplines.

“This CAE certification further enables us to teach skills that are used by federal agencies engaged in cyber war––giving Mississippi State students an added edge when competing for jobs,” Dampier said. He explained that students who include the cyber ops option in their coursework will be exposed to a diverse range of cybersecurity skills.

To be considered for Cyber Corps Scholarship for Service, students must be majoring in computer science, software engineering, computer engineering, electrical engineering, industrial engineering or information systems. Dampier said each discipline brings a unique perspective to the table when it comes to approaching cybersecurity issues. However, all cybersecurity students no matter their discipline of origin, learn the ins and outs necessary to tackle relevant issues with vengeance, he said.

“Key skills will be the ability to conduct penetration tests of computer networks, as well as reverse engineering software, including viruses, Trojan horses and other forms of malware,” Dampier said. “These skills are in demand by government agencies, as well as private contractors working on computer securityrelated projects.” The program also ensures students learn broader skills to include security core concepts such as information assurance, network security, and digital forensics, as well as risk assessment, secure system design, security policy and conformance.

Cyber Corps scholars are responsible for acquiring a summer internship with a government agency during their studies. Dampier and his colleague Tommy Morris, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, as well as other faculty members, often help students make employment connections.

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“We help by inviting employers to come for private interview sessions with our students. There are quite a few government agencies that come to campus, including the CIA, Corps of Engineers, NSA, Defense Information Systems Agency, Army Intelligence Systems Command and others which conduct private interview sessions at MSU,” Dampier said. “They come to us because of the reputation that MSU has for producing students who can perform on Day 1 after graduation.”

The majority of cybersecurity students who gain employment or

“The research we do allows us to flow current best practices right back into our classrooms, so we stay on the cutting edge of cybersecurity by working with government agencies and industry to understand the problems they are facing and working for solutions.” Dave Dampier

internships before graduation are required to have at least a secret clearance and many go up to highest clearance levels, Morris explained.

Many faculty members also hold active federal government security clearances ranging from secret to top secret, which allows them to have access into agencies to discuss ongoing challenges and related research objectives.

“The research we do allows us to flow current best practices right back into our classrooms, so we stay on the cutting edge of cybersecurity by working with government agencies and industry to understand the problems they are facing and working for solutions,” Dampier said.

The university’s cybersecurity capabilities include several research centers. The newly created Distributed Analytics and Security Institute is leading a new large-scale initiative along with a prominent U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory to solve problems related to big data analytics, distributed computing and cybersecurity.

Dampier is directing the effort, while Morris is DASI’s associate director. The $5.6-million

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partnership between MSU and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will provide capabilities in big data fusion and compression, analytics of power systems, autonomic computing, big data visualization, malware attribution, industrial control system cybersecurity, and visual analytics.

DASI is affiliated with the university’s High Performance Computing Collaboratory, which provides supercomputing resources.

In addition to Dampier and Morris, a whole team of experts and researchers make up the university’s cybersecurity human capital. Faculty members contribute to DASI and additionally operate three other university research centers dedicated to cybersecurity: the Center for Computer Security Research, the National Forensics Training Center and the Critical Infrastructure Protection Center.

MSU’s Center for Computer Security Research is dedicated to the scientific exploration of computer vulnerabilities with the objective of improving prevention and detection techniques through core research areas. The National Forensics Training Center provides support for solving and preventing cyber crimes. Its operations include the Cyber Crime Fusion Center in Jackson, which works closely with offices of Attorney General Jim Hood, the Secret Service and Federal Bureau of Investigation, and other federal, state and local agencies.

The Critical Infrastructure Protection Center works to prevent cybersecurity threats to systems that are considered critical to society and the economy. The Department of Homeland Security has defined 18 categories of critical infrastructure, including financial systems, industrial control systems, electrical systems, pipelines, among others.

While university efforts are pointed at leading the nation in cybersecurity issues with advanced research and teaching, MSU also strives to educate the general campus population about computer security issues which affect most of society.

Each fall the university takes part in observing Cyber Security Awareness Week with an array of educational activities to inform users about significant computer and information security issues.

Dampier said the nation needs highly trained cybersecurity professionals who are equipped to address current and future issues with the utmost degree of ethics and integrity. He said individuals who are not pursuing cybersecurity as a profession also should make a deliberate effort to stay apprised of online threats and how to prevent and defend against them. Becoming educated and aware is one of the best ways to prevent identity theft, security breaches, and other online threats, he said. n

www.alumnus.msstate.edu

Profiles in cyber security excellence Cyber Corps Scholarship for Service students are selected from a competitive pool of top majors in computer science, software engineering, computer engineering, electrical engineering, industrial engineering and information systems.

ALUMNUS asked these graduates and former Cyber Corps scholars how their MSU college experiences prepared them for where they are today.

Kyle White, graduated May 2012, B. S. industrial engineering Occupational title: Industrial engineer, U.S. Navy based in Keyport, Washington “MSU prepared me in a lot of ways. There’s a lot of diversity on our campus, and it prepares you for the diverse network of people you deal with on a day to day basis in the real world. And all the group projects I hated working on have really prepared me for the transition into working groups. You definitely don’t get to choose your groups in the real world, so knowing how to handle tension both personally and professionally is a great skill. But most of all, MSU helped me grow as a person. I know who I am and who I want to be. MSU drove me into industrial engineering, and it led me to Scholarship for Service which, ultimately paired me with my job. I worked with housing, and that developed me as a person, both in time management and other professional aspects, like knowing how to interact in new spaces, be myself and enjoy challenges.”

Robert Gatlin, graduated May 2010, B.S. and May 2012, M.S., information systems Occupational title: I.T. specialist, Information Security, Department of Homeland Security, Office of Cybersecurity & Communications, Washington, D.C. “I think it comes down to two factors: the MSU faculty and team projects with fellow students. First, my experience with the faculty at MSU was outstanding during my tenure as a student. Not only was the faculty well versed in their areas of expertise, many of them brought extensive experience from industry. Even today, I draw from the countless hours of classroom lecture and briefing materials that were provided to answer some of the difficult problems that arise at work. While it was the faculty that set the foundation for success, the team projects with fellow students really solidified the learning objectives. Being able to thrive in a team environment is critical for any college graduate entering the workforce. It’s rare that I’m assigned an individual project, and if so, it almost always leads to collaboration amongst other team members.”

White

Gatlin

Bogen

Chris Bogen, graduated 2006, Ph.D., computer science Occupational title: Computer scientist, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research Development Center, Vicksburg “The faculty at the MSU department of computer science and engineering struck a good balance between classical computer science research and software engineering practice, including programming and information assurance. That is exactly the sort of balance that is critical in my career as a computer scientist at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research Development Center.”

Allison Scogin, graduated May 2005, B.S. computer engineering, and 2007, M.S. computer science with an Information Assurance Profession Certification Occupational title: Project manager and engineer for the Department of Defense Public Key Enablement team in support of the Public Key Infrastructure, Defense Information Systems Agency, Ft. Meade, Maryland “My time at MSU taught me many things about my field, but perhaps the most useful thing I took away was the ability to think critically and solve new problems.

I took Dr. Vaughn’s computer security course as one of my electives the last semester of undergrad. I had spent years learning about the low level workings of computers and how to program, but I hadn’t spent much time thinking about how to secure them.

It was a fascinating course and ultimately changed the direction of my life. I was lucky enough to be a recipient of the Federal Cyber Security Scholarship for Service program which paid for my graduate degree and helped me secure my current position at DISA.”

Scogin

www.alumnus.msstate.edu MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS

21

ORNADO TOUCHED DOWN

Now what?

BY LEAH BARBOUR

M

ississippi State is there to help whenever severe weather strikes the Magnolia State. Numerous organizations around campus provide emergency-response resources, and MSU Extension Service led the way after severe weather struck this past spring.

State disaster-response coordinator Elmo Collum of Extension is one of just two people on the state emergency-operation committee that responds to resource requests from the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. Then, MSU Extension’s agriculture and family/consumer science agents are assigned to visit the hard-hit areas to determine exactly what resources are needed. That can include everything from clean-up equipment to survival supplies, and personnel may also be deployed to assist in shelters.

People who want to help should follow protocol when responding to disasters, Collum explains. After the governor declares a state of emergency, he dispenses emergency personnel and equipment through MEMA. However, Extension owns the equipment and houses the personnel, so MEMA sends Collum

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a mission statement listing which resources are needed, and then Collum contacts the appropriate Experiment Stations.

Finally, Collum’s emergency-operation committee sends disasterassessment teams and disaster-work teams into the field, first to help people, then to address ravaged landscapes.

As the assessments are made and respective requests are fulfilled, MSU Extension Service partners with people and organizations to ensure everyone who needs support gets it. Fact sheets, frequently asked questions and related resources on disaster preparedness and recovery information are available at the Extension Service’s website, msucares.com/disaster.

While MSU Extension plays a lead role in recovery efforts after severe weather, many other MSU organizations and volunteers step up in times of tragedy. The university maintains its land-grant heritage—using learning and research to serve the community, whatever its needs may be.

www.alumnus.msstate.edu

Athletes act immediately The Bulldog Nation doesn’t have fans. It’s a family.

So when the tornados blasted through the Magnolia State in April and MEMA asked for volunteers the next day, the Bulldog Nation responded in full force.

Baseball, football, soccer, softball, track and volleyball players, alongside coaches, sportsmedicine personnel and equipment staff, put the word out. They Tweeted, Facebooked, messaged and called. Together, more than 100 athletes set up the centralized tornado-relief center––and its working infrastructure––in the parking lot at MSU’s Palmeiro Center.

MEMA led the effort by organizing teams, but the student athletes did the work, says Rhett Hobart, assistant coordinator with athletic promotions. Some groups set up climate-controlled tents; other teams assembled shower units. Additional duties included putting together bunk beds and tables.

The basketball team and its entire staff, led by coach Rick Ray, also mobilized immediately. Because their associate director for media relations, Gregg Ellis, is from Tupelo, the team and coaches went there to help one particularly hard-hit neighborhood there. The players cut trees, removed debris and even posed for photos with neighborhood kids.

“There’s a very real comfort to know you have the support in the wake of a tragedy, even more so when that support comes from people you’ve never met,” says Bob Carskadon, assistant director of media relations in sports information. “The primary goal of relief efforts is often the physical—clearing trees, providing goods—but I tend to think the mental and emotional support are more important.”

Kyle Niblett, sports information social media coordinator, emphasizes that helping in times of tragedy, especially when the going gets really tough, is just the Bulldog way.

“Mississippians are the lifeblood of our athletic department,” he says. “Our family invests so much time, energy and resources in supporting all of our sports, so when they need help, we will drop whatever we’re doing to make sure we give it right back to them.

“They love us and we love them back. It’s what makes being a Mississippi State Bulldog special.”

Counselors mobilize for kids As soon as schools reopened in May after a tornado hit Louisville, faculty and students from Mississippi State’s Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology were there, ready to provide crisis-intervention services children so desperately need after a traumatic event.

Assistant professor Tawny Evans McCleon says her department has a long-standing relationship with the schools, so after the tornado outbreak, she immediately contacted the Louisville Municipal School District assistant superintendent Ken McMullan. McCleon volunteered MSU’s counseling services and mobilized a group of students studying school psychology, clinical mental health and rehabilitation counseling. She also reached out to her colleagues with training and experience related to disaster-crisis prevention.

“Our group of crisis interventionists were able to provide psycho-educational-, group- and individual-crisis intervention to approximately 125 students within the school district,” she explains. “We provided helpful literature to school administrators and teachers regarding meeting the needs of students during and after the crisis. Also, the crisis-team members were able to help with sorting supplies and creating care packages for displaced students.”

When children experience a traumatic event, adults need to be able to recognize the warning signs so the young people can receive the assistance they need, McCleon explains. Indicators of trauma might include headaches, difficulty sleeping or fear of going to school.

“Often, children are not able to express their feelings; they usually just act. We have to make sure that adults are empowered to recognize the warning signs and access resources so none of these students are overlooked,” she says. “We’re not only offering one-on-one individual counseling; we’re also providing psychology-education information to teachers, parents and administrators.”

Early intervention for children can help them feel safer and return to a “normal life” faster, and McCleon emphasizes that, whenever teachers, administrators or students need crisis interventions, her department will be ready to offer those services.

www.alumnus.msstate.edu MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS

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Rebuilding ‘Our State’ together Volunteers from Center Ridge in Louisville were already working with Mississippi State communitydevelopment experts when the tornado hit. But when lives and landscapes were changed forever as the tornado touched down, so did the volunteers’ plans.

Before the storm hit, the Friends of Dean Park organization, which maintains Dean Park and works to increase its usage, had joined the Appalachian Community Learning Project. The results-based grant program is a community-enhancement partnership led by MSU’s John C. Stennis Center for Government and Community Development, the Appalachian Regional Commission and The Rensselaerville Institute.

Initially, the plan was to design and build a walking track for the park.

But plans changed when Ruth Eichelberger-Bennett, owner of “Miss Ruth’s Daycare,” tragically died.

“Miss Ruth was my second cousin.

When the tornado came, Miss Ruth died at the daycare, but the one little girl whose parents hadn’t picked her up was alive. That little girl was found in Miss Ruth’s arms, and many believe 24

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Miss Ruth saved the child’s life,” explains Friends of Dean Park Vice President Elmetra Patterson. “So after the tornado hit, we had to change our plan with Stennis: We wanted to put a mural of Miss Ruth with the little girl that was found in her arms on the concession stand as we did renovations on the building.”

Mississippi State’s Stennis Institute representativess were supportive every step of the way, assisting with conceptualizing the budget and fundraising efforts, Patterson explains.

“They called and checked on us after the disaster. They helped us raise money, not for the concession stand project, but for our own organization to use for disaster relief,” Patterson emphasizes.

“People were already signed up to rent the concession stand before it was finished, and we’ll have it open two Fridays per month. We’re going to get new volunteers and new members of our organization. It’s all coming together,” she says. “Mississippi State’s support— Stennis’ support—made it possible for us to plan our grand-opening of ‘Miss Ruth’s Babies’ Concession Stand’ in September.” www.alumnus.msstate.edu

LEFT: Mississippi State personnel, including representatives of Campus Operations and MSU Extension Service, went to Louisville to assist with community recovery from the EF4 tornado that blew through the town.

RIGHT: MSU President Mark E. Keenum and Athletic Director Scott Stricklin stopped by the tornado relief staging area for the Mississippi Office of Homeland Security Task Force.

BELOW: Mississippi State students, including Bulldog Baseball pitcher Lucas Laster of Lewisburg, Tenn., help set up a tornado relief center in the parking lot of MSU’s Palmeiro Center.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MEGAN BEAN & RUSS HOUSTON

Supporting storm survivors After 12 tornados swept through the state in April, approximately 5,000 volunteers—students, staff and faculty—with MSU’s Maroon Volunteer Center helped the Magnolia State begin to recover after one of the worst days of severe weather in state history. Together, Mississippi State volunteers helped local businesses, non-profit and not-for-profit organizations to mobilize volunteers, remove trees and debris, and gather and distribute food, water and emergency supplies.

Columbus WCBI

United Way of Lowndes County

Volunteer Resource Center Louisville Louisville Coliseum

Louisville Red Cross Shelter Samaritan’s Purse Volunteer Resource Center Mantachie All Hands

Volunteer Resource Center Noxapater Mars Hill Volunteer Fire Department Pearl Salvation Army in Jackson

United Way of the Capital Area Tupelo Red Cross Northeast Mississippi Chapter Salvation Army

United Way of Greater Northeast Mississippi MVC volunteers also got involved in donation drives based in Starkville.

• Java Juice • LA Green • Midtown Pilates • OBSERVS • Oktibbeha-Starkville Emergency Response Volunteer Services • Pinelake Church • Southwire • Sprout • Starkville Army Navy Store • Starkville Glass & Paint • Starkville Salvation Army • Strange Brew Coffee House • The Veranda • Thyme Thanks to all the other campus organizations that got directly involved in assisting survivors of the tornados’ devastation. Some of the MSU student groups and organizations that got involved included AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America), the Association for Student Social Workers, the Athletic Department, Barnes & Noble, Campus Operations, College of Education, Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology, Disaster Animal Response Team Student Chapter at College of Veterinary Medicine, Early Childhood Institute, John C. Stennis Institute of Government and Community Development, Marketplace at Perry, Mississippi Child Care Resource and Referral Network, MSU Extension Service, School of Human Sciences, Student Association and Recreational Sports. n

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Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability that can cause significant social, communication and behavioral challenges. ASD includes high functioning autism, Rett syndrome, pervasive developmental disorder–– not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS), and childhood disintegrative disorder.

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www.alumnus.msstate.edu

Jigsaw campers take home skills that make a difference

BY ALLISON MATTHEWS

M

any parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, find that getting a diagnosis can be tricky. Once parents and doctors agree that a child indeed is on the spectrum, another quest begins to find the best resources available to help the child excel to his or her maximum potential—academically, socially and otherwise.

Sandy Devlin says the best way to help a child with autism often is to develop a very individualized approach. The professor of curriculum, instruction and special education at Mississippi State University also is the founder and director of Camp Jigsaw, which marked its fifth year at MSU this summer.

Camp Jigsaw is a special retreat for boys age 1322 on the spectrum who enjoy a traditional summer camp experience while also receiving individualized instruction. The camp focuses on areas that often are the most challenging for youth with autism.

These include social and behavioral skills, pragmatic language skills, as well as practical life skills that lead to a greater level of independent living.

Steve Murdoch of Birmingham, Alabama, attended camp this summer for his third year. His mother Alice Murdoch, a 1988 MSU College of Business alumna, says Camp Jigsaw helps her son become more independent. He has a great week at camp, but the real impact is when he brings improved skills back home.

The 18-year-old has difficulty communicating.

His mother says Steve is particularly unlikely to talk with people he isn’t comfortable around––anyone he doesn’t know well or those he doesn’t see often. Alice

Murdoch says Steve was comfortable at school with his primary teachers, but he avoids conversation with people he sees more occasionally, such as people he sees weekly at church.

At Camp Jigsaw, Jackson Moore, an Oxford native and 2014 MSU graduate of the curriculum, instruction and special education program, worked one-on-one with Steve this year. Moore, who also served at Camp Jigsaw in previous years as an undergraduate student, will begin a master’s program in emotional and behavioral disorders at MSU this fall. He says his experiences working with a variety of special needs children and adults have only confirmed his calling to the field.

Moore says he has seen Steve become more independent at Camp Jigsaw within just a few days.

Steve can fix his own plate at mealtimes, he explains.

“I have been trying to get Steve to voice what he wants––to tell me,” Moore says. The week has built a strong trust between the two. Moore says some of his goals for Steve include encouraging him to get his own drink if he wants one. At home, Steve may tell his parents “drink,” to express a request. Moore says Steve has the ability to get a drink for himself.

An increased level of independence will benefit Steve and those around him, Moore says.

Also, as Steve and others on the spectrum gain more independence, the greater their chances for gaining paid employment in the future. This year, Alice Murdoch says Steve will continue going to his high school for two days a week. He will go to a job training program during the other three weekdays.

AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER Autistic Disorder

High Functioning Autism

PDD -NOS

Childhood Disintegrative Disorder

Rett’s Syndrome

www.alumnus.msstate.edu MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS

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Alice Murdoch says of her son’s camp experiences, “When we started talking about camp this year, he started telling me about stuff he did last year at camp that he never told me before. He just gets so excited. It’s one of the highlights of his year.

“This camp, they can get so much out of him.

He matures a lot,” she says, adding that the free camp is affordable to those who otherwise may not be able to participate.

“It’s so much better of an experience than you can pay for.”

Devlin has been working in special education for more than 30 years, with 25 years at MSU. Her advanced graduate students help carry out the annual planning and coordination for Camp Jigsaw, which serves as part of their capstone project.

Devlin says some of the common Autism Spectrum Disorder characteristics she and other counselors try to help campers with include language deficits, social reciprocity issues, or the ability to engage socially with others, as well as ritualistic behaviors.

The national symbol for autism awareness––a jigsaw puzzle piece––represents the complexity of Autism Spectrum Disorder. The puzzle piece reflects the individuality of people affected and the idea that every person on the spectrum is themselves a unique puzzle. Parents and teachers must put together the pieces to figure out how to best encourage strengths and build on weaknesses.

“You have your very high functioning folks on the spectrum, and basically their only problem is the lack of social skills, such as problems making eye contact and with social reciprocity.

They basically stay to themselves,” Devlin says.

“However, the lower functioning kids on the spectrum have trouble with the language and communication skills, social reciprocity and also the repetitive types of behaviors that may manifest in hand flapping or pacing, for example. They do that because they’re very sensitive to the environment, and if they become over stimulated they’ll start the repetitive types of behaviors.

“The kids who have high functioning autism may have just problems with the social skill issues and minimal or milder problems with the rest,” Devlin says.

Moore points out as the campers play in the swimming pool at the university’s Sanderson Center that they truly represent the autism spectrum in a

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nutshell because the variety of campers illustrates the variety of the spectrum––some functioning highly while others face more limitations. Each faces his or her own individual “puzzle.”

Devlin is quick to emphasize that while Autism Spectrum Disorder is challenging, people with autism are special.

“It’s so important for people to understand that folks on the spectrum are valuable. We’ve got to be an advocate, and we’ve got to accept diversity,” Devlin says.

Roemello Isaac came back to camp this year, not as a participant but in a counselor role. After graduating from Starkville High School in 2013, Isaac attended Mississippi State this past year.

His mother Fransen Isaac says her son’s first year in college wasn’t the best academically, but he is continuing to work on study skills and life skills such as time management which she expects will help him improve. She agrees that while the week of camp itself is a valuable experience that her son truly enjoys, the most valuable element is the lasting positive influences that campers take away at camp’s end.

“There are no words really to explain what camp has done for him and our family. Dr. Devlin and Camp Jigsaw have helped tremendously,” Fransen Isaac says.

She explains that Roemello used to have difficulty ordering a Subway sandwich. The choices of sandwich toppings at the restaurant were somewhat overwhelming. Roemello, who has Asperger syndrome, a social disorder on the autism spectrum, deferred to his family to make simple decisions for him.

In addition to becoming better equipped to interact in social situations, such as ordering at a restaurant, Roemello also has had better success with making friends.

“He can sit down and have an interest in somebody else now,” Fransen Isaac says.

“He learned how to introduce himself. Before, he would just stand back and hope that no one would notice him. Now, he can walk up and say ‘Hello, I’m Roemello,’ and to us that is a major accomplishment,” she says.

Roemello says his favorite part of the week was going to Lake Tiak O’Khata, a family-owned lake and resort area in nearby Louisville. Devlin says fun recreational activities during camp may seem like simply entertainment on the surface, but in fact every part of the camp itinerary is designed to encourage participants to practice every-day social and life skills. n

www.alumnus.msstate.edu

Edmund Gaskin, right, with his mother Gaines Gaskin

Immeasurable impact for Edmund PHOTOGRAPHY BY RUSS HOUSTON

F

or Edmund Gaskin and his supportive Columbus family, navigating Autism Spectrum Disorder has been a journey, and one in which he’s come a long way.

Summer marked his fourth year at Camp Jigsaw, but the benefits he’s brought home from camp are too numerous to count says his mother, Gaines Gaskin.

“He has loved it, and it has been wonderful for him,” she says. When he was 14, Edmund wasn’t keen on spending the night at camp. Sandy Devlin, professor of curriculum, instruction and special education and director of the camp, says it’s not uncommon for families with children who have autism to never have been apart overnight.

Gaines Gaskin said since the family lives only 30 minutes from the MSU campus, Edmund was able to go to Camp Jigsaw during the day and come

home for the night, but he took a big step as he got older and decided he would spend the night at Camp Jigsaw for the first time during his third year.

Devlin is passionate about helping campers achieve a greater level of independence.

“He has come so far with the social skills,” his mother also says.

Speech––that’s another skill he’s greatly improved. “He walks right up to somebody and tries to start a conversation. That’s gotten a lot better,” Gaines says.

Although Edmund has high functioning abilities, Gaines says it’s easy for kids like him to fall through the cracks. She says Camp Jigsaw has provided a wonderful service to him, and she only wishes it could be offered more than once a year.

“We are learning with him,” she adds.

www.alumnus.msstate.edu MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS

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HOMEGROWN SUCCESS

Bulldog couple creates customerfocused farming

“Agriculture is all about community. If you want good, fresh produce, get to know the farmers in your area and try to build a relationship with them. When you spend your money locally, you get customer service that you’re not going to get anywhere else.”

-Jody Reyer STORY BY SASHA STEINBERG, PHOTOGRAPHY BY BETH WYNN, ILLUSTRATION BY HAYLEY GILMORE

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www.alumnus.msstate.edu

Homegrown Success S

ometimes, you have to take an idea and run with it because you never know where it will lead you. That’s exactly what happened when proud Mississippi State alumni Jody and Brittany Reyer decided to start their own family farm in Lena three years ago.

“It all started because we had a beautiful baby girl,” says Jody, a management of construction and land development graduate (’04). “When our daughter was born, Brittany wanted to become a stay-at-home mom. So, we started making plans for her to come home.”

Brittany, an integrated pest management graduate (’07) who at the time was working as the Scott County Ag agent for the MSU Extension Service, suggested to Jody that they start growing strawberries to help support their growing family.

“I thought there was no way; we knew nothing about it,” reflects Jody, who at the time owned a welding business. “But we took our savings and gave it a go. We started out growing heirloom tomatoes in raised beds behind the house, so we could get familiar with it.”

Now, Reyer Farms is set to produce 21 different varieties of heirloom tomatoes throughout the year.

“Our tomatoes are a little bit on the weird side because they’re not any uniform size, shape or color,” says Jody. “We have a huge tomato that is yellow, orange and red and looks like it’s on fire. We have another tomato that when fully ripe is green and has dark green stripes just like a watermelon. We have tomatoes that are black, ones that are blue and ones that are heart-shaped. We even have tomatoes that have a smoky flavor.”

Keeping up with the local demand can be a lot to juggle at times, but Jody says working hard to meet this demand reflects “our commitment to grow the best product that we can give the consumer while being good stewards of the land God blessed us with.”

“We’re a small, 37-acre farm, so we have to be creative and cater to very delicate niche markets. If it has our name on it, it’s got to meet a standard,” he says. “When we have people who say they don’t eat tomatoes and have never liked them to buy and enjoy our tomatoes, I think that’s a good mark of success.”

TOP LEFT: Mississippi State alums Jody and Brittany Reyer started growing heirloom tomatoes in raised beds behind their home in Lena. Now, more than three years later, Reyer Farms is set to produce more than 20 varieties throughout the year. TOP RIGHT: Anna Paisleigh Reyer, affectionately known as Butterbean, enjoys helping parents Jody and Brittany take care of their newborn black hogs. BOTTOM: Blackberries are among Reyer Farms’ extensive array of fresh produce offerings, which include figs, squash, basil, dill, peas, zucchini, eggplant, and hot and sweet peppers.

www.alumnus.msstate.edu MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS

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LEFT: Reyer Farms’ heirloom tomatoes are becoming increasingly popular among restaurant chefs in the Jackson-metropolitan area. TOP RIGHT: The Reyer Family: Jody, Anna Paisleigh, Brittany, and Ava Rose. BOTTOM RIGHT: Always striving for variety, Jody and Brittany decided to start selling fresh pork and beef this year. The extremely lean beef from their Pineywoods cattle is quickly becoming a customer favorite.

“We’ve always wanted this farm to be something bigger than just us,” Jody emphasized. “We treat our customers like family. We want people to come out to the farm and see what we do and how we’re doing it, and we hope that they will taste the passion that we have for what we do.”

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Speaking of success, Reyer Farms is equally revered for its super delicate strawberries.

“Probably the most flattering comment that I got all year was from a guy from California,” says Jody. “He told me that the area that he lived in was a huge strawberry hub, where they grow acres and acres of berries and have a strawberry festival.

He tried our strawberries and he said to me, ‘Son, that’s the best strawberry I’ve ever had in my life.’

I thought to myself, ‘Today’s a good day. We are doing our job well.’”

While heirloom tomatoes and strawberries are the farm’s biggest draws, Jody and Brittany are always looking to expand their already extensive array of produce offerings, which include figs, blackberries, squash, basil, dill, peas, greens, zucchini, eggplant, hot and sweet peppers, okra, turnip greens, sweet corn, turnips and seed sprouts, among others.

“Diversity is what makes life so good, so we don’t want to keep doing the same thing over and over. We want our customers to have options,” Jody says, adding that he and Brittany recently decided to begin selling heritage meat products.

“We have been raising chickens, but this is our first year selling pork and beef,” Jody says. “Our large black hogs are originally from England, and

they’re a very hearty animal. They’re a very rare breed, so they’re prized for their meat that is super delicious.”

“Our cattle are a critically endangered breed called the Pineywoods, which were originally brought over by Spanish explorers. Their beef is extremely lean and very healthy and is a little different than Hartford or Black Angus beef.”

“Our customer base is very excited about it,” says Jody. “We couldn’t do it without the good customers that we have who take the time to ask questions, get to know us and care about what we do.”

In addition to the Livingston Farmers Market in Madison and Mississippi Farmers Market in Jackson, Reyer Farms products are featured at numerous Jackson-metropolitan restaurants including Walker’s Drive-In, Local 463 Urban Kitchen, Table 100, Babalu Tacos and Tapas, The Manship Wood Fired Kitchen and The Iron Horse Grill.

Though very blessed to be business owners, Brittany and Jody say more than anything, they are proud to be mom and dad to daughters Anna Paisleigh (“Butterbean”) and Ava Rose.

“Anna Paisleigh was actually planting tomatoes before she could talk. I tell everybody she’s the youngest tomato farmer in the state,” quips Jody.

“She knows about all the facets of what we do,

www.alumnus.msstate.edu

BRUSCHETTA 1 Large acid tasting tomato 1 Small sweet tasting tomato 1 Small yellow tomato

1 Clove of fresh minced garlic

1 Tsp finely chopped red onion

ABOVE: Originally from England, the large black hog is another rare breed featured at Reyer Farms.

and when we have to go out and work, she stays out there with us. She’s usually the one who tells everybody which strawberries to eat, and she’s really good with the animals.”

“We want our daughters to be diverse and smart, so we will tell them they can go to any school they want to as long as it’s Mississippi State,” he says with a laugh, while adding, “I’m kind of hoping Anna will spend some time at the Wise Center.”

Offering a premium, fairly-priced product and providing customers with an experience they can’t get anywhere else always will be of the utmost importance to the Reyers.

“We’ve always wanted this farm to be something bigger than just us,” Jody emphasized.

“We treat our customers like family. We want people to come out to the farm and see what we do and how we’re doing it, and we hope that they will taste the passion that we have for what we do.”

“We try to have fun and enjoy the life that we’re living because there’s nothing in this life that’s guaranteed. You have to get up every morning, get your heart right, go outside and see what the day brings,” he says. n

1/4 Tsp olive oil

Sliced mozzarella cheese

Salt + Pepper

2 Tbsp fresh chopped basil

Sea Salted Bagel Crisps or any toasted bread

1. Dice all tomatoes about 1/4 inch.

2. Add garlic, onion, basil, oil and salt & pepper.

3. Slice mozzarella cheese and place onto bread.

4. Top with tomato and basil. Makes about 20+

Hear directly from restaurant chefs in Jackson that use produce from Reyer Farms. Learn why they keep coming back for more at alumnus.msstate.edu.

www.alumnus.msstate.edu MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS

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Our PEOPLE

Constructing new realities A look behind the scenes with digital effects artist Guy Williams EDITED BY SASHA STEINBERG

Mississippi native Guy Williams is working with world-renowned directors, attending the Oscars and overseeing visual effects production on some of the world’s biggest movies.

ABOVE - Guy Williams, originally from Greenwood and a student at Mississippi State from 1988-1994, currently lives in Wellington, New Zealand. Photographed by Iva Lenard, Weta Digital.

TOP LEFT: Scenes from the movie Avatar, © 2009 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.

FAR RIGHT: Scenes from the movie Iron Man 3, © 2013 Marvel Studios.

All rights reserved.

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How did you land the visual effects supervisor gig with Weta Digital in New Zealand?

There’s a trade magazine called Cinefex.

I applied for a little one-inch article in the magazine to come out and work on The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which nobody had heard of, at a very small company called Weta, which nobody had heard of. I got a response within 10 minutes, which blew me away. I came out here (in 1999) and four years later, we were sitting on top of the Rings trilogy.

What do you miss about being in Mississippi?

I miss the laid-back lifestyle and how nice people are. Being halfway across the world now, I definitely miss my family.

Of all the scenes and movies you’ve worked on, which are your favorites?

My favorite scene that I worked on was the whole end battle in Iron Man 3. It was really challenging and fun, and I was very pleased with the result. My favorite project that I’ve worked on was Avatar. Jim (James Cameron) is an incredibly talented filmmaker. He’s a very creative, very smart man. I learned so much from him on that project. Being able to watch and

work with him and see how he tackles creative problems was insanely rewarding.

For you, which film(s) were especially challenging to work on and why?

Iron Man 3 was the most challenging. I did close to the same difficulty and same amount of work in Iron Man 3 in about four months that we did on Avatar over two years. What made it specifically challenging was just the time. The amount of time we get to work on films has been going down year after year because budgets are getting tighter, so they try to reduce the schedules. That one was really hard because we had to do so much high-quality work without any time to fall back on.

What made Avatar challenging was that it was the first movie of its kind. It was the first movie where 80 percent of the movie was digital. Jim wasn’t trying to make a featureanimated movie; he didn’t want it to look like anything other than photo-real. He wanted you to believe that what you were seeing had been shot somewhere. So, the volume of work made it hard, but also the fact that it had to be just as convincing as the best computer graphics you’ve ever done. (It was a) Level 10 difficulty that had to be nailed perfectly.

Describe what it’s been like to work with Peter Jackson and other renowned directors and producers.

In the beginning, it was a little intimidating.

I had to catch myself (from saying things) like ‘Oh my god, I just came out of a meeting with Steven Spielberg!’ It’s just the most surreal thing www.alumnus.msstate.edu

Want to learn more about Guy Williams?

An extended Q&A can be seen online at alumnus.msstate.edu

in the world, and your heart’s a-flutter when you’re in the room. But now, I have no qualms about walking up or going into a meeting and talking with these guys; it’s just business. Peter is a very down-to-earth guy. Jim is so friendly and so engaging. Ang Lee is the nicest guy in the world. These guys aren’t about pomp and circumstance.

They’re the easiest people in the world to talk to, especially if you’re talking about the work. They’re passionate about the work and if you’re intrigued and passionate about it, too, then you can connect instantly on the quality of it.

What do you enjoy or what is most rewarding about your work?

I love the idea that I can take something that doesn’t exist and create an image of it as if it did. For a kid who drew while growing up, I came up with ideas and put them on paper, and I could kind of see what it is, but it didn’t look real; it looked like a drawing.

Now, to create a video of that thing driving around or walking around or flying around, is like uncaging your creativity and allowing your creativity to exist in the real world with you. I just absolutely love that; I love creating something from nothing. As a supervisor, I don’t do that as much anymore, but what I get now out of it is I get to watch other people do that. They get to surprise me. I have a notion of what it needs to be, but I give them a task and they may come back a couple of days later and show me something

that I had never hoped for. They’ve taken it in a direction I didn’t expect them to go, and that really floors me. I just love watching passionate, talented people do their job.

Tell me about your Oscars experiences.

It is as surreal as it sounds. Incredibly fun. I’ve been to the last two Oscars in Los Angeles, and the show itself is just amazing.

When you get nominated for an Oscar, you get to go to the Oscar luncheon, which was my favorite single event. It’s about two or three weeks before the show, and the only people invited to it are the board of governors for the academy and all the nominees and their partners. Seating is arranged, but they structure it in such a way that you don’t sit at a table with anybody else that worked on your film or who is in your field. Every table has an actor, director, producer, visual effects person, sound person and lighting person, so you get this interesting mix and can talk with people you haven’t met or worked with before. The first time I went, I sat next to Joaquin Phoenix, and he was pretty cool. As cool as the actors are, it’s actually sometimes more interesting to talk to the sound guy or to the producer. They’re all these creative people that you’re dealing with, and it’s really interesting.

What advice would you offer to someone who may be interested in pursuing a career in the film industry, especially a job like yours that involves doing visual effects?

This industry is incredibly hard to get into. I was lucky to get a job offer. The advice I would give is to be passionate and make sure that passion comes across not just in the way you interact with people that you’re trying to get a job with, but also in the imagery that you’re showing them. Your creativity needs to just bleed off the image.

They need to be able to tell that regardless of how unpolished you are technically, you have that little spark that’s going to separate you from the crowd. That, and don’t give up. Don’t accept the first couple of failures as indicative of how it’s always going to be. Always assume that you’re going to get another chance and keep marching forward.

An internship is the best way to go when it comes to getting your foot in the door, but there’s also a new opportunity out there. You can buy your own software now, and you can get it for a lot less than you used to or you can get a student license for free. There are a lot of people who are using Vimeo. The best way to get your name out there is to do amazing computer-animated shorts and then market yourself on those.

Make opportunities for yourself. If you show people that you can be creative, they’ll overlook the lack of polish or the tools that you use, and they’ll give you better tools in the future. n

www.alumnus.msstate.edu MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS

35

Our PEOPLE

Powered up: Fisackerly brings energy, vision to public utility leadership

BY SID SALTER, PHOTOGRAPHY BY RUSS HOUSTON

H

aley Fisackerly credits valuable lessons learned during his days as a business major at Mississippi State University and hard work for the success he’s found leading Mississippi’s largest public utility.

Fisackerly serves as president and chief executive officer of Entergy Mississippi, Inc., an electric utility that serves more than 441,000 customers in 45 counties in Mississippi. He was named president and CEO in June 2008.

The Columbus native graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration from MSU. Fisackerly earned a master’s degree in public policy administration with an emphasis in executive, legislative and regulatory management from George Washington University.

“While I may not have envisioned becoming the CEO of the largest utility in Mississippi during my years at MSU, I graduated believing that anything was possible,” Fisackerly said. “The education and experience I gained in and outside of the classroom at MSU helped me ‘find my place in the world,’ if you will. I earned a quality education from the outstanding faculty who aimed to prepare students for the real world. I also gained a great deal from the many organizations and activities I participated in outside the classroom.

“These extracurricular activities offered me exposure to leadership roles and interaction with people from many different walks of life,” he said. “My undergraduate years at MSU made a big difference in my life. My eyes and mind were opened to a new world and I made many lifelong friendships that are still major influences today.”

Before joining Entergy, Fisackerly served for several years on the staff of U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, where he managed Cochran’s Washington office. He also assisted the senator with economic development projects in Mississippi as well as legislative matters related to energy policy, the environment and interior appropriations. Fisackerly left Sen. Cochran’s office in 1995 to join Entergy’s Washington, D.C. office. In 1999, he moved to Little Rock, Ark., where he was director of system regulatory strategy. He returned to Mississippi in June 2002.

Prior to his current role, he spent one year at Entergy Nuclear as the vice president of governmental and regulatory affairs. From 2002 to 2007, he served as Entergy Mississippi’s vice

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www.alumnus.msstate.edu

Bulldog Pride president of customer operations. In this role, Fisackerly created the customer operations organization by combining economic development, customer service and commercial and industrial accounts functions. He also led initiatives to improve customer satisfaction and raise Entergy Mississippi’s visibility in the community.

Tested and challenged in 2005, Fisackerly was a key member of the company’s leadership team during the Hurricane Katrina restoration effort.

It was a task that required exceptional organizational and outreach skills––skills he had honed at MSU. “My first job out of college was working for the MSU Alumni Association. Steve Grafton and John Correro hired me to be a field representative,” Fisackerly said. “I was responsible for helping organize alumni chapters in Mississippi and across the U.S. Through that job, I saw the importance of supporting our alma mater. There are so many ways one can support MSU––from organizing alumni gatherings to student recruitment and financial stewardship to advocating for issues and policies important to the university.”

“While on Sen. Cochran’s staff, I immediately became involved with the MSU Alumni Association and eventually became chapter president. That is where I got to know my good friends Rhonda and Mark Keenum,” Fisackerly said.

“Mark and I were always looking out for MSU and we worked with people like Dr. (Don) Zacharias, Dr. (Louis) Wise and Dr. (Rodney) Foil to win research funding and on various federal policies important to MSU. I also worked with Dr. Marty Wiseman to help MSU students find internships in D.C. and host programs for MSU students to learn about Congress and how our federal government works.”

Today, Fisackerly’s love for MSU is expressed through his service on the board of directors of the MSU Foundation and Bully Bloc, a stand-alone political action committee not connected to the university but comprised of MSU alumni and

friends that has three primary objectives: 1) Organize supporters behind policies important to MSU. Basically, a vehicle for getting supporters politically active; 2) Raise money to provide financial support to MSU alumni and friends seeking public office in Mississippi, and; 3) Create and support opportunities to educate MSU students on the political process and encourage them to consider careers in public service.

Fisackerly serves on numerous statewide and Jackson-area boards, including but not limited to the Mississippi Museum of Art, Mississippi Works, Mississippi Energy Institute, Mississippi State University Foundation Board of Directors, The Nature Conservancy––Mississippi Chapter Board of Trustees, St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, BankFirst Financial Services Board of Directors and the Dixie National Sale of Junior Champions.

He is also currently serving as board chairman of the USA International Ballet Competition and is the past chair of the Mississippi Economic Council. Fisackerly also serves on the steering committee for the Mississippi History Museum and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.

Fisackerly’s relationship with MSU President Mark E. Keenum is one he obviously cherishes.

“I consider both Mark and Rhonda very dear friends,” he said. “Mark and I were on Sen. Cochran’s staff and I saw firsthand Mark’s unique ability to work with people and build consensus on many different issues, a trait that is serving him well in his current role. He is very intelligent and wellversed in agriculture and economics and it really showed on Capitol Hill. By the time the 1990 Farm Bill came around, Mark was already recognized for his knowledge and expertise and it served Sen. Cochran and farmers in Mississippi well.

“We also had some great away-fromwork times. We had a group of guys, including Kyle Steward and John Lundy who would get out of the city on weekends for golf outings. Mark is an exceptional golfer and even better at winning the golf bets,” Fisackerly said. “I also remember many MSU alumni social gatherings in D.C. where Mark would cook up some outstanding Mississippi catfish.

“Mark has put MSU on a track for great success. He is a Bulldog down to the core

and has a great understanding of both what alumni want to see our university become and what we are capable of doing,” he said.

“We have seen Mark set ambitious goals for student enrollment, funding, staffing and facilities and he has not only met them, he has exceeded them. I know Mark has bigger plans to not only build MSU’s national standing, but our standing in the world.”

Fisackerly and his wife, Allison and their sons are frequents visitors to the Starkville campus.

“Allison and our boys enjoy visiting campus for ball games and since my parents live in Columbus, it is hard not to make a detour through campus so the boys can see just how beautiful a place it is,” he said.

From his vantage point, Fisackerly sees changes on the horizon for the energy industry: “The electric utility industry is going through monumental changes.

Costs of the business are escalating due to aging infrastructure, federal regulations, compliance, and technology and shifting customer demands. That means regulated electric utilities like Entergy are working hard to meet these demands, but in many cases we are entering unchartered waters. It is going to require exceptional employees who can innovate and come up with new ideas to meet our customer’s needs.

“The fact that MSU is focused on research and applying that research in the classroom is allowing them to produce graduates who are innovative and open to new ideas. That is what all businesses need to be successful. Technology is changing our world rapidly and we have to change with it––and in many cases, ahead of it.

MSU is producing graduates who fit that bill and is a great example of what a research university does,” Fisackerly said.

But keeping his priorities in order as those changes evolve is something the energy executive credits to what he learned at his alma mater.

“Today, like so many others, I am helping raise a family, running a business and staying involved in my community… in many ways my daily life reminds me of the full schedule I kept at MSU,” said Fisackerly. “The life skills I learned there–– balance, manage and focus––have served me well throughout my career. n

www.alumnus.msstate.edu MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS

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Our PEOPLE

Creating a

Southern Narrative Alumnus directs Ogden Museum in New Orleans

BY SASHA STEINBERG, PHOTOGRAPHY BY MEGAN BEAN

M

ississippi State alumnus William Pittman Andrews understands and appreciates the critical role that a cultural institution can play in the lives of many, which is why he takes his job very seriously.

The Starkville native has served more than three years as director of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans, which houses the largest and most comprehensive collection of Southern art in the world.

“I think my effectiveness as a museum administrator has come from my ability to speak a variety of languages, from administration to art to community service,” says the two-time MSU graduate who holds a bachelor of fine arts in painting and ceramics (’93) and master of fine arts in electronic visualization (’02).

“You have to be able to balance a lot of different things and practice your craft, so that you understand language of the arts and can communicate these things to the audience you want to be positively impacted by the power of your mission.”

Andrews, who previously served as director of the University of Mississippi Museum in Oxford, says more than anything, he considers the Ogden’s main function to be that of an educational institution.

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“We like to think of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art as a regional museum with a national mission and an international audience. You never know what people have seen or where they’ve been, so we want the experience to be enriching no matter how many times they’ve been to this or other museums,” he says.

Like many other things that have come out of the American South, Andrews says “visual arts and culture is something that’s so heavily integrated into the way people live.”

“There is a lot of interesting communication that goes on between human beings by way of art.

We often look at the transmission as being an artto-person thing, but it’s really people to people.”

“I think that cultural experiences underscore educational experiences, and the best thing anyone interested in art can do is look at art,” he adds. “You need to be able to experience all forms, modes, eras, disciplines and individuals’ work.”

Andrews says he first developed an interest in museums back in the early 1990s while serving as a gallery docent for MSU’s College of Architecture, Art and Design, along with his wife and fellow BFA graduate (’94), Stacie.

“I became very, very fascinated and an advocate for the space in which people and art meet after we showed a selection from Roger Houston

www.alumnus.msstate.edu

To learn more about William Pittman Andrews and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, watch the video at alumnus.msstate.edu.

William Pittman Andrews, director of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art

Ogden’s permanent collection in the gallery at Mississippi State in 1993,” says Andrews.

He later would become gallery director and founding director of the Visual Arts Center Gallery at MSU. “When people would come in and ask questions, we’d have to go ask our art history professors or read their books or visit the library in order to answer their questions because the Internet wasn’t as populated with material like it is now,” he says, while adding that “our knowledge base grew every day.”

Also a former Starkville High School and Mississippi State art instructor, Andrews is the son of the late Ann Pittman Andrews, a 26-year veteran MSU English instructor who died in 2007, and Dr. C. Hunter Andrews, MSU professor emeritus of agronomy. To serve as a living memorial, Hunter Andrews chose to establish an English department scholarship in his wife’s name.

“My father and mother were both career educators, and they embraced and supported any educational experience,” says Andrews, whose life also was greatly impacted by longtime Starkville High School art teacher

Nelle Elam, former MSU art department head Kay DeMarsche, veteran art professor Brent Funderburk and the university’s first artist-in-residence William Dunlap.

“Because Starkville is such a wonderful artistic community, I was able to meet these individuals as a young man and still cherish our friendships,” he says. “I enjoyed the really unique and wonderful opportunity to have been both a student and a teacher in the same department, where there always were really great faculty who instilled in me a love for art and passion for service that I have to this very day.”

When referring to his adopted hometown, Andrews says he likes to call New Orleans “the largest small town or the smallest big city I’ve ever been in.”

“I’ve had a wonderful opportunity to live in great, Southern towns. They each carry a kind of cultural emblem to some degree, but this is one that celebrates it all the time—and with great fervor,” he says with a smile.

“This city is a great harbinger of creativity, more so than many in that it is absolutely rife with culture. It is a culture of making things and making do, and by

being part of that creative process, you don’t have to go very long without an opportunity to share.”

Whether planning long-term building projects or creating new programming, Andrews says he and his staff devote a lot of time and energy to ensure that the Ogden Museum remains a high-performing cultural entity.

“In many ways, all of the Southern states are represented in the institution on a frequent basis. We’re always interested in exploring the idea of Southerness,” a concept which Andrews says is constantly changing.

“People frequently ask us what Southern art is. We enjoy exploring that question more than we try to provide a concrete answer because identity is becoming more fluid and people are thinking of themselves and their personal geographies in different ways.”

Like with any great endeavor, sometimes the process becomes as active as the production, Andrews explains.

“Cultural institutions are great stewards of many things, and you have to spend an appropriate amount of time considering the best path and most reasonable action to take

www.alumnus.msstate.edu MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS

39

Our PEOPLE or what’s the best thing for the institution and the community,” he says.

“I spend the majority of my time either actively engaged in moving the mission of the museum forward or in engaging people who I think would be interested in art and culture of the American South and helping us manifest more of that here.”

Some museums may plan up to 25 years into the future, but Andrews says his scope extends significantly further.

“We have over 50 projects in development at any given time, so we have a long calendar to think of.

“I think in these times, it’s very appropriate and quite important to begin to think in much larger terms—like a 50- or 100-year strategy—because you don’t want to make decisions today that could diminish opportunities in the future.”

As a museum administrator, he considers one of his greatest hallmarks of success to be “managing a sustainable institution with a balanced budget and gathering financial support in all forms.”

As an artist and community member, Andrews has enjoyed seeing continual increases in Ogden attendance, membership, tours and activity offerings in recent years.

“New Orleans is a destination for many people right now, and it’s interesting and really great to see folks coming from all over the world to experience the unique culture,” he says. “New Orleans is a place where many artists can actually live and work because the community sustains that culture. They work hard to make sure that there is a place for artists here because artists help create a magnetic community.”

Work at the Ogden keeps him happily engaged on a daily basis, but Andrews says he and his family still cherish any opportunity they get to return to Starkville.

“We love Mississippi, and one great thing about Starkville is that it’s both rural and urban. You can enjoy everything that nature has to offer yet the town itself has sophistication, so it’s a wonderful combination,” he explains.

Andrews encourages all students, especially those enrolled in MSU’s College of Architecture, Art and Design, to visit the city of New Orleans, its Warehouse Arts District and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, for what he says is sure to be an “enhanced educational experience in an extremely vibrant city and cultural community.”

“Be open to opportunity and experience,” he advises. “You may have a variety of ideas about what you would like to do with your career and life now, but you never know which opportunity is going to be the one that sets you off on your path.” n

Ogden Museum of Southern Art

925 Camp Street New Orleans, Louisiana 70130 Phone: (504) 539-9650 Email: info@ogdenmuseum.org Website: www.ogdenmuseum.org Facebook: Ogden Museum of Southern Art

CLOCKWISE: Candy Chang, “Before I Die…” visitors can participate in this installation by writing spontaneous goals.

Ogden Museum admissions stickers on a lightpost James Surls, “Me, knife, diamond & flower,” cast bronze & stainless steel, 2000 View of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art sign from the Confederate Memorial Hall steps

Twitter: @ogdenmuseum Instagram: @ogdenmuseum Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/ogdendesign/

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www.alumnus.msstate.edu

Questions about the Alumni Association? Contact Jeff Davis at jdavis@alumni.msstate.edu.

Message from National Alumni President Dear Bulldog Family,

It has been a tremendous honor to serve you as national president of the Mississippi State University Alumni Association this past year.

Witnessing firsthand the positive impact that the MSU Alumni Association and our alumni and friends are making on MSU is truly an exciting thing.

This past year, we had a record 43,772 alumni and friends that were active members in the MSU Alumni Association. These loyal alumni and friends, through the Infinite Impact campaign, supported Mississippi State University with generous contributions to the tune of $106 million, setting an all-time record for gifts to MSU in a one-year period.

Our chapter programs continue to provide great opportunities for our alumni and friends to join together for Mississippi State University and support current and future students through chapter scholarship funds.

This past year, our alumni chapters hosted 714 events for our alumni and friends to reconnect and support Mississippi State. We are grateful for all of our chapter leaders and volunteers and thank them for their dedicated service to MSU and to our alumni, students and friends.

We are excited to have Jeff Davis, our alumni executive director, leading our seasoned and talented MSU Alumni Association staff.

They are working hard to provide the highest level of service to our alumni, students, and friends, and provide meaningful opportunities

to connect alumni and friends to one another as well as to MSU. We are also excited to welcome new members of the national board and welcome back our returning board members. We appreciate their commitment and service to MSU. I encourage each of our alumni and friends to make your own impact on Mississippi State University. There are many ways to show your support and make a positive impact. A few include: •

Wear maroon and white and promote MSU in your community;

•

Encourage talented students in your area to visit, apply to, and attend MSU;

•

Display your MSU pride through participating in the MSU license plate program;

•

Become/remain an active alumni member by making a gift to MSU each year;

•

Participate in your local alumni chapter by volunteering and/or attending events;

•

Encourage other alumni and friends of MSU that you know to do the same.

Call for Nominations 2015 MSU National Alumnus of the Year NOMINATION DEADLINE

NovEMBER 1, 2014 The National Alumnus of the Year program recognizes an alumnus or alumna who has made a significant contribution to human or institutional progress and whose personal life, professional accomplishments and community service best exemplify the mission of Mississippi State University.

To nominate or for more information, visit www.alumni.msstate.edu or call the MSU Alumni Association 662-325-7000.

I am excited to continue serving as your national president over this next year, and I am so thankful for all that you do to support and promote Mississippi State University!

Hail State!

Tommy Roberson ‘67 National President MSU Alumni Association

www.alumnus.msstate.edu MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS

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Our PEOPLE 2014 Alumni Board of Directors NATIONAL PRESIDENT: Thomas R. “Tommy” Roberson, ‘67 NATIONAL FIRST VICE PRESIDENT: Ronald E. “Ron” Black, ‘80 NATIONAL SECOND VICE PRESIDENT: Bradley M. “Brad” Reeves, ‘02 NATIONAL TREASURER: Jerry Toney, ‘96 IMMEDIATE FORMER NATIONAL PRESIDENT: Camille Scales Young, ‘94, ‘96 MS NORTH 1 REGION DIRECTORS: R. Todd Bennett, ‘97 Lisa Newcomb, ‘84 MS NORTH 2 REGION DIRECTORS: Kimberly C. “Kim” Fandel, ‘87, ‘94 Cheryl W. Thurmond, ‘81 MS NORTH 3 REGION DIRECTORS: Hart Bailey, ‘75, ‘77 Trina M. Dendy, ‘93, ‘00 Carol Moss Read, ‘76

MS SOUTH 1 REGION DIRECTORS: William T. “Will” Carpenter, III, ‘00, ‘02 Matt Mahan, ‘04

HARRISON-STONE CHAPTER DIRECTOR: Janice R. Nichols, ‘88

MS SOUTH 2 REGION DIRECTOR: Jason Snider, ‘10

LOWNDES COUNTY CHAPTER DIRECTOR: William T. “Will” Cooper, ‘90

MS SOUTH 3 REGION DIRECTORS: Sherri Carr Bevis, ‘86 Brenda Smith, ‘78 AT-LARGE DIRECTOR: Jonathan J. Lee, ‘00, ‘02 OUT-OF-STATE REGION 1 DIRECTOR: Patrick White, ‘90 OUT-OF-STATE REGION 2 DIRECTOR: Samuel Nichols, ‘79 OUT-OF-STATE REGION 3 DIRECTOR: Glenda Fulgham, ‘86 OUT-OF-STATE DIRECTOR Edward A. Sanders, ‘06

YOUNG DIRECTOR SOUTHERN REGION: Jeffery M. “Jeff” Ellis, ‘06 FORMER NATIONAL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT: George T. “Tommy” Everett III, ‘50 PRESIDENT, STUDENT ASSOCIATION: Brett R. Harris CHAIR, STAFF COUNCIL: Penny French PRESIDENT, MSU FOUNDATION: Bobby S. Shackouls, ‘72, ‘10

ALABAMA DIRECTOR: Terri Russell, ‘84, ‘86

PRESIDENT, HOLLAND FACULTY SENATE: Randy Follett, ‘82

MS CENTRAL 1 REGION DIRECTOR: John Paul “J.P.” Walker, ‘05

TENNESEE DIRECTOR: Stephen Brandon, ‘72, ‘73

PRESIDENT, BULLDOG CLUB: Steve Golding, ‘72

MS CENTRAL 2 REGION DIRECTOR: Andrew C. Frank, ‘91

TEXAS DIRECTOR: Daniel E. “Danny” Hossley, ‘65

MS CENTRAL 3 REGION DIRECTORS: Lisa Lake, ‘81 WillieCory McClendon, ‘11 Fred Nichols, ‘73

ATLANTA, GA CHAPTER DIRECTOR: Michael “Mike” Criswell ‘80

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MSU ALUMNI ASSOCIATION: (Ex Officio) Jeff H. Davis

REGION 1 16,678

REGION 2 15,584

ALUMNI BY U.S. REGION 114,426

REGION 3 15,573

ALUMNI OUTSIDE THE U.S. 1,090 Note: This map reflects addressable alumni.

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www.alumnus.msstate.edu

Questions about the Alumni Association? Contact Jeff Davis at jdavis@alumni.msstate.edu.

ALUMNI CHAPTERS MISSISSIPPI

Adams-Franklin-Wilkinson Alcorn County Attala County Bolivar County Calhoun County Central Mississippi (Hinds, Madison, Rankin) Chickasaw County Claiborne-Jefferson Clarke County Clay County Coahoma County Copiah County Covington County Desoto County George-Greene Grenada-Montgomery Hancock County Harrison-Stone Holmes County Humphreys County Itawamba County Jackson County Jasper County Jones County Kemper County Lafayette County Lauderdale County Lawrence-Jefferson Davis Leake County Lee County Leflore-Carroll Lincoln County Lowndes County Marshall-Benton Monroe County Neshoba County Newton County Noxubee County Oktibbeha County Panola County Pearl River County Pontotoc County Prentiss County Quitman County Scott County Sharkey-Issaquena Simpson County Smith County Southeast Mississippi (Forrest, Lamar, Marion, Perry) Southwest Mississippi (Amite, Pike, Walthall) Sunflower County Tallahatchie County Tate County Tippah County Tishomingo County Tunica County Union County Warren County Washington County Wayne County Webster County Winston-Choctaw Yalobusha County Yazoo County

OUT OF STATE ALABAMA Birmingham Huntsville-Decatur Mobile Montgomery Northwest Alabama (Florence) Tuscaloosa ARKANSAS Greater Little Rock COLORADO Rocky Mountain (Denver)

ALUMNI BY MS REGION 66,591

NORTH 1 5,302

NORTH 2 8,395

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington, D.C. FLORIDA Northeast Florida (Jacksonville) Northwest Florida (Panhandle) Greater Orlando GEORGIA Atlanta

CENTRAL 1 3,469

CENTRAL 2 4,611

ILLINOIS Chicago LOUISIANA Baton Rouge Greater New Orleans MISSOURI Greater St. Louis NEW YORK New York City NORTH CAROLINA Greater Charlotte Greater Raleigh-Durham OHIO Greater Cincinnati-Dayton TENNESSEE Greater Chattanooga Memphis Nashville West Tennessee (Jackson) TEXAS Dallas East Texas Greater Fort Worth Greater Houston South Texas (Austin & San Antonio) REPUBLIC OF KOREA South Korea

NORTH 3 12,185

CENTRAL 3 17,591 SOUTH 1 6,167 SOUTH 2 2,759

SOUTH 3 6,112

IN-STATE DIRECTORS 1 REP = 0-4,999 2 REPS = 5,000-9,999 3 REPS = 10,000+ Note: This map reflects addressable alumni.

www.alumnus.msstate.edu MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS

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Our PEOPLE HAIL STATE Get involved through an Alumni Association membership!

- Connecting bulldogs - Serving alumni and friends - Honoring MSU traditions - Impacting MSU

alumni.msstate.edu/connect

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Get involved and make an impact by phone: 662-325-7000 or by email: ohardin@alumni.msstate.edu.

Get involved! Join fellow Bulldogs and create impact through alumni chapters

M

ississippi State University’s Alumni Association is working to expand its reach and seeks more alumni and friends who are willing to become faithful representatives of the university they love in the areas where they reside.

The MSU Alumni Association strives to gain support for the institution’s mission and goals through networking with both current and future alumni of the university, along with countless friends. Much of this work is done through the core of the organization––its chapters.

“There is no better time to be a Bulldog involved with the MSU Alumni Association,” said Jeff Davis, executive director of the MSU Alumni Association.

Over 40,000 alumni are active members of the association in one of its 95 chapters across the world.

“These chapters and their volunteer leadership provide a unique, grassroots network of the MSU faithful, and we are grateful for all that the chapter members and leaders do for our university,” Davis said.

Chapters are not only a maroon and white presence in the university’s home state of Mississippi, but out of state as well. Several chapters are located in states such as Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas and even Washington, D.C. The MSU alumni connection also extends its reach internationally with a chapter in Seoul, South Korea.

Many MSU alumni chapters provide exciting activities, events and service projects in conjunction with MSU, the Alumni Association and local communities. These endeavors

are a source for alumni to link back to campus and to network for career planning and employment services.

Some chapter offerings include sendoff parties, recruiting parties, golf tournaments and game-watch parties for Bulldog sports.

“Chapters bring alumni and friends together for fellowship and friendship, and members and officers always remember what is most important to them, and that is to share the love and passion they have for Mississippi State everywhere,” said Michael Richardson, assistant director for alumni chapter and volunteer programs.

Besides promoting the message of Mississippi State, chapters across the nation provide support to future and current Mississippi State students from their respective geographic areas by establishing annual and endowed scholarships through the MSU Foundation. The chapters promote recruitment of prospective students from each chapter’s locale.

“Alumni chapters often play a deciding role in influencing students to ultimately enroll at Mississippi State University as their choice for higher education,” said Richardson.

The MSU Alumni Association is very proud of the impact its chapters are making and ask that you select one nearest you and get involved now!

For more information, please contact a professional alumni staff member who specializes with chapters.

Alumni and friends may contact Richardson at mrichardson@alumni. msstate.edu or Janet Downey, coordinator of alumni chapter and volunteer programs, at jdowney@ alumni.msstate.edu for assistance.

Both can be reached by calling the association at 662-325-7000. n www.alumnus.msstate.edu

Bulldog Pride

Association announces 2014-15 Alumni Delegates

T

he Alumni Delegates have been a vital part of the MSU Alumni Association for more than two decades. This year, 28 Mississippi State University students have been selected to join the association’s student organization.

The Alumni Delegates have been serving as liaisons between the 136-yearold land-grant institution and its alumni since 1980. The students are selected for the 40-member group and charged with a mission to help improve the MSU student body’s understanding of the association’s role and purpose. These student representatives are considered “alumni in training.”

Over the years, delegates have played an important role in assisting with activities and events such as football tailgate gatherings, class reunions, the association’s annual awards banquet and leadership conference, Senior Celebration, and many other events, both on and off campus.

Among the new members are three Alabama residents: Austin Grace of Chelsea, Emily Dance of Birmingham, and Van Tong

of Pelham. Three additional members are from out of state, Emma Sweat of Cumming, Georgia, and Tennessee residents, Morgan Pace of Germantown, and Chase Bowling of Union City.

The remaining new members all hail from Mississippi. They are: Marshall Scruggs and Sanjaris Johnson of Canton; Nick Brewer of Columbus; Annaleigh Coleman and Kelsie Follin of Corinth; Zavian Burns of Flora; Nolen Hood of Houston; Bianca Tatum, Jonathan Lancaster and J.P. Peterson of Jackson; Luke Stanley of Meridian; Josh Creekmore of New Albany; Kaylie Mitchell of Pascagoula; Conner Estess of Petal; Eddie Mac Huddleston of Pontotoc; Katy Penney of Saltillo; Ashley Ricks, Frank Chandler, Hagan Walker, Prachi Singhania and Zhenia Sandanova of Starkville; and Mary Holliman Lanphere of Tupelo.

Members are selected through a highly competitive interview process. This 201415 group was chosen from more than 350 applicants to join with 12 returning delegates from the previous year. n

Photo by Russ Houston

Ride with Pride.

000000

ALABAMA

*Must reach 1,000 pre-commitments

MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY CAR TAGS ARE NOW AVAILABLE IN AL, MS, TN AND TX! There is no better way to show your loyalty and pride in Mississippi State than by owning an official university license plate.

Displaying an MSU tag will let everyone know, wherever you drive, that Mississippi State University is your institution of choice!

Visit alumni.msstate.edu/cartag for more information.

www.alumnus.msstate.edu MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS

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Infinite IMPACT MSU, local school district partner to revolutionize rural education

BY AMY CAGLE, PHOTOGRAPHY BY MEGAN BEAN

A

unique concept will allow Mississippi State University to make a groundbreaking difference in education in its home state and shape education for future generations of the world’s population.

On the horizon for the institution is a pioneering approach to rural education in the southern portion of the United States.

Mississippi State is poised to make a greater impact than ever on education locally and globally with the launch of a new Partnership School in conjunction with the Starkville Consolidated School District. The school will be a true model of excellence for education in Mississippi and surrounding rural education systems and an epicenter of activity for the entire university to come together and work on complex education issues and research for many disciplines.

“It is the perfect time to pursue the opportunity for a Partnership School with recent legislation leading to the formal consolidation of the Oktibbeha County and Starkville School districts beginning in academic year 2015-16,” said David Shaw, MSU vice president for research who is leading the planning and implementation.

“Mississippi State can become a frontrunner in rural education, which will be a win-win for our university and our state since more children in our geographic region attend rural schools before gaining entrance to our university.”

The Partnership School, created with a combination of state and private funds, will be a first-of-its-kind and a model for rural education that creates hands-on learning experiences for students in MSU’s College of Education and current educators. The research that can be conducted about 46

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teaching in rural areas will be invaluable. The Partnership School will also be instrumental in creating new policy and educational reform that is needed in Mississippi and nationwide. The school and research center will be the site of internships, observations, demonstrations, research and of course, learning.

The U.S. government defines areas as rural based on both the density of the population and distance from a metropolitan area. Starkville and Oktibbeha County are both categorized as rural, and the entire state of Mississippi is classified as a high priority state for rural education.

“Fifty percent of districts in the nation are rural districts. Nationwide, one in five students lives in rural areas, but the proportion of students from rural areas is much, much higher in the south, especially in Mississippi,” said Devon Brenner, professor and department head of Curriculum, Instruction and Special Education in the College of Education at Mississippi State, who is a driving force for MSU in this arena.

Brenner continued, “Most policy research takes place in other areas because things like transportation and isolation are hurdles that exist in rural schools, however MSU is gearing up to do its part in changing the educational climate in Mississippi because we can bring the funds and resources needed in the form of grants and private gifts that are often lacking in rural areas.”

Historically, Mississippi State has graduated more teachers into the Mississippi workforce than any other university in its home state, and positively impacted

Mississippi in other areas, from pre-school education through the Early Childhood Institute in the MSU College of Education to K-12 education in school systems across the state. Building on this success, the university believes the Partnership School will serve as a tremendous model for rural education and rural teacher education.

In opening the Partnership School, Mississippi State launches a three-prong purpose-–educate students well in the consolidated district, utilize the building that will house the school for education of future teachers and education personnel through field experiences and collaboration with K-12 teachers, and pioneer a research center for rural education research.

The keystone of the Partnership School will be a new building for sixth and seventh grades, which research identifies as a key time in education. These are also grades that will experience the most crowding when the Starkville and Oktibbeha County schools consolidate next summer. Anticipated enrollment for the Partnership School will be about 450 sixth graders and 450 seventh graders. The students themselves will benefit from modern and cutting-edge teaching strategies that will better prepare them for the remainder of their schooling, which hopefully will include Mississippi State.

“There will be a transition plan to have the students housed probably in an existing city or county structure by the 2015-16 school year. However, future plans include having the school located on the MSU campus,” said Shaw.

He added, “The Partnership School will free space between the elementary and high school levels in the district and we will www.alumnus.msstate.edu

Learn more about the Partnership School and MSU College of Education campaign goals at infiniteimpactmsu.com.

build to capacity of 1,000 students, taking into account some growth over time.”

The Partnership School will be utilized as a teaching preparation site that will create better teachers and rural education practices for Mississippi’s future. It will involve Mississippi State elementary, secondary and special education majors. Student teachers and teachers enrolled in both undergraduate and graduate programs at Mississippi State will engage in field experiences in the school to observe firsthand the instructional practices they are learning in their coursework.

By participating through observations at the partnership school, MSU students will master effective teaching practices they can then carry to schools across the state upon graduation. In addition to the impact this model will have on our campus students, teachers and administrators from across the state will have the opportunity to engage in observations and internships.

“We want to make this school very interactive with rotating classes which challenge the students and give them hands-on learning. Also, by having many MSU faculty available to teach classes the students will be challenged daily,” Brenner said.

“At some point in time, we envision all students from the newly created district and many attending our university will be touched by the Partnership School.”

Besides the Partnership School, Mississippi State is taking its strides in rural education a step further. A Research Center for Rural Teaching and Teacher Education (RTTE) will be created to involve faculty from the College of Education and the entire MSU community in research projects on rural education and rural teacher education.

Projects within the RTTE will bring about strategies for preparing rural students for careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields and teach them to be creative problem

solvers. Strategies will also be developed for recruiting, retaining and supporting elite educators in rural areas. These and other research projects will strengthen teaching and learning in schools across the state.

“Our university is already known as a leader in teacher education, so the RTTE will allow MSU to lead with research pursuits in rural education as well,” said Brenner, who is a 15-year MSU faculty veteran.

With generous funding for the Partnership School and the RTTE, Mississippi State can serve as a model for rural education across the nation.

“We can make a statewide difference on education and the economy––not just locally, but ripple out over time since as schools improve, it is proven that economic quality goes hand in hand,” said Shaw.

Alumni and friends of Mississippi State are already beginning to understand the importance of what the Partnership School will mean for the institution and for the people of the state.

A lead gift for the project has been contributed by alumni Tommy and Terri Nusz of Houston, Texas, but much support is still needed to make this center a reality on Mississippi State’s campus.

An additional $4 million is needed in startup costs, which will come entirely from private gifts.

“Alumni and friends can partner with us to make this school a reality with gifts and help it evolve into what it can become over time,” said John P. Rush, vice president for development and alumni. “Our impact on education will continue to be immeasurable through Mississippi State’s reach.”

For more information on supporting the Partnership School, contact Rush at 662-325-7000 or email john.rush@msstate.edu. All gifts to the Partnership School count toward the university’s Infinite Impact campaign. n

“Our university is already known as a leader in teacher education, so the RTTE will allow MSU to lead with research pursuits in rural education as well.”

Devon Brenner

www.alumnus.msstate.edu MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS

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MSU Giving Infinite IMPACT

MSU Giving MSU Giving

2013-2014 BY THE NUMBERS

2013-2014 BY THE NUMBERS 2013-2014 BY THE NUMBERS

18,541K

ALUMNI, PARENTS, FACULTY, STAFF, STUDENTS AND FRIENDS MADE A GIFT TO MSU

18,541 K 18,541K

ALUMNI, PARENTS, FACULTY, STAFF, ALUMNI, PARENTS, FACULTY, STAFF, STUDENTS AND FRIENDS MADE A STUDENTS AND FRIENDS MADE A GIFT TO MSU GIFT TO MSU

NEARLY

$81MILLION NEARLY NEARLY

$81 MILLION $81 MILLION NEW GIFTS AND PLEDGES

NEW GIFTS AND PLEDGES NEW GIFTS AND PLEDGES

665 665

$106 MILLION

$106 $106 MILLION

IN TOTAL GIFTS, THE LARG IN MSU HISTORY

MILLION IN TOTAL GIFTS, THE LARGEST IN IN TOTAL THE LARGEST MSUGIFTS, HISTORY IN MSU HISTORY

OVER

$25MILLIO

OVER OVER

IN DEFERRED GIFTS $25 MILLION $25 MILLION IN DEFERRED GIFTS IN DEFERRED GIFTS

#HAILSTATEDAY

GIFTS MADE IN 36 HOURS ON #HAILSTATEDAY #HAILSTATEDAY HAIL STATE DAY GIFTS MADE IN 36 HOURS ON GIFTS MADE IN 36 HOURS ON HAIL DAY HAIL STATE STATE DAY

18% 18%

Alumni Participa 18% Alumni Participation

Alumni Participation OVER

OVER OVER

1,000 1,000 1,000

THANK-YOU CARDS WRITTEN BY STUDENTS THANK-YOU CARDS CARDS WRITTEN THANK-YOU WRITTEN BY

BY STUDENTS STUDENTS DURING APPRECIATION DAYS DURINGDONOR DONOR APPRECIATION DAYS DURING DONOR APPRECIATION DAYS

STUDENT CALLERS SPENT OVER

STUDENT CALLERS SPENT OVER STUDENT CALLERS SPENT OVER

HOUR 12,000 HOURS 12,000 HOURS 12,000 ON THE PHONE WITH ALUMNI, ON WITH ALUMNI, ONTHE THEPHONE PHONE WITH ALUMNI, PARENTS AND FRIENDS PARENTS AND FRIENDS PARENTS AND FRIENDS

THANK YOU YOU FOR MAKING AN IMPACT! THANK IMPACT! THANK YOU FOR FORMAKING MAKINGANAN IMPACT! 48

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www.alumnus.msstate.edu

Want to get involved or contribute to the capital campaign. Visit foundation.msstate.edu today!

Landmark giving year ushers in growth, impact for MSU

BY AMY CAGLE

T

he university’s ongoing capital campaign known as Infinite Impact has become a driving force behind record years of giving for Mississippi State University. At the close of FY 2014, an overwhelming $106 million was contributed by alumni and friends marking the highest giving year in school history.

For the 2014 year, the 136 year-old land-grant institution attracted the record in private gifts and pledges of future support– an overwhelming $25 million more than the prior year’s $81.3 million total. Previously, MSU’s largest giving year on record took place in fiscal year 2012 when more than $86 million was raised.

“The visionary individuals and organizations who are investing their resources in the future of this institution and the people it serves recognize the vital role that Mississippi State plays in the life of the state and region,” said President Mark E. Keenum. “It is with deep appreciation that we accept these contributions to benefit life on our campus and improve life for people around the globe through our endeavors as an institution.”

“By any measure, fiscal year 2014 was a remarkable year for Mississippi State,” said John P. Rush, vice president for development and alumni who also serves as MSU Foundation CEO. “We greatly appreciate the generosity of alumni and friends that is translating into a powerful impact within our university and well beyond our state’s borders as these gifts pave the way for our university to have a greater influence on a national scale.”

Rush said the record year also bodes well for the university’s ongoing capital campaign.

Mississippi State is in the midst of the largest comprehensive campaign in school history to secure $600 million in gifts for its long-range goals. Since campaign counting began in fiscal year 2010, the multi-year endeavor has reached in excess of $434 million raised.

All gifts to MSU through fiscal year 2018 will be part of the campaign.

For the 2014 fiscal year, alumni

participation at Mississippi State held steady, Rush observed, adding that the proportion of alumni contributing during the year was a solid 18 percent. This constant level has enabled MSU to maintain its ranking ahead of several major peer institutions in the measure of support among former students, he added.

The number also keeps MSU well above the 10.2 percent national average of this measure, according to the fundraising statistics of higher education institutions published by the 2013 Voluntary Support of Education annual report.

Rush thanked the supporters, saying that Mississippi State “is extremely proud of the proportion of alumni who gave in FY 14. The faith these former students continue to show in the institution and the value these individuals place on their MSU education will help us grow our donor base over time.”

Highlights of the 2014 year-end gifts, among others, included: •

A grant from the Lauderdale Countybased Riley Foundation that will enable the new Division of Education at MSU-Meridian to begin a kinesiology program at its downtown campus.

•

A lead gift toward construction of a new campus facility for the G.V. “Sonny” Montgomery Center for America’s Veterans that will be paired with other gifts currently being sought by university fundraisers.

•

A cornerstone contribution to aid construction and startup costs for a partnership school that will be a joint venture between MSU and the soon-to-be consolidated StarkvilleOktibbeha County School District.

The partnership will create sixth and seventh grades for research on rural education that will serve as a demonstration model for current students and educators in the state and nation. Fundraising continues for this venture.

•

Gifts will assist MSU athletics in making the Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point the new home to Mississippi State men’s and women’s varsity golf

programs. The Bulldog Club, the private fundraising arm of Mississippi State Athletics, has partnered with Old Waverly on a project that includes a driving range, short-game area, putting green, plus a team clubhouse and indoor hitting bays.

•

A commitment to construct a new engineering and science building to house the James Worth Bagley College of Engineering’s civil and environmental engineering department.

•

Gifts that support numerous new annual and endowed scholarships university-wide.

Some examples include additional Presidential Endowed Scholarships that expand MSU’s efforts to attract top students; additional Compass Scholarships to assist solid-performing students in any academic area; and additional funds for the MSU Promise program that assists students with potential who are Mississippi residents with family incomes $30,000 and below.

•

Several endowed positions to be established from separate gifts, including a chair in engineering with a focus on petroleum- and energyrelated study, a professorship in equine health, and a professorship in business, among others.

•

A lead gift to construct an Olympic sports facility on the Starkville campus.

Other gifts from the record year will create excellence funds in colleges and schools, help bring to fruition the Davis Wade Stadium expansion and provide a steady stream of annual support across campus.

Most of the institution’s fundraising is conducted by the MSU Foundation that was established in 1962 to help attract support from private sources. The university’s current endowment stands at more than $450 million.

MSU’s special Infinite Impact campaign flipbooks and videos are now available at infiniteimpactmsu.com at your leisure and learn about how our institution can make a world of difference with private support. n

www.alumnus.msstate.edu MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS

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Infinite IMPACT First ACCESS student gains certificate, independence

BY AMY CAGLE, PHOTOGRAPHY BY MEGAN BEAN & RUSS HOUSTON

K

atherine Phillips has proudly begun the next chapter of her life following four years of study at the university, however her extraordinary success story is a little different than that of most Mississippi State students.

Katherine was awarded a four-year certificate of completion from the ACCESS program during Mississippi State’s May graduation ceremonies.

With the help of the program, she was able to embrace college life and experience a new level of personal independence.

During her time at MSU, Katherine accomplished educational and social goals at her own pace. Her disabilities are the result of a malignant brain tumor diagnosed at the young age of two, and since that time she has worked very hard to achieve her goals.

“I know ACCESS helped me tremendously.

I have grown through my involvement in a campus sorority and other activities like the Wesley Foundation and the Reformed University Fellowship, and I learned job skills to take with me in life,” said Katherine.

MSU ACCESS is an inclusive program for students with intellectual disabilities who do not generally meet Mississippi State’s standard admissions requirements. ACCESS is an acronym for academics, campus life, community involvement, employment opportunities, socialization and selfawareness––the vital components of challenging students to reach a level of independence. Academic plans for ACCESS participants are customized to the individual and certificates of successful completion are awarded at the four-year program’s conclusion.

Before ACCESS, Mississippi State was limited in how it could welcome students with intellectual disabilities into the student body. However, the program was implemented with Katherine as its first student for the 2010-11 academic year. A year later, Livingston Harper, son of Gregg and Sidney Harper of Pearl, transferred into the program and has now earned a certificate along with Katherine.

Although Mississippi State has a long history of support for students with disabilities, according to Julie Capella, assistant dean and director of Student

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Support Services, programs designed to provide higher education for students with intellectual disabilities are a relatively new concept.

“Katherine was one of the special members of the MSU student body who did not meet academic admissions requirements, but who needed assistance with making the next step as she moved into adulthood,” said Capella. “She has done beautifully, and we are very proud she was our first student. As our first four-year certificate holder, she will make a great ambassador for ACCESS.” Katherine’s story is one Capella will use to inspire others to follow Katherine’s trailblazing path, and one Katherine’s parents, Chat and Mary Kay Phillips of Yazoo City, will proudly share with advocates of higher education.

“Katherine was able to go from a child that was completely dependent on us as parents to a lovely young woman who is spiritually sound, emotionally strong, has a will that you cannot stop, and can live independently. A parent couldn’t ask for any more than that,” said Mary Kay Phillips.

Chat Phillips also shares his gratitude of how the ACCESS program prepared his daughter for life after college.

“As part of her studies, Katherine worked at the local elementary school in Starkville and that experience sparked an interest of working in early childhood education. Our church has a daycare, she is now working with three and four year-olds,” he said.

Currently five students are enrolled in ACCESS, and private support is essential to ensure these students and future enrollees will reach the level of success they must achieve.

“For families of students with disabilities, the financial cost often is a barrier to a college experience, since no government or other subsidies currently are available. Even if finances are available, permitting a child with an intellectual disability to leave for university study can be a big step for families to take,” said Capella.

Capella said she hopes private contributions and future grants will become available to help offset costs for families interested in ACCESS.

www.alumnus.msstate.edu

Bulldog Pride “A gift to ACCESS benefits the entire university—students and faculty—everybody that is aware of the program is impacted by it in some positive way.” Chat Phillips “In spite of the challenges that exist to embrace this program, there are no doubts about the value of the program for Katherine, Livingston, and future students,” she said.

After placing their faith in the program by enrolling Katherine, the Phillips’ generously extended their financial support of Mississippi State University to include this area.

“A gift to ACCESS benefits the entire university—students and faculty—everybody that is aware of the program is impacted by it in some positive way,” said Chat.

Katherine’s connection with ACCESS will be perpetual through a recently established scholarship in her honor. The Katherine Pauline Phillips Endowed Scholarship created by her parents will not only carry Katherine’s successful legacy through its name, but it will also impact students with financial need.

“Katherine is excited about other special needs students being able to attend the ACCESS program as a result of the scholarship,” said Chat.

The inspiration to create an endowed scholarship was two-fold for the Phillips family.

“ACCESS students do not qualify for grants and student loans used by so many students today, and we feel very strongly that any child who is a good fit for the program and wants to attend should be able to, regardless of finances,” said Chat.

Secondly, the family feels Mississippi State is a better institution as a result of having the ACCESS program.

“We wanted to do what we could to make sure that ACCESS continues, and hopefully help it reach full enrollment and extend outwardly into the community,” said Chat.

Besides the Phillips family, another significant contribution for ACCESS has come from the Columbus-based Gildea Foundation. Gifts for ACCESS are part of Mississippi State’s Infinite Impact campaign, and alumni and friends may contact Wes Gordon, director of development for the Division of Student Affairs, at 662-325-9129 or email him at wgordon@foundation.msstate.edu to contribute. n

TOP: Katherine Phillips works with a display of children’s bows at a Starkville retail business where she interned to gain employment skills. BOTTOM: Livingston Harper and Katherine Phillips at MSU’s Spring graduation.

www.alumnus.msstate.edu MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS

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Infinite IMPACT Dow Chemical gift to support diversity in engineering STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY SUSAN LASSETTER

A

longtime corporate contributor of Mississippi State University is again making an impact in the James Worth Bagley College of Engineering. A $750,000 gift from Dow Chemical will support diversity programs in engineering for the next three years.

Eduardo Do Val, site operations director for Dow Chemical in Plaquemine, Louisiana, made the announcement during a recent visit to Mississippi State’s campus.

TOP: Dow Chemical’s Eduardo Do Val looks on while fellow Dow representative Richard Rolke receives instruction on driving MSU’s formula race car from team leader Dash Robinson. BOTTOM: Dow Chemical representatives tour MSU campus laboratories.

“Mississippi State is a very strong university for Dow recruiting,” Do Val said.

“The education, work ethic and individual people skills that MSU fosters is what we look for and it’s why we have so many MSU alumni working for us.”

During the MSU visit, Do Val and other representatives of Dow Chemical toured laboratories, met with faculty and students, and received a personal demonstration of the engineering college’s Society of Automotive Engineers Formula Racing vehicles. They also met with college and university leaders to discuss the needs of engineering and how the two organizations can work together for the future of the industry.

Veronica Leigh Hill, supply chain director for chlorinated organics and environmental business at Dow Chemical, explained the company’s interest in promoting diversity in engineering.

“As essentially a customer of the university, Dow has a vested interest in supporting student development,” Hill, a 1984 Mississippi State chemical engineering graduate, said. “That’s why it’s important to support laboratories,

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cooperative education and diversity programs, because these are the things that shape students and ensure a well-rounded workforce.”

This latest sponsorship from Dow will support four of the Bagley College’s established diversity programs and will help ensure their continued development for at least the next three years.

“Dow’s contribution demonstrates a vision for the future of the engineering workforce which will be characterized by diversity,” said Jerry Gilbert, Mississippi State provost and executive vice president.

“I commend the leadership of Dow for their foresight and thank them for partnering with Mississippi State.”

The largest portion of the donation will support the continued development and promotion of Summer Bridge, a program that aims to close the academic and social gaps of minority students majoring in engineering. The fiveweek program helps incoming minority freshmen adjust to college life and get a jump-start on their courses.

Additional funding has been allotted to establish four-year scholarships for 12 Summer Bridge participants and to each year support three faculty members identified as Dow Diversity Fellows, for their commitment to increasing diversity in engineering. The remainder of the gift will sponsor I AM GIRL, a project designed to generate interest in engineering and sciencerelated fields among middle school girls.

The Dow gift is part of the university’s ongoing Infinite Impact capital campaign.

Through the campaign, the Bagley College has specific goals revolving around success, discovery, outreach, globalization and experience as its works to elevate its stature. Additional information about the Bagley College’s goals can be found at www.bagley.msstate.edu or visit infiniteimapctmsu.com to learn how you can support the college with gifts. n www.alumnus.msstate.edu

To learn more about Mississippi State fundraising, visit the MSU Foundation website at www.msufoundation.com.

Foundation announces incoming fundraisers, new roles for others

BY AMY CAGLE | PHOTOGRAPHY BY RUSS HOUSTON

A

s Mississippi State University seeks to extend its reach, so does the fundraising arm of the university. A couple of new faces have joined the fundraising team in the MSU Foundation while several others have undertaken new roles.

Dees Britt and Zack Harrington are new to university fundraising. Both alumni, they will serve separate units.

Britt is the new assistant director of development for both the Mississippi State University Extension Service, whose presence extends to all of the state’s 82 counties, and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The Canton native joined the fundraising team in late 2013.

After receiving her bachelor’s degree in 2009 in communication, Britt began work with MSU’s Division of Student Affairs as an admissions counselor and later was an admissions coordinator and recruiter for both the colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Forest Resources. In 2013, she also earned an MSU master’s degree in teaching and community college education, with an emphasis in marketing.

Another new hire is Zack Harrington who joined the MSU Foundation in early July as assistant director of development for the College of Business. He will work to secure gifts for the major academic unit and its Richard C. Adkerson School of Accountancy.

A Hattiesburg native, Harrington holds two degrees from MSU: a 2009 bachelor’s in business administration with an emphasis in real estate mortgage finance and a 2010 master’s in sport administration. As an undergraduate, he was a quarterback during the 2006 and 2007 seasons for the Bulldog football team.

Previously, Harrington worked with SERVPRO Cleanup Services in Mississippi sales. Earlier, he was employed by Mediterranean Shipping Co. in Charleston, South Carolina, and interned with ICS SERKA, a major provider to the U.S. government of construction, industrial and logistical services.

Along with the addition of Britt and Harrington, three veteran fundraisers have assumed new roles.

Jimmy Kight has transitioned to the role of development director for the College of Veterinary Medicine, the state’s only veterinary school. Since 2010, he had worked as assistant director of development for the College of Business.

Kight began his MSU career in 2007 after receiving a degree in communication from the university. A Philadelphia native, he first worked with the Office of Admissions and Scholarships as a regional in-state admissions counselor.

Also moving into a new role as director of corporate and foundation relations is Nathan Moore. In May, he began leading the coordination of this major gifts area for the MSU Foundation and serving as a liaison for many campus units.

Moore had served as the director of development for the College of Architecture, Art and Design since 2008. Prior to that position, he worked for the Office of Admissions and Scholarships. He is a Starkville native who holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s in public policy and administration, both from MSU. Succeeding Moore as director of development for the College of Architecture, Art and Design and its School of Architecture is Perry King “P.K.” Thomas IV who began his new role in July. The Tupelo native comes from the James Worth Bagley College of Engineering, having served as assistant director of development since 2010.

Before joining MSU, Thomas worked as a district executive for Yocona Area Council of Boy Scouts of America and served two years as an admissions counselor for Mississippi State.

Thomas earned a 2003 communication degree and a master’s in physical education and sport administration in 2008, both from MSU. A complete list of MSU fundraisers and their contact information is available at www. msufoundation.com. n TOP-BOTTOM: Dees Britt, Zack Harrington, Jimmy Kight, Nathan Moore and P.K. Thomas

www.alumnus.msstate.edu MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS

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Class NOTES __________________________________________

1960s

1980s

of Georgetown, Texas, has retired as scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 405, but will continue as a volunteer with the group. During more than 27 years with the Georgetown troop, he helped 170 young men attain the Eagle Scout rank.

Columbus is the new executive vice president for branch administration and retail banking for BankFirst Financial Services. With more than 25 years in banking, he formerly served as president and senior credit officer of a Columbus banking center.

’69 Lynn Norris of Tupelo has been recognized by

’81 (Ph.D.) Robert Taylor of

’66 Calvin Gray (M.P.A. ’69)

PA Times, a publication of the American Society of Public Administration. Featured as an “unsung hero” in the Public Service Profile section, he is a volunteer consultant and former chief financial officer for the City of Tupelo.

He was selected for his dedication as a public servant that helped the city’s overtime costs drop almost $500,000 from 2009-12. __________________________________________

1970s

’73 (Ph.D.) Rush Miller of Pittsburgh, Pa., has retired after 20 years as University of Pittsburgh librarian and director of the University Library System. During his tenure, the system grew to 15 libraries and holdings of almost seven million books, doubling the collection that now includes more than 1 million electronic books and 110,000 journals. ’74 Tom Mason Jr., D.D.S., has retired after practicing general dentistry in Biloxi for 35 years. He also graduated from the Louisiana State University School of Dentistry in 1978.

‘76 Alan Renfroe of Moss Point, executive vice

president and chief financial officer of First Federal Savings & Loan Association of Pascagoula–Moss Point, has been elected chairman of the board of the Financial Managers Society for 2014-15. The announcement was made at the 2014 Finance and Accounting Forum for Financial Institutions in Orlando, Fla.

’77 Ron Allen of Brandon has

been promoted by BankFirst Financial Services to executive vice president for corporate lending and correspondent banking. Now leading this newly formed bank division, he joined BankFirst three years ago as president of the Madison County locations.

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’80 Jim McAlexander of

Morgantown, W.V., has been named director of the Division of Animal and Nutritional Sciences for West Virginia University’s Davis College of Agriculture. Taylor is a former professor of animal science at the University of New Hampshire.

’86 Chris Anderson of Jackson

is the new chief executive officer for Baptist Health Systems, parent company of Baptist Medical Center, Baptist Medical Center Leake in Carthage, Mississippi Hospital for Restorative Care and a number of related health care services and programs. A certified public accountant, Anderson served for 16 years as CEO of Singing River Health System in Pascagoula.

’86 Johnny Ray of Jackson has

joined BankFirst Financial Services as executive vice president/Jackson regional president. In this role, Ray leads the bank’s metro-area teams that include branches and loan offices in Flowood, Gluckstadt, Madison and Ridgeland.

’89

Marcus

Mallory

of Columbus is the new executive vice president for commercial banking at BankFirst Financial Services. Prior to this appointment, he held positions as executive vice president, state executive and Starkville office president for another financial institution. ___________________________________________

1990s

’90 Albert J. “Al” Williams of Houston, Texas, has been appointed president of Chevron Pipeline Company, Gas & Midstream. He joined Chevron in 1991 as a facilities engineer and has worked in multiple international locations over the years, including Thailand, Kazakhstan and Indonesia. www.alumnus.msstate.edu

Know of someone who should be highlighted in Class Notes? Send an email to hlaird@opa.msstate.edu.

’91 Dr. Chad Norton of

Alexandria, La., a cataract surgeon at Alexandria Eye and Laser Center, has been named a “Top Surgeon” in the U.S. by Sightpath Medical, the country’s leading provider of surgical services and equipment for cataracts, glaucoma and refractive procedures.

‘96 Jerry L. Toney of Starkville has been selected by the Mississippi Business Journal for “Top 40 Under 40.” The annual list recognizes the state’s up-and-coming business leaders under the age of 40. He is president of Cadence Bank for Mississippi and a senior financial consultant for the bank’s Wealth Services Division. He is a past president of the MSU Alumni Association’s National Board of Directors. __________________________________________

2000s

’02 Zack Jourdan (M.S. ’03)

of Montgomery, Ala., an associate professor of information systems and management at Auburn University at Montgomery, has been promoted to department head. Jourdan, who holds a Ph.D. from Auburn, began teaching at AU’s Montgomery campus in 2008. He was awarded tenure in 2013, the same year he graduated from the institution’s leadership academy.

‘02 Nathan Moore (MPPA ’09) of Starkville

has been selected by the Mississippi Business Journal for “Top 40 Under 40.” The annual list recognizes the state’s up-and-coming business leaders under the age of 40. He is director of corporate and foundation relations for the MSU Foundation.

‘02

Chad Wallace of Brandon, digital communications specialist at Belhaven University in Jackson, has been selected by the Mississippi Business Journal for “Top 40 under 40.” The annual list recognizes the state’s up-and-coming business leaders under the age of 40.

’06 Luke Yeatman of Madison has been promoted

by BankFirst Financial Services to vice president from assistant vice president. He began his career with BankFirst in 2012 as an accounting and credit officer.

’07 Jennifer Franzo of Slidell,

La., Marshall Space Flight Center safety and mission assurance technical interface to Mississippi’s Stennis

Space Center, has been honored with a Silver Snoopy award. The NASA award recognizes employees making contributions that enhance the probability of mission success and is given personally by astronauts to represent their recognition of excellence.

’07 Cal Rackley (Master of Taxation ’09)

of Starkville has been elected as a member of Watkins, Ward and Stafford PLLC, Certified Public Accountants.

He specializes in taxation and business advisory services.

’09

Hailey

Crockett

III

of Nashville, Tenn., has joined the intellectual property law firm Waddley Patterson. A registered patent attorney, he focuses his practice on patent and trademark prosecution and enforcement of intellectual property rights, primarily in the mechanical and electromechanical arts.

’09 (Ph.D.) Andrea Mayfield

of Tuscaloosa, Ala., has been named president of Shelton State Community College, an institution within the Alabama Community College System.

Previously, she was vice president of East Mississippi Community College’s Scooba Campus. __________________________________________

2010s

‘11 (M.B.A.) David L. Tuyo II

of Miami, Fla., has been hired by Power Financial Credit Union as its chief financial officer. Prior to joining PFCU, he was senior vice president at Lending Solutions Consulting Inc. and held several top leadership positions with Pen Air Federal Credit Union. _________________________________________________________

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS

Nyssa Elizabeth Ashworth, Jan. 12, 2014, to Tonya K. Ashworth (’00) and Daniel Ashworth Jr. (’02) of Memphis, Tenn.

Christopher Allan Carter, Jan. 13, 2014, to Britt Hammons-Carter (’09) and Christopher Carter of Greenwood.

Jaxon Riley Jones, June 9, 2014, to Meg Walley Jones (’05) and Hunter Jones (’07) of Laurel.

Mary Ann Martin, June 4, 2014, to Jamie W. Martin and Scott Martin (’99) of Hattiesburg.

www.alumnus.msstate.edu MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS

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Forever MAROON William F. “Bill” Buckner (’68 M.E.) – 69, Madison; career football

coach, including a stint as Mississippi State assistant coach, with inductions in the Delta State University, Mississippi Community College, Hinds Community College and Mississippi Sports halls of fame. He also served as state and regional director for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, May 23, 2014.

Thomas B. Burkett Jr. (’55) – Los

Mississippi State head women’s basketball coach who also had more than 30 years with the Mississippi Air National Guard as commandant of Camp Shelby’s nuclear, biological and chemical warfare school, May 17, 2014.

John W. Herring Jr. (’50 and former employee) – 87, Starkville;

Sam J. Capri (’41) – 99, Hollywood,

retired Mississippi State electrical engineering professor and U.S. Navy veteran who served in World War II, April 27, 2014.

Ralph Cash (‘66, ’69 M.B.A.) –

Ronnie C. James (former employee) – 71, McComb; former

Alamitos, Calif., April 4, 2014.

Fla., May 6, 2014.

71, Hartselle, Ala.; retired certified public accountant and controller with several companies and an active consultant on commercial coatings in his later years, June 23, 2014.

Mississippi State University police officer, assistant police chief for the City of Woodville and employee with the Mississippi Department of Transportation’s Law Enforcement division, June 6, 2014.

Carole McReynolds Davis (’64) – 72, Starkville; artist known for her

Archie B. Lancaster III (’61) – 76,

portraitures and personal style. She also was a Starkville Daily News columnist who wrote about community activities and individuals, June 18, 2014.

Zelton K. Eubanks (’56) – 83,

League City, Texas; retired NASA engineer and U.S. Army veteran who served in the Korean War, March 26, 2013.

Robert L. Ford (’60) – 84, Columbus; retired office manager for Searcy and Rice Insurance Agency and U.S. Army paratrooper who served in World War II, May 26, 2014.

Robert F. Graves (’54) – 85, Marietta, Ga.; retired vice president of manufacturing for Oxford Industries, U.S. Army veteran and former member of the board of directors for the Mississippi State Bulldog Club, May 28, 2014.

Joseph M. Harvey (’48) – 87,

Fort Worth, Texas; retired Exxon Mobil Corporation employee, June 29, 2013.

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Jerry D. Henderson (former employee) – 73, Starkville; former

FALL 2014

Jackson; retired owner of Lancaster and Associates, and hospital administrator for Mississippi Methodist Rehabilitation Center and Hinds General Hospital (now Central Mississippi Medical Center), June 11, 2014.

Nancy Lindley (former employee) – 90, Carrollton, Ga.;

former Mississippi State mathematics department professor, May 1, 2014.

Dr. William “Bill” McDevitt (attended) – 68, Gautier; owner of

Gautier Animal Clinic, May 26, 2014.

Charles Harold “Tally” McGraw (attended) – 88, Ridgeland; founder of

McGraw Rental and Supply Company in Ridgeland and U.S. Air Force veteran, April 24, 2014.

Johnetta W. Morrison (former employee) – Starkville; retired

Mississippi State early childhood education professor, April 25, 2014.

Kevin O’Sullivan (’60, ’61 M.S.) – 77, Athens, W.V.; retired director of student affairs, assistant professor of education, emeritus, and golf coach, and U.S. Army veteran, May 11, 2013.

Roger L. Poston (’71) – 65, Sterling, Va., Dec. 10, 2013.

William C. Randle Sr. (’54) – 81, Starkville; co-developer of the Browning Creek residential community in Oktibbeha County’s Oktoc community, president/ owner of Browning Creek Utility Co. and founder of Oktoc Water Association, for which he served as president for 40 years, June 25, 2014.

James L. Sledge Jr. (’61) – 74,

Crystal Springs; former owner/publisher of the Kemper County Messenger newspaper in DeKalb and retired head of the Mississippi Forestry Commission. He was the 2003 Alumni Fellow for the College of Forest Resources at Mississippi State, April 27, 2014.

James H. Smith (’74, M.E.; ’76, Ed.S.) – 72, Jackson; retired assistant

superintendent for operations and federal programs for the Starkville Public School District, April 22, 2014.

William B. Smith (’52) – 85,

Concord, Mass.; retired MIT Lincoln Laboratory engineer known for his discovery of the retrograde or backwards rotation of the planet Venus. He later worked at General Electric, Westinghouse, Draper Labs, ITT, SenCom and GTE, and was a U.S. Navy veteran, May 7, 2014.

Alex Vadie (former employee) – 78, Houston, Texas; former Mississippi State petroleum engineering professor and researcher with the U.S. Department of Energy and several private corporations in Europe, Canada and the Middle East, May 26, 2014.

Charles R. Mullen (’65) – 71,

Jackson; former comptroller for the University of Mississippi Medical Center and senior member of the Mississippi Federal Credit Union’s board of directors, June 7, 2014.

www.alumnus.msstate.edu

www.alumnus.msstate.edu MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS

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ALUMNI ASSOCIATION P.O. Box AA One Hunter Henry Boulevard Mississippi State, MS 39762-5526 www.alumni.msstate.edu ELECTRONIC SERVICE REQUESTED

Discrimination based upon race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or veteran’s status is violation of federal and state law and MSU policy and will not be tolerated. Discrimination based upon sexual orientation or group affiliation is violation of MSU policy and will not be tolerated.

Bulldog couple creates customer-focused farming PHOTOGRAPHY BY BETH WYNN

“We’re a small, 37-acre farm, so we have to be creative and cater to very delicate niche markets. If it has our name on it, it’s got to meet a standard,” said Mississippi State alumnus Jody Reyer. “When we have people who say they don’t eat tomatoes and have never liked them buy and enjoy our tomatoes, I think that’s a good mark of success.”

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