Class Notes

CLASS Notes 1970s

William “Bill” Gardner (B.S. finance, ’74) is one of 20 key contributors to Geneva Learning Foundation’s Learning and Leadership Dialogue, a global leadership program. A seasoned executive leadership coach, Gardner is founder and managing partner of Noetic Outcomes Consulting, LLC.

Jim Koerber (B.S. banking and finance, ’74) authored two chapters on personal injury and wrongful death, employment discrimination and wrongful termination for Business Valuation Resources’ recently published sixth edition of “The Comprehensive Guide to Economic Damages. He is a director of the Hattiesburg office of Postlethwaite and Netterville, APAC, and is part of the firm’s forensic and valuation services team.

Glenn LaRue Smith (B.A. landscape architecture, ’74) was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects. He is co-founder of the landscape and urbanism design firm PUSH Studio where he aims to uplift communities and upand-coming Black landscape architects. In 2021, he established the Black Landscape Architect’s Network. He earned the 2020 ASLA Outstanding Service Award.

William A. “Lex” Taylor III (B.S. general business administration, ’77) testified before the Senate Commerce Committee during a hearing on implementing supply chain resiliency. Taylor is chairman of the board and CEO of the Louisville-based Taylor Group of Companies Inc., one of the only privately held manufacturers of industrial lift trucks operating in America. A member of the MSU Foundation board of directors and the College of Business Alumnus of the Year in 2007, he has served as chair of the Mississippi Economic Council, the Mississippi Manufacturers Association and the Association of Equipment Manufacturers.

Starkville natives Barbara Alexander (B.S. zoology, ’79) and Robert Hester (B.S. biological engineering, ’75) were named Billy S. Guyton Distinguished Professors at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. The award is one of the university’s highest honors.

Alexander is credited as the driving force behind the center’s reputation in women’s health research. She is director of basic research for the Mississippi Center for Excellence in Perinatal Research and director of the UMMC Analytical and Assay Research Cove. Hester is a professor of physiology and biophysics and orthopedic surgery and the interim chair of data science. He also leads the Center for Computational Medicine in the development of integrative physiological models used for education, research and clinical trials.

1980s

Michelle Keever (B.S. banking and finance, '84) was appointed to the national board of directors of the Voluntary Protection Program Participant’s Association as the Department of Energy representative to provide support and guidance to safety and health professionals at more than 2,200 Voluntary Protection Program worksites. She is a senior safety and health programs specialist with UCOR, the DOE’s primary cleanup contractor for the Oak Ridge Reservation site. John McDill (B.S. petroleum engineering, ’86) was promoted to senior vice president of utility operations Atmos Energy. A 34-year veteran of the company, he is now responsible for operations of six utility divisions in eight states, as well as gas supply.

Former U.S. District Judge Debra M. Brown (B.Arch. ‘87) is now Mississippi’s first Black female chief federal judge. She presides over the Northern District of Mississippi and succeeds District Judge Sharion Aycock (B.A. economics, '77). Brown has served as a district judge since being nominated by former president Barack Obama and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2013. She worked professionally as an architect before pursuing law school. She practiced law at Wise Carter Child & Carraway and Phelps Dunbar law firms in Jackson.

Dr. John Daniel Davis IV (B.S. biological engineering, ’88) was appointed to the Mississippi State Board of Health by Gov. Tate Reeves. He will complete the six year term of the late Dr. Ed “Tad” Barham. Davis is a graduate of both the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and School of Public Health, and he currently works as a neurosurgeon at NewSouth NeuroSpine in Flowood.

1990s

Isaac Johnson (BBA, banking and finance, ’92) was named president and CEO of TDECU, the largest credit union in Houston, Texas.

He most recently served as senior vice president, chief administrative, legal and diversity officer for the organization, which manages more than $4 billion in assets. A native of Gulfport, he earned an MBA from Jackson State and a juris doctor from Thurgood Marshall School of Law.

Lady Cox (B.A. communication, ’98) co-authored “College Ready 2021: Expert Advice for Parents to Simplify the College Transition.” She is associate vice president for student affairs at Auburn University and previously worked at Mississippi State where she created the Office of Parent and Family Services in 2007.

Cashenna McCullough Cross (B.A. political science, '98) was sworn in as the 18th mayor of Glenarden, Maryland Aug. 18, 2021. She is a decorated retired veteran of the U.S. Air Force and accomplished Department of Defense and community leader with more than 30 years of experience in government, planning, project management and philanthropy.

Girish K. Panicker (Ph.D. horticulture, ’99) was named inaugural Fellow of the Mississippi Academy of Sciences. This was the first time the organization has awarded this honor in its 85-year history. A professor and director of the Conservation Research School of Agriculture and Applied Sciences at Alcorn State University, he is a certified professional agronomist.

2000s

William S. Belko (Ph.D. history, ’02) edited “Contesting the Constitution: Congress Debates the Missouri Crisis, 1819-1821,” recently released by the University of Missouri Press. He is director of the Missouri Humanities Council and the author of several other books exploring American history.

Emily Marshall (B.S. human sciences, ’04) was promoted to principal of HBG Design, a hospitality design firm based in Memphis, Tennessee. Since joining the firm in 2010, she has led projects including the 227-room Hyatt Centric Beale Street Hotel; the $180 million, 459-room Cache Creek Resort Hotel in California; and the $400 million Desert Diamond West Valley Casino in Arizona among others. She is a licensed interior designer and active member of the International Interior Design Association.

Jane Anna Waide (B.A. political science, ’04; MBA, ’12) received the MAI designation from the Appraisal Institute, the country’s largest professional association for real estate appraisers. This designation is recognized by courts, government agencies, financial institutions and investors as a mark of excellence in the field of real estate valuation and analysis. A Starkville-based commercial real estate appraiser and a Mississippi Business Journal Top 50 under 40 honoree, she is one of only 12 women in Mississippi with the MAI designation.

Leslie Tally (B.S., M.S. elementary education, ’07, ’09) was named Mississippi Teacher of the Year. A Corinth native, she teaches second grade English language arts at Lawhon Elementary in the Tupelo Public School District. As MTOY, Tally is receiving a $5,000 stipend from the Mississippi Department of Education and is in the running for National Teacher of the Year.

2010s

Paige Watson (B.A. communication, ’13) was named director of the Main Street Program by the Starkville Main Street Association. She was previously special events and projects coordinator for the Greater Starkville Development Partnership. In addition to her MSU degree, she holds a master’s from the University of Alabama.

Sarah Avera Thrower (B.S. biological engineering, ’19) is the 2021 recipient of the Mississippi Vision Foundation’s Helen Allison St. Clair scholarship for students of optometry. A native of Lauderdale, she is a third-year student at the Southern College of Optometry. While at State, she earned a Spirit of State award and was part of the Montgomery Leadership Scholarship program.

Harish Kumar (M.S. computer science, ‘20) and his team earned the grand prize from the IBM Spot Challenge. PeriscopeAI, the project that earned the $15,000 prize, allows construction teams to have an unobstructed view of visual communication. He is an artificial intelligence and machine learning data scientist with Potentia Analytics Inc.

Birth

Announcements

Harrison Barrett Chandler born Sept. 5, 2020, to Allison Barrett Chandler (’07) and Grant Chandler (’07) of Madison, Alabama.

Cole Simmons Estess born March 10, 2021 to Regan and Andrew Estess (’11) of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Benjamin Conner Estess born June 9, 2021 to Paige and Conner Estess (’15) of Petal.