FA L L 2 0 2 1
|
DIVIDENDS
news briefs
Kathy St. John is the 2021 Alumni Fellow for the College of Business. St. John graduated from MSU in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in marketing, later pursuing a graduate degree in secondary education from the University of Southern Mississippi. She co-founded St. John & Associates, a commercial and residential properties sales business in Hattiesburg, MS, before becoming Marketing Director and sales lead at Hillenmeyer Nurseries in Lexington, KY. In 2005, she began serving as Managing Director and contracts consultant for NAPA Healthcare Connection, Inc., a senior-living healthcare group purchasing organization, and retired in 2015. St. John is a member and former chair of the COB’s Marketing Advisory Board and now chairs the College’s Executive Advisory Board. She established the Kathy Moreton St. John Endowed Fellowship in Marketing in 2011 and was an early investor in the College’s Market Innovation Lab and Observatory. St. John and husband Drew, a 1980 MSU graduate, have contributed to areas across the University, including athletics and student and faculty support, and they created the St. John Family Endowed Professorship in Wildlife Management. The St. Johns reside in Madison, MS, and have three children.
Hurst Bequest Supports Scholarships A significant bequest from the late Louis A. Hurst, Jr. of Houston, TX, will continue his longtime support of scholarships at Mississippi State University. The gift by the former Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation bank examiner and accounting alumnus will provide sizeable endowments for scholarships. Proceeds from the bequest will be divided equally between the two endowments for scholarships Hurst earlier established. The L.A. Hurst, Jr. Scholarship Endowment in the College of Business emphasizes moral and ethical character as traits he desired in recipients. Hurst also earlier established the L.A. Hurst Presidential Endowed Scholarship, a four-year award for MSU’s elite students in the Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College.
M I S S I S S I P P I STAT E U N I V E R S I T Y
COB Alumni Fellow
|
J. Michael “Mike” McIlwain was named the 2021 MSU College of Business Alumnus of the Year. The 1987 Adkerson School of Accountancy (ASAC) graduate recently retired as President and CEO of PSAV, a global event and technology company. McIlwain serves on the COB Executive Advisory Board and ASAC Advisory Board. He was keynote speaker for the COB’s Leo W. Seal, Jr. Distinguished Executive Speaker Series in 2016 and was named among the Top 100 COB Alumni during the College’s Centennial Celebration in 2015. McIlwain and wife Susan reside in Kildeer, IL, and have 5 children: Allie, Joe Watt, Kathryn, Amelia and Grace. Each year, the MSU Alumni Association recognizes a national alumnus and one representing each of the University’s eight academic colleges for outstanding professional, community and personal success.
COLLEGE OF BUSINESS
COB Alumnus of the Year
79
