Viewpoint

Measures of success: 60 years and counting

In February, the Mississippi State University Foundation marked its 60-year anniversary. The capacity for any private entity to survive six decades in today’s rapidly evolving society is a significant accomplishment. It is certainly a time for celebration of how far our organization has come—not in the sense of endurance, but rather of the bounds we have pushed and opportunities we have created at and through MSU.

Such progress is powered by people with the passion and the will to make big changes. They are the ones who recognize that the Foundation is not a static institution. Instead, it is an evolving entity that demonstrates the value of giving and assumes critical responsibility as a change agent. The service provided to students and the university through the work we do each day is positively changing outcomes for thousands.

As CEO of the Foundation, I often use our fundraising numbers to gauge our success. I am proud of the generosity of the Bulldog family and our dedicated team, which have enabled us to top $100 million in giving for eight consecutive years. When we celebrated our 50-year anniversary just 10 years ago, the university’s endowment was approaching $350 million. Today, it stands just under $700 million.

While numbers are impressive, the measure of our success is not merely what we attain, but also who we affect and how they succeed. It’s truly inspiring to consider how many lives have been impacted through private gifts at MSU since the Foundation’s establishment.

One example that comes to mind is the Bobby Shackouls - Burlington Resources Endowed Scholarship that was created in honor of MSU alumnus and former MSU Foundation board chair Bobby Shackouls in the Bagley College of Engineering in the late 1990s. The commitment was made by Houston, Texas-based Burlington Resource Inc., from which Bobby retired as chairman, president and CEO. Since the first award was given in 2003, the scholarship has provided support to more than 120 MSU students.

This one example illustrates the profound reach and influence that flows from private gifts at MSU. Currently, the MSU Foundation stewards more than 2,500 private scholarship awards, many of which are endowed and will

JOHN P. RUSH '94, '02

President and CEO MSU Foundation

continue to provide support in perpetuity. If one scholarship out of the thousands we have has benefited more than 100 students in just 20 years, imagine what is possible through new and existing scholarship awards over the next 60 years. Thank you for helping to carry on the important legacy of philanthropy that was set by those before us over the past 60 years. Here’s to the progress we’ve made and the milestones yet to reach.