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Within Their Reach: McNair Scholarships Help Disadvantaged Students

Posted on: October 16th, 2019 by erabadie

For almost 25 years, UM program has supported, empowered minorities seeking doctoral degrees

Donald Cole (left), former UM mathematics professor and special assistant to the chancellor, attends a research conference with UM McNair Scholars Victoria Robinson and Skylyn Irby, and Sandra Spiroff, an associate professor of mathematics at UM. Submitted photo

OCTOBER 16, 2019 BY EDWIN B. SMITH

Before Victoria Robinson became a student at the University of Mississippi, no one in her family had ever furthered their education beyond a bachelor’s degree. The idea of going to graduate school and pursuing a terminal degree wasn’t even on her radar.

Fortunately for Robinson, among the University of Mississippi community are many caring faculty who go above and beyond to make sure each student is provided the resources and relationships to help them accomplish anything. For the Beaumont native, Donald Cole was that person.

The recently retired mathematics professor and special assistant to the chancellor recognized Robinson’s potential and informed her about the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program, which helps high-achieving students from disadvantaged backgrounds and empowers them to pursue doctoral studies.

“I was hesitant at the thought of applying, but the McNair program alleviated most of that stress,” said Robinson, who completed her mathematics degree at UM and is a doctoral student at the University of Alabama. “After talking to several of my classmates who did not participate in the McNair program, I soon realized how much they (McNair) had prepared me and how I could not have succeeded without them.”

By being involved in research and other scholarly activities, 44 McNair Scholars have already attained either their Ph.D. or Ed.D. Thirty-five others are working on doctoral degrees.

Skylynn Irby, another UM mathematics alumna, had never attended scholarly conferences before becoming a McNair Scholar. She is enrolled in the same program as Robinson at Alabama.

“With support from the McNair program, I attended conferences to present my research, and this allowed me to improve my presentation skills and ability to communicate technical material,” the Batesville native said. “I also received many opportunities to participate in conference networking events and visit several schools before deciding on a graduate program.

“Lastly, I received the opportunity to give back by connecting with other students and encouraging them to apply for McNair.”

Another UM McNair Scholar seeking her advanced degree is Stephanie Poiroux, of Pascagoula. The graduate, who is pursuing the master’s degree in sociology at UM, said she felt welcomed into the program that invested in her fulfilling her potential.

“Before I became a McNair Scholar, I had no idea how I was going to be able to attend graduate school, nor the steps I needed to take in order to get there,” Poiroux said. “Along with providing me with research and presentation opportunities, the McNair Program also provided resources and information to help me apply and prepare for graduate school, such as advice on how to talk to and connect with professors and GRE preparatory classes.”

Irby, Poiroux and Robinson are all great students achieving great things, but that is exactly what the program’s administrator wants to see on a campus that strives to recognize need and emphasizes the value of personal connections.

“The McNair Scholars program is a high-achievers program that has met or exceeded its goals and objectives for the past 24 years,” said Demetria Hereford, program director. “What is happening this year is what we think should happen every year.

“Although I am extremely proud of our scholars, I see this as normal phenomena – what we are supposed to do.”

The McNair program could set a new record for the highest percentage of bachelor’s degree recipients being enrolled in a post-baccalaureate program by the fall term of the academic year immediately following the completion of the degree.

Nine McNair scholars graduated from UM, Rust College, Tougaloo College, Mississippi Valley State University and Alcorn State University in May. Eight of those nine students were slated to begin graduate school in August. At 88 percent, this represents the highest percentage of McNair scholars to enroll directly in a graduate program to date, exceeding the 50 percent proposed in the grant.

Along that same trajectory, 86 percent of the McNair scholars have participated in scholarly activities and/or research, again exceeding the 62 percent proposed grant objective.

The U.S. Department of Education measures the program’s success via a yearly data report. While records won’t be official until December, preliminary figures indicate that the program will exceed the proposed grant percentages moreso than in the past.

As Cole and Hereford reached out to UM students and helped them make personal connections that led to lifelong relationships, many McNair alumni are employed as scientists and educators, trickling down and imparting their knowledge to others.

The McNair Scholars Program is a model program that other programs/efforts on campus with similar goals can learn a lot from, said Katrina Caldwell, vice chancellor for diversity and community engagement.

“Demetria and Dr. (Donald) Cole have built a ‘best practice’ program, because they have been dedicated to maintaining excellence in this program,” Caldwell said. “Even though the grant sets expectations for success, it has been their work that has guaranteed that our campus continues to not only reach this significant benchmark, but they have exceeded it.”

A physicist and astronaut, McNair graduated magna cum laude from North Carolina A&T State University with a bachelor’s degree in physics. At age 26, he earned his doctorate in laser physics from M.I.T. McNair soon became a recognized expert in laser physics while working as a staff physicist with Hughes Research Laboratory. He was selected by NASA for the space shuttle program in 1978 and was a mission specialist aboard the 1984 flight of the shuttle Challenger.

After his death in the Challenger explosion in January 1986, Congress provided funding for the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program to encourage college students with backgrounds similar to McNair’s to enroll in graduate studies. This program is dedicated to the high standards of achievement inspired by his life.

For more information on the UM McNair Scholars Program, visit https://www.olemiss.edu/programs/McNair.

Alumni Association Names Top Alumni of 2019

Posted on: July 11th, 2019 by erabadie

Eight alumni will receive the Ole Miss Alumni Association’s highest annual honors as part of Homecoming 2019. Inductees into the Alumni Hall of Fame for 2019 are: Kimsey O’Neal Bailey (BSPh 94), Donald R. Cole (PhD 85), Jake Gibbs (BSPHE 61), Duncan M. Gray III (BA 71) and Richard C. Howorth (BA 72). David Orris McCormick (BA 77, JD 80) will receive the Alumni Service Award and Sly Lee (BSPSC 10, MS 12) will receive the Outstanding Young Alumni Award. Vaughn L. Grisham will receive the Honorary Alumni Award.

Alumni Association to Honor Eight at Homecoming for Achievement, Service

JULY 9, 2019

The Ole Miss Alumni Association is honoring eight recipients for its Distinguished Alumni Awards in 2019 in recognition of their service and accomplishments.

Inductees into the Alumni Hall of Fame are: Kimsey O’Neal Bailey (BSPh 94) of Aberdeen; Donald R. Cole (PhD 85) of Oxford; Jake Gibbs (BSPHE 61) of Oxford; Duncan M. Gray III (BA 71) of Oxford; and Richard C. Howorth (BA 72) of Oxford.

Created in 1974, the Hall of Fame honors select alumni who have made an outstanding contribution to their country, state or the University of Mississippi through good deeds, services or contributions that have perpetuated the good name of Ole Miss.

David Orris McCormick (BA 77, JD 80) of Pascagoula will receive the Alumni Service Award for service to the university and the Alumni Association over an extended period.

Sly Lee (BSPSC 10, MS 12) of Los Angeles, California, will receive the Outstanding Young Alumni Award, which recognizes alumni who have shown exemplary leadership throughout their first 15 years of alumni status in both their careers and dedication to Ole Miss.

Vaughn L. Grisham of Oxford will receive the Honorary Alumni Award, which honors individuals who, though not graduates of the University of Mississippi, have consistently demonstrated extraordinary commitment, support, dedication, loyalty, leadership or service that has enriched the substance of and contributed to the advancement of the university’s or Alumni Association’s missions, reputation or prestige.

The Alumni Association will host a reception for the honorees on Friday, Oct. 4, at 6 p.m. in the Gertrude C. Ford Ballroom at The Inn at Ole Miss. A ticketed dinner for the award recipients will follow the reception at 7 p.m. Those interested in attending the dinner should register in advance by calling the Alumni Association office at 662-915-7375. Individual seats are $100 per person while space is available. Reserved tables of 10 are available for $1,200. $25 from the sale of each individual seat, and $250 from the sale of each reserved table will go toward the Herb Dewees Alumni Association Scholarship.

Hall of Fame Awards

Kimsey O’Neal Bailey is a 1994 graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy and has been practicing for more than 25 years. She is a past president of the Mississippi Pharmacist Association and past and ex officio member of the Ole Miss Pharmacy Board of Directors. She has been a pharmacy supervisor for two Fortune 50 retail chains for over 16 years, overseeing pharmacy operations from 18 to 36 stores.

At Ole Miss, she was a standout basketball player, achieving All-Southeastern Conference for four years, Freshman of the Year of the SEC and SEC Great. She also is listed in the university athletic record books with 1,480 points scored and 692 rebounds. She was voted Miss Ole Miss and was the first African-American female to hold the title at the university.

Bailey was voted to the Ole Miss Women’s program’s Mt. Rushmore along with other recipients including Peggie Gillom-Granderson (BSW 80), Jennifer Gillom (BAR 87) and Jackie Martin-Glass (BSHPE 92). She is a 2003 inductee into the University of Mississippi Athletic Hall of Fame. Bailey has served on the Ole Miss Mississippi Alumni Association Board of Directors including roles with both the Executive and Athletics Committees.

Bailey is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., she was on the Board of Directors for Leake County Boys and Girls Club and was an East Central Community College Board of Trustees member for over 15 years. She is married to Ronald Bailey and has two children, Kobe and Kimsey.

Donald R. Cole a Jackson native, graduated from the then-segregated Brinkley High School and entered the University of Mississippi in 1968, six years after it had been integrated. Within a year, he found himself protesting vestiges of discrimination still lingering within the university, and within another year, he, along with seven other students, was suspended for their continued protest by participating in a demonstration on campus.

Cole completed his bachelor’s degree at Tougaloo College, and obtained master’s degrees from the University of Michigan and the State University of New York at Buffalo before returning to UM to complete his Ph.D. in mathematics.

After several years of working in the aerospace industry and teaching, he was invited back to UM to be an associate professor of mathematics and assistant dean of the Graduate School. He advanced to assistant provost and assistant to the chancellor for multicultural affairs, where he spent 25 years working under three chancellors and two interim chancellors to distinguish his alma mater as a national leader in race relations.

Cole is known for his unique approach in reconciling voices of dissent and promoting diversity and inclusion among faculty, staff, students and the community. As a national spokesman for the institution, he helped transition the university into a well-respected 21st-century institution.

Cole and his wife, Marcia (Cert 82, BA 88, MSS 00), a minister of the gospel, have three children: Donald (03), Mariah (BA 08) and William (BS 10).

Jake Gibbs was a two-sport All-American at Ole Miss and was selected by Sports Illustrated in 1991 as the 8th best collegiate quarterback in history. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1995.

In 1960, as co-captain and quarterback, he finished third in the Heisman Trophy race when he led the Rebels to the Football Writers’ national championship while earning All-American and All-Southeastern Conference honors.

Gibbs was voted SEC Back of the Year and SEC Player of the Year in 1960. He was selected the Most Outstanding Player of the 1961 Sugar Bowl.

Following his senior football season, Gibbs was drafted by the NFL Cleveland Browns and the AFL Houston Oilers, but chose to concentrate full time on baseball and signed with the New York Yankees.

As a third baseman at Ole Miss, Gibbs also helped the Rebels claim SEC baseball titles in 1959 and 1960. He was All-America in 1960 and 1961. His .384 career batting average still rates as the third best in Ole Miss baseball history. A member of Omicron Delta Kappa, Gibbs was selected by the student body as Colonel Rebel in 1961 and was also named to the Ole Miss student Hall of Fame.

Gibbs’ major league career with the Yankees spanned 10 years. He retired from baseball following the 1971 season and returned to Ole Miss as head baseball coach in 1972. He compiled a 486-389-9 overall record in 19 seasons, which made him the all-time winningest coach in Rebel baseball history, a record which stood until 2013. He led his squads to a pair of SEC titles, three SEC Western Division pennants and two appearances in the NCAA Tournament, including the 1972 NCAA College World Series.

Gibbs returned to major league baseball in 1993 as catching coach in the New York Yankees’ bullpen. He then served as manager of New York’s Class A Tampa team in the Florida State League during the 1994 and 1995 seasons.

Gibbs was inducted into the National Football Foundation College Hall of Fame in 1995, the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 1976 and the Ole Miss M-Club Athletics Hall of Fame in 1989. Additional honors came in 2006 when he was named a SEC Football Legend and in 2014 when he was selected a SEC Baseball Legend. He was also selected to the Chick-Fil-A Southeastern Conference Football Players of the Millennium team.

Gibbs was recognized in 2017 with the ribbon cutting ceremony of the Jake Gibbs Letterwinners Walk at Ole Miss, which serves as the culmination of the Walk of Champions as well as the front door to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

A native of Grenada, Gibbs was married 51 years to the late Patricia Monteith of Oakland. They have three children, Dean (BPA 85), Monte (BBA 88) and Frank, and seven grandchildren.

Duncan M. Gray III was born in Canton, Mississippi. He enrolled in the College of Liberal Arts at Ole Miss in 1967 and finished with a degree in English and political science in 1971. As an undergraduate, Gray was a member of Sigma Chi Fraternity and was selected for membership in both Phi Kappa Psi and Omicron Delta Kappa honoraries. He was listed in the Who’s Who of American Colleges and Universities, served as president of the campus senate and was chosen as a member of the Ole Miss Hall of Fame in 1971.

After graduation, he enrolled in Virginia Theological Seminary in 1971, spent 18 months on the staff of Senator Mark Hatfield and graduated with a Master of Divinity degree in 1975. After his ordination as deacon and priest in the Episcopal Church, he served congregations in Greenville, New Orleans, Memphis and Oxford.

In 2000, Gray was elected Bishop of the Episcopal Dioceses of Mississippi, a position he held until his retirement in 2015. His tenure as bishop was marked by an emphasis on leadership development, initiatives in racial reconciliation, rebuilding from Hurricane Katrina and navigating the cultural shifts in sexual norms. He was involved in overseas work in Honduras and Panama, established new models of partnerships in Uganda and South Sudan and served in numerous national and international leadership positions.

He and his wife, Kathy, have been married for 45 years. They have three children, Duncan IV (MA 04), Peter, Tabitha, and eight grandchildren. In retirement, he lives in Oxford and continues to work on clergy leadership development world-wide, while serving in a variety of roles locally at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church.

Richard C. Howorth was born in Marks, Mississippi, and majored in English and sociology at the University of Mississippi. His family moved to Oxford, his mother’s home, in 1963, where his father practiced surgery. Forebears on both sides of the family were connected to the University of Mississippi, the earliest being William Barksdale, class of 1855. Richard’s grandfather taught Shakespeare for 50 years; a great-grandfather was chancellor; a great-great-grandfather was dean of the law school; and Howorth is named for an uncle who was UM’s second Rhodes Scholar.

After years of considering the feasibility of an Oxford bookstore, Richard and his wife, Lisa (BA 76, MA 84), learned the business by working in one in a Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C., returning home two years later to open Square Books in 1979.

Square Books gradually expanded to become today four stores on five floors in three buildings one hundred feet apart on the historic town square of Oxford, Mississippi. In 1989 Howorth joined the board of directors of the American Booksellers Association, serving two years as president and board chairman, an experience that helped him decide to run for mayor of Oxford and serve two terms from 2001 to 2009. In 2011 and again in 2015 he was appointed to the board of directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority, including two years as board chair.

In 2008 Howorth received the Authors Guild Award for Distinguished Service to the Literary Community, one of only two booksellers to receive the designation. Square Books was named Publishers Weekly Bookstore of the Year in 2013, and recently Square Books was recognized with a Citation of Merit from the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters.
The Howorths have three children, Claire, Beckett and Bebe, and two grandchildren.

Alumni Service Award

David Orris McCormick was born at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and currently lives in Pascagoula. He grew up in Long Beach and attended Ole Miss where he received his Bachelor of Business Administration in 1977 and his Juris Doctor degree in 1980. That same year he was admitted to practice law. He joined Cumbest, Cumbest, Hunter & McCormick in 1980 as an associate.

In 1991, McCormick became managing partner of the firm, which was established in 1970. He is a member of the Mississippi Bar Foundation and was inducted as a Fellow in 2007; the Mississippi Bar Association where he served as a Bar commissioner from 2007 to 2010; and, the Jackson County Bar Association, where he served as president from 1988 to 1989.

McCormick’s practice is primarily in civil litigation representing plaintiffs with an emphasis on personal injury and asbestos-related diseases. McCormick, along with other attorneys, assisted Attorney General Mike Moore in pursuit of the historic tobacco lawsuit and settlement on behalf of the State of Mississippi.

McCormick has served in numerous positions on behalf of Ole Miss including the Jackson-George County Ole Miss Alumni Club (president, 1992-94); Ole Miss Law Alumni (president, 2003-04); The Inn at Ole Miss Steering Committee (2004-08); member of the Momentum Financial Campaign for Ole Miss (2006-08); member of the UM Foundation Board (2006-09); and the Ole Miss Alumni Association (president, 2007-08).

He and his wife, Susan Cumbest McCormick (MM 80), attend Eastlawn United Methodist Church where he serves on the administrative board, Staff-Parish Relations Committee and also leads an adult Sunday School class. The McCormick’s have two children, Sarah Kathryn Hickman (BBA 03, MBA 05) and Caroline L. (James) Stevens (BAccy 11, MAccy 12), and have one grandson, William McCormick Hickman.

Outstanding Young Alumni Award

Sly Lee is a first-generation American entrepreneur and scientist who is passionate about creating positive global impact leveraging exponential technologies. He is co-founder and CEO of Emerge, who is redefining the concept of “teleportation”, with a first product that transmits our sense of touch from a distance through immersive computing (AR/VR). Emerge’s vision is to connect people’s emotions and feelings, on the path to ultimately “teleporting” our presence.

Lee is also advisor to the board/former co-founder of The Hydrous, a 501(c)3 nonprofit on a mission to create open access oceans. Their team pioneered a method to 3D capture coral reefs in high resolution using photogrammetry for scientific monitoring, data visualization and educational experiences. Their work has been featured at the Skoll World Forum, WIRED Magazine, Fast Company and TED.

Lee is an Oxford native of Singaporean immigrants and a second generation Ole Miss alumnus who graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences and a Master of Science degree in environmental toxicology at the University of Mississippi. He hopes to inspire the next generation of southern entrepreneurs and investors towards technology focused endeavors, which he believes is necessary to spur innovation in his home state.

Lee is a Forbes 30 Under 30 recipient, alumnus of Singularity University Global Solutions Program 2015, World Economic Forum Global Shaper and avid surfer and scuba diver. He is very close to his two brothers, Dexter and Nicholas, and their loving parents, Maria and Peng. Lee resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Britney Spencer Lee.

Honorary Alumni Award

Vaughn L. Grisham joined the Ole Miss faculty in 1961. Four years later, he enrolled in doctoral studies in sociology and history at the University of North Carolina. While taking his coursework at UNC, Grisham was hired to teach full time at North Carolina State University, where he was identified as a Master Teacher.

Armed with his Ph.D., Grisham returned to UM between 1968 and 2016, where he taught over 20,000 students in the Department of Sociology and the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College. Ole Miss selected him as the Outstanding Teacher in the university, and later presented him with the Frist Award for service to the university and the state. The American Sociological Association named Vaughn one of the top 25 outstanding sociology professors in higher education. He was president of the Ole Miss Faculty Senate for two terms. In addition, faculty from the eight Mississippi universities elected him as State Faculty Senate president for two terms. He has authored six books.

Grisham served as the Scholar-in-Residence at the Southern Growth Policies Board; Associate: Kettering Foundation; Associate: Annie E. Casey Foundation; Associate: Winthrop Rockefeller Institute; and Associate: Brushy Fork Institute, Berea College.

Vaughn established the McLean Institute for Community Development at UM in 1984 and its work continues to this day. He has assisted communities in 33 states, two Canadian provinces and his work has been taken to both Siberia and South Africa.

He has been married to Sandy Hopper Grisham for 37 years. They have four children, nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Private Gift Preserves Ambiance of Faulkner’s Famed Rowan Oak

Posted on: July 10th, 2019 by erabadie

Historic Preservation

Sandy Black sits in the office of William Faulkner’s home.

JULY 8, 2019 BY BILL DABNEY

William Faulkner’s desk, typewriter and resting bed are fixtures in the office of the late Nobel Prize-winning author’s Oxford, Mississippi, home. Peering in, it’s easy to imagine the writer, pipe in hand, contemplating his next sentence.

Now, one of his biggest fans is preserving that ambiance.

“I can’t imagine that the university didn’t already own all of this furniture and it was just a shock to me that it could leave, that they could just pick it up in a truck and take it away. I had no idea,” said Sandra Miller Black of Madison, Mississippi, whose recent $500,000 gift helped the University of Mississippi ensure that all of Faulkner’s furnishings would remain in the home.

Faulkner’s house, outbuildings and land, affectionately named Rowan Oak by the author himself in 1931, were purchased by the university in 1974 and added to its University Museum and Historic Houses. But all furnishings remained the property of Faulkner’s extended family.

Until now.

“My husband has been very generous in giving me monthly allowances. With these, I bought the children’s birthday gifts, household supplies and paid some bills, that kind of thing,” said Black, who is married to John Black, a UM Foundation board member.

“But I always had a nice amount left over and I invested it early on in Apple, Google and Amazon. It grew and grew, and I was able to accumulate enough money to be able to make this gift.”

Black was inspired to affix Faulkner’s furniture to his home in perpetuity by Interim Chancellor Larry Sparks who told her of the need. So his request plus her longtime love of the author’s work and home were a good fit.

“We are so grateful to Sandy for her gift which will ensure that generations of Faulkner fans continue to visit Rowan Oak and be able enjoy his historic home in its entirety,” Sparks said. “This is good for Rowan Oak and it’s good for Ole Miss, Oxford and the state of Mississippi.”

Black fell in love with Faulkner’s home in 1989 when she and a group of friends began attending the Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha conference — a celebration of the author’s work that draws hundreds of visitors to Oxford, Mississippi, from all over the world. Annually, Rowan Oak draws upwards of 60,000 visitors to its house and grounds from all 50 states and more than 50 foreign countries.

“We had a fabulous time,” Black said. “We did everything. We went to Bailey’s woods and had the picnics and, of course, the discussions and seminars were spectacular. We all were English majors so we really enjoyed that and being together.”

Black never met Faulkner. She saw him shopping once when she was a student at Ole Miss but feels she knows him through his stream-of-consciousness writing style. Of all his books, some of which she has read several times, her favorites are “Absalom Absalom,” “Go Down Moses” and the Snopes trilogy.

“I love his work. It seems to me that he writes like all of us think. It’s spidery and it goes off in all sorts of directions at the same time,” said Black, who has lectured on Faulkner to freshman English students at Holmes Junior College in Jackson, Mississippi.

“I would recommend that the female students read ‘A Rose for Emily’ because I knew that everyone would like that and then for the male students I would recommend ‘The Bear’ – it’s stunning for guys.”

Sandy met her husband, John Black, at a fraternity rush party at Ole Miss. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Ole Miss in 1961 and a master’s degree in accountancy in 1962. In college, he was a Taylor Medalist and member of Omicron Delta Kappa academic honorary and Phi Delta Theta fraternity. They were married in 1963 and have three adult children and eight grandchildren.

Now retired, John Black owned HCM Inc. of Jackson, an organization that primarily operates nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

Sandy Black said, in addition to reading books by Faulkner and J.R.R. Tolkien, she enjoys gardening, cooking, playing bridge and collecting regional art. Most recently, the couple has helped their son, Johnny Black, campaign for a seat in the Mississippi House of Representatives.

In 2015, the Blacks made an $11 million gift to the University of Mississippi Medical Center, the largest private gift received by UMMC in a single year on record. Since then, the Blacks also made a major gift to renovate the guest house at the chancellor’s home on campus and they consistently support Ole Miss Athletics.

“We couldn’t be more thrilled with Sandy’s gift to the university and we greatly appreciate her vision in desiring that future generations of Faulkner fans fall in love with Rowan Oak as she has,” said Robert Saarnio, director of the University Museum and Historic Houses.

Curator Bill Griffith agreed: “Rowan Oak without its furniture would simply be Faulkner’s house. Thanks to Sandy Black, the property will remain his home.”

Home to Faulkner and his family for over 40 years, Rowan Oak was originally built in 1844, and stands on over 29 acres of land just south of the Square and campus in Oxford. The house is open most days and the grounds are open year-round, from dawn to dusk. There’s no fee to visit the grounds, but admission to tour the house is $5 cash.

For information on supporting culture and arts at Ole Miss, contact Rob Jolly, development officer, at 662-915-3085 or jolly@olemiss.edu. To make a gift, visit give.olemiss.edu.

Board of Trustees Presents Annual Diversity Awards

Posted on: March 1st, 2019 by erabadie

Medical Center administrator and former UM educator honored for service, statewide impact

FEBRUARY 28, 2019 BY STAFF REPORT

Dr. Steven Cunningham (left), chair of the IHL Diversity Committee, congratulates Michael Ryan, professor and associate dean for student affairs in the School of Graduate Studies in the Health Sciences at the UM Medical Center, on being named the 2019 Diversity Educator of the Year as they are joined by UM Interim Chancellor Larry Sparks and Dr. LouAnn Woodward, vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine. Photo courtesy IHL

The Mississippi board of trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning celebrated Black History Month with its annual Diversity Awards ceremony in Jackson. Campus and community leaders were recognized for their efforts in advancing diversity and encouraging understanding and respect.

Michael Ryan, professor and associate dean for student affairs in the School of Graduate Studies in the Health Sciences at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, was named the 2019 Diversity Educator of the Year. Retired educator and community volunteer Penny Sisson, a UM alumnus from Oxford, received the Karen Cummins Community Service Award.

“The Board of Trustees is honored to recognize Dr. Ryan and Mrs. Sisson,” said Dr. Steven Cunningham, chair of the board’s Diversity Committee. “They both demonstrate a tremendous capacity for helping others and have directed their talents and skills in ways that have made an incredible difference to countless individuals. They have helped our communities and our state become more inclusive places to live, work and raise a family.”

Sandra Cox-McCarty

Besides the Diversity Educator of the Year, the board also honored faculty from each of Mississippi’s public universities for advancing diversity at their institutions. Sandra Cox-McCarty, associate dean of the UM School of Law, was the Ole Miss honoree.

Sisson has taught Spanish in a variety of settings from pre-kindergarten through adult education, including at Oxford University School, elementary and secondary schools in Cambridge and Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, and in Grenada; and universities including UM and the University of North Carolina. She also has tutored students at Ole Miss and offered Spanish classes for the community of Oxford, incorporating cultural information, understanding and appreciation for similarities and differences throughout these classes.

She has taught English as a second language for the Oxford School District, volunteered her time and expertise to teach English to members of the Oxford community; and offered workshops for teachers explaining cultural differences. She has taught multicultural education for UM on both the Oxford and Tupelo campuses.

For more than 20 years, Sisson has worked in the Hispanic ministry at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, offering worship, teaching English classes and introducing the Hispanic community to a variety of social services available.

She formed a group at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, called International Friends, for women from a variety of countries. While meeting each week, the group toured many places in the community, including the public library, Southside Gallery and Azalea Gardens. Through the experiences, the members learned about cultural differences and worked on understanding and appreciating differences among the members.

Dr. Steven Cunningham (left), chair of the IHL Diversity Committee, congratulates retired educator Peggy Sisson on being honored with the board’s Karen Cummins Community Service Award. Photo courtesy IHL

Sisson has participated in the racial reconciliation training provided by the Diocese of Mississippi and worked with the racial reconciliation group at St. Peter’s to help make the church’s Rise and Shine Breakfast an example of what racial reconciliation work can achieve as participants come together for breakfast, fellowship and understanding as they enjoy their time together.

She has served as a translator and interpreter for the Honduras Medical Mission more than 25 times. She has lived in Palenque, Cardenas, Cholula and Tehuacan, Mexico, which has given her the perspective of being an outsider in a community and informed her desire to develop an inclusive mindset in the Oxford community. A native of Grenada, Sisson earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UM.

Ryan was named the 2019 Diversity Educator of the Year for his contributions to diversity and positive relations among all segments of the medical center campus and the broader community.

He has worked with the Medical Center since 2004, serving as assistant professor and associate professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, director of the School of Graduate Studies Discovery U Programs, director of the graduate program in physiology and biophysics, director of the Master of Biomedical Sciences program and as a research health scientist for the G.V. (Sonny) Montgomery Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Ryan has also worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Iowa.

In his nomination letter, Dr. Ralph H. Didlake, the Medical Center’s associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, summarized Ryan’s contributions: “Our enthusiasm for Dr. Ryan’s nomination is based on his substantive work to attract and mentor underrepresented students into the sphere of bioscience research. This is a critical diversity need and the institution is very proud of his efforts.”

Ryan has served as a mentor for many undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral underrepresented minority trainees and championed the careers of women and minorities in all phases of his professional career, including teaching, research, service and leadership. He has trained many minority high school and undergraduate students.

He has played a major role in increasing the number, quality and diversity of the student body at the Medical Center and has been awarded a National Institutes of Health R25 grant to promote a diverse biomedical research workforce in Mississippi, which has supported 40 underrepresented minority students from undergraduate institutions, many of them historically black colleges and universities.

The percentage of underrepresented minority students in doctoral programs at the Medical Center has nearly doubled, and Ryan has helped them in numerous ways, including preparing for their qualifying exams, serving on dissertation committees and counseling them when they have difficulties. Ryan advises approximately 65 students each year, of which 27 percent are underrepresented minority students and 55 percent are women.

Ryan has served as a leader and mentor in several programs that provide summer research experiences for K-12 students and undergraduate students, including the Summer Undergraduate Research Enrichment Program at the Medical Center. Under Ryan’s direction, the number of minorities in the SURE program has steadily increased from 12 percent to 35 percent.

His contributions to diversity and inclusion extend beyond the Medical Center into the community. He has organized and led community outreach events that bring science to elementary, middle and high school students, such as an outreach event at the Mississippi Children’s Museum and the Discovery U High School Program. Ryan has served as a mentor for the Base Pair Program with Murrah High School and on the Mississippi Children’s Museum’s Scientific Advisory Board.

Ryan is consistently rated as one of the top instructors in medical physiology and dental physiology and has been recognized with numerous awards for his work both inside the classroom and beyond, including election to the Norman C. Nelson Order of Teaching Excellence at the Medical Center and election as chair of the Water and Electrolyte Homeostasis Section of the American Physiological Society.

He also has received the Medical Center’s Gold Level Excellence in Research Award, the American Society of Hypertension Young Scholars Award, the UMMC Dental School All-Star Faculty Award and the Merck Young Investigator Award.

Ryan has been recognized for his efforts on diversity and inclusion initiatives with the A. Clifford Barger Underrepresented Minority Mentorship Award from the American Physiological Society, the UMMC Beacon Award and the Veteran’s Affairs Merit Award.

He graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from Cortland College and earned a doctoral degree in physiology and biophysics from the University of Buffalo. Ryan is a member of several professional associations, including the American Society of Gravitational and Space Biology, the American Physiological Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Heart Association, the Gulf Coast Physiological Society, the Biochemical Society and the UM Medical Center Group on Women in Medicine and Science.

Planned Gift Will Award UM Math and Science Departments Over $2 Million

Posted on: June 15th, 2018 by erabadie

Alumnus provides STEM support

Ken and Carol Lackey at home with Hunter

JUNE 15, 2018 By Bill Dabney

Having served as a university president among other high-level positions in the state of Oklahoma, University of Mississippi alumnus Ken Lackey of Tulsa knows first-hand the importance of private support to public institutions of higher learning.

“I’m at a point in my life where I needed to make decisions about my estate, so after a thorough review of my plan and provisions for my wife and daughter, I thought of Ole Miss,” said Lackey, who with his wife, Carol, recently designated UM as the beneficiary of a planned gift estimated at more than $2 million. The gift will support the departments of mathematics and science within the College of Liberal Arts.

“Science and mathematics have played an important role in my life, and today science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are both the current underpinning and future of our society,” said Lackey, who earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from UM in 1965 followed by a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Texas in Austin.

“Ole Miss is lucky to have a chancellor who is grounded in and committed to STEM. I wanted to make a commitment which would place my goals in parallel with his vision for the university,” he continued.

Ole Miss Chancellor Jeffrey Vitter says the feeling is mutual: “We are fortunate to have esteemed alumni like Ken Lackey who know how private support strengthens our academic programs as well as our standing among our peer institutions nationwide. We greatly appreciate the Lackeys’ passion in designating this generous gift to our great university.”

The Lackeys hope their gift will encourage more individuals to select Ole Miss for the quality of STEM offerings.

“A gift of this magnitude will help transform our math and science departments by making them more competitive. Specifically, we will be able to better attract outstanding faculty members. Growing the strength of our faculty will help both our research and teaching missions,” College of Liberal Arts Dean Lee M. Cohen said. “We are extremely grateful to Ken and Carol for their generosity and support.”

A Jackson, Mississippi, native, Lackey enrolled at UM in 1962 and moved into Barr Hall (B).

“Barr B was a subculture within the university and we had lots of fun. Even though I joined a fraternity, some of my best personal relationships were made at Barr B,” said Lackey, whose dorm buddies include Netscape founder Jim Barksdale of Jackson and Palm Beach, Florida, attorney John Gary.

At Ole Miss, Lackey received a U.S. Army commission through the Ole Miss ROTC and, after graduate school, served two years on active duty from 1967 to 1969. For his service, the first lieutenant was awarded the Army Commendation Medal.

Now, Lackey is chairman of the board and the former CEO and president of the Tulsa-based NORDAM Group, which provides a range of aerospace components, manufacturing and repair services for private, commercial and military aircraft.

Previously, Lackey served as president of the University of Oklahoma in Tulsa and senior vice president of the OU System from 1999 to 2001. He was a member of Gov. Frank Keating’s administration, serving as his chief of staff from 1997 to 1999. From 1995 to 1997, he served as the Oklahoma Cabinet Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Before his service in state government, Lackey held the position of president of Flint Industries, a privately-owned, international company with interests in oil and gas services, manufacturing and commercial construction. Earlier, he held management positions with Skelly Oil (NYSE) and Kin-Ark Corp. (ASE). He continues to serve on a number of business and community boards in Tulsa.

Carol Lackey, a native of Columbus, Nebraska, graduated from the University of Nebraska and has enjoyed a successful computer career, working for Apple and subsequently Sun Microsystems.

In their spare time, the couple enjoys easy weekends at their lake home in northeastern Oklahoma as well as traveling extensively. A fifth trip to Africa is next on the calendar.

The Ken and Carol Lackey Excellence Fund, a scholarship established by the Lackeys in 2012, is open to gifts from individuals and organizations. To contribute, send checks with the endowment name noted in the memo line to the University of Mississippi Foundation, 406 University Ave., Oxford, MS 38655; or visit www.umfoundation.com/makeagift.

For information on supporting STEM at Ole Miss, contact Denson Hollis, executive director of development, at 662-915-5092 or dhollis@olemiss.edu.

Planned gifts award donors membership in the 1848 Society, named for the year the university welcomed its first students. The society recognizes those who thoughtfully provide for the university through bequests and deferred gifts. For information on including Ole Miss in long-term estate planning, contact Sandra Guest at 662-915-5208 or sguest@olemiss.edu.

Alumna’s Gift Honors Parents, Supports Ole Miss Pride of the South

Posted on: May 8th, 2018 by erabadie

Pride of the South drum major Layne McGuire (center), the band’s graduate assistant Pam Crump Jackson (left) and band member Angela Davis-Morris pose for a picture in Knoxville, where Ole Miss played the University of Tennessee.

May 8, 2018 By J. Dillon Pitts

Layne McGuire

As former drum major for the University of Mississippi Band, Layne McGuire is used to having people follow her lead. In supporting the band with a recent gift, she hopes to inspire others to do the same.

“I was approached about making a gift to the university beyond my usual giving. When I found out the option of a scholarship was doable, I wanted to pursue it,” McGuire said. “I know from working with David Willson (director of University Bands) that scholarship money is always a challenge. This was a way to give back to something that has given me so much.”

Named in honor of her parents, the Vincent G. and Maxine McGuire Band Scholarship will be available to full-time entering freshmen band members, with first preference given to students from Oxford, Mississippi.

Now living in Charlotte, North Carolina, McGuire plays alto saxophone and serves as treasurer of the Charlotte Concert Band. She also rings and serves as secretary of the Charlotte Bronze Handbell Ensemble.

“The college band experience is totally different from high school, and I have many friends who tell me they would have kept playing had they continued after high school. I think part of the reason that I still play is that I never stopped. So I hope the scholarship helps recruit a student who might otherwise decide to put their horn away,” McGuire said.

Willson said the Pride of the South could not exist without private support like McGuire’s.

“We live in a state that has a small band population compared to most SEC schools and we have eight universities, 15 community colleges, four private schools and out-of-state schools competing for musicians, and trust me, they know the market,” Willson said. “Without being competitive in the marketplace we cannot compete with even modest quality.”

“The mid- to upper-level players are essential to having the large marching band and excellent basketball pep bands,” Willson continued. “The Ole Miss Band operates with one of the lowest budgets in the conference and private donations help us maintain a margin of excellence.”

McGuire graduated from Oxford High School before continuing her education at Ole Miss. An accomplished student, McGuire’s membership in the UM band segued into a scholarship and, by the time she graduated, she was the drum major.

“I have been in band since the sixth grade and it was such a huge part of my college experience,” McGuire said. “I loved band and my band directors were some of my biggest influences.”

In college, McGuire also was a member of Alpha Lambda Delta, Zeta Tau Alpha sorority and the Air Force ROTC.

“Layne was one of the first students I met on campus and I hold her in the highest regards,” Willson said. “Layne had a clear understanding on the state of the band and helped guide me through the first three years. Her love for this band is enough to motivate anyone around her to do the same.”

McGuire graduated from Ole Miss with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics in 1990 and a master’s degree in history in 1992. She then taught junior high and high school math in the South Panola County, Mississippi, School District before returning to UM to attain a master’s degree in accountancy in 1999.

She has since worked as a consultant for the accounting firms of PwC, BDO, Ernst & Young and Dixon Hughes Goodman, and now leads the community banking internal audit and regulatory compliance practice in the Carolinas for RSM.

The Ole Miss Band has had a tradition of excellence since 1928. In 2014, the Pride of the South Marching Band reached its largest enrollment in school history at 315 members.

“The gift Layne McGuire established will directly support students in the Pride of the South Band and we are extremely grateful for her generosity,” said Denson Hollis, executive director of development. “The band is an integral part of the university’s fan experience and elevates the level of enthusiasm and school pride wherever it performs. Gifts to the band directly affect its ability to grow and thrive.”

The Vincent G. and Maxine McGuire Band Scholarship is open to gifts from individuals and organizations. To contribute, send checks with the endowment name noted in the memo line to the University of Mississippi Foundation, 406 University Ave., University, MS 38655; or visit www.umfoundation.com/makeagift.

For more information on ways to support the Pride of the South, contact Denson Hollis at 662-915-5092 or dhollis@olemiss.edu.

Award Recipients to be Recognized During Black Alumni Reunion Gala

Posted on: February 26th, 2018 by erabadie

Alumni Association to present slate of honors at sold-out event

FEBRUARY 24, 2018 BY MDIGGS

Donald Cole | Photo by Robert Jordan/ Communications

The Ole Miss Alumni Association is recognizing 13 distinguished alumni as part the University of Mississippi’s 2018 Black Alumni Reunion.

The awards include the Dr. Jeanette Jennings “Trailblazer” Award, The Rev. Wayne Johnson Community and Civic Award, the Alumni Achievement Award and the Celebrated Athlete Award.

The Alumni Association hosts a sold-out gala for the honorees at 6 p.m. Saturday (March 3) at The Inn at Ole Miss. Leadership, lifetime achievement and legacy awards also will be presented at the event.

“The Black Alumni Reunion, as well as the gala, have grown tremendously,” said Kirk Purdom, the association’s executive director. “The 2018 awards gala will be our largest ever, and it offers an opportunity to celebrate history and honor some outstanding alumni, in addition to providing classmates a great opportunity to reunite.”

The Dr. Jeanette Jennings “Trailblazer” Award recognizes Ole Miss alumni who served a vital role in the progress of black faculty, staff, alumni and/or students on the Ole Miss campus. Jennings came to UM in 1970 as the university’s first black faculty member.

Donald Cole (PhD mathematics 85) and Jacquline Vinson (BBA 01, MA 10) are the 2018 recipients.

As the university’s assistant provost and associate professor of mathematics, Cole plays an active leadership role in policymaking, teaching, research and diversification at UM. More than 40 minority doctoral degrees in a variety of disciplines are attributed to his grants, teaching and mentorship.

Vinson is project coordinator for the Louis Stokes Mississippi Alliance for Minority Participation IMAGE program and co-principal investigator of the Bridge STEM program. She was married to the late Theopolis P. Vinson and continues her husband’s legacy on the Ole Miss campus with a scholarship endowment in his name for minority students in the School of Education.

The Rev. Wayne Johnson Community and Civic Award recognizes exceptional service by Ole Miss alumni through commitment to their community in a civic, ministerial or volunteer capacity. An Oxford native, Johnson was instrumental in founding the Oxford Development Association.

Dr. Rashad Ali

This year’s recipients are Dr. Rashad Ali (BA chemistry and zoology 81, MD 85), Barbara L. Howard (BA biological science 92, MEd 94) and Reginald H. Turner (BBA 92).

Ali, who has more than 27 years of experience as an OB-GYN physician and is a highly regarded surgeon, is chief executive officer of the Family Health Center of Laurel. He continues to show his concerns for health care in Mississippi by collaborating with the nonprofit housing organization Community Connections Inc., and has contributed more than $250,000 to ensure that quality housing is available to qualified residents of south central Mississippi.

Barbara L. Howard

Howard is founder and director of Hearts Desire Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides educational resources to the community. One of her major projects is the Books to Prisons Ministry, where she provides Christian literature to prison libraries for incarcerated men and women. She is an assistant professor at Jackson State University and author of the books “Wounded Sheep: How to Calm a Storm” and “Wounded Sheep: How to Heal Church Hurt.”

Turner has more than two decades of experience in academia as a professor, academic dean, chief academic officer, chief student affairs officer and, ultimately, as president of Westwood College-Northlake in Atlanta. He has earned numerous awards including Adjunct Faculty of the Year, Staff Member of the Year and Administrator of Year. Turner has been inducted into Morehouse College’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. International Collegium of Scholars and awarded a congressional medal for Outstanding Community Service.

The Alumni Achievement Award recognizes Ole Miss alumni for exceptional achievement in their chosen professional field. This award acknowledges the entrepreneurial spirit, corporate prowess and dedication to succeed exemplified by alumni or former students.

Rose Jackson Flenorl (BAEd 79) and Markeeva Morgan (BSEE 01) are recipients of this award.

Morgan is a senior manager for avionics, guidance, navigation and control, and software at the Boeing Co. after serving nearly two decades in military and federal civil service. He is a PMI-certified project management professional who teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in management, leadership and organizational theory at the University of Alabama at Huntsville. Morgan is pursuing a doctorate in systems engineering from George Washington University.

The Celebrated Athlete Award recognizes former Ole Miss student-athletes or coaches for success in the field of athletics after their UM tenure. This year’s recipients are Peggie Gillom-Granderson (BSW 80), Terrence Metcalf (BBA 16) and Robert “Ben” Williams (BBA 76).

Gillom-Granderson led the Ole Miss women’s basketball team to the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women State Tournament Championships in 1978 and ’79. She is Ole Miss’ all-time leading scorer with 2,486 points and rebounder with 1,271 rebounds, and also served 16 seasons as an assistant coach to Van Chancellor. As an assistant coach for USA Basketball, she helped guide the 1999 U.S. Pan American Games team to a bronze medal and the 2000 U.S. Olympic team to a gold medal. She was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.

Metcalf, a fan favorite on the Ole Miss Rebel football team from 1997 to 2001, is assistant head coach and offensive line coach at Pearl River Community College. He was selected the 2001 SEC Most Valuable Lineman and was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American in 2001. Metcalf was inducted in the Class of 2017 SEC Legends. After playing seven seasons with the Chicago Bears, he finished his pro career in 2010 with the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints.

UM Alumna Receives Prestigious Teaching Award

Posted on: February 15th, 2018 by erabadie

February 15, 2018 | By Nathan Towery for the University of Mississippi Graduate School

Torina Lewis teaches a class during her time at the University of Mississippi. Photo by Kevin Bain

Torina Lewis. Photo by Kevin Bain/Ole Miss Communications

Torina D. Lewis, Ph.D., received the Vulcan Teaching Excellence Award earlier this year. Lewis is a University of Mississippi alumna and an assistant professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Clark Atlanta University.

The prestigious award is given every year by Vulcan Materials Co. through the Georgia Independent College Association. It is given to the faculty member in Georgia who demonstrates the highest levels of leadership and scholarship inside and outside the classroom.

“Dr. Lewis’ effectiveness in the classroom is a shining example of the caliber of instruction and the level of challenge that students can expect at Clark Atlanta,” said Ronald A. Johnson, Clark Atlanta University’s president. “Her passion and enthusiasm give depth and hue to the university’s culture and are an essential building block in creating our global pipeline of scholarship, discovery, innovation and entrepreneurship.”

Lewis started off her academic career at Southern University in New Orleans, where she received a B.A. in general studies in 2003. She followed that with an M.S. in mathematics at Southern University in Baton Rouge in 2006. In 2010, she received her Ph.D. in mathematics from UM.

She joined the Bethune-Cookman University’s staff as a tenure-track assistant professor in mathematics after completion of her doctorate in 2010. She then became a visiting professor at UM. In 2013, she joined the faculty at Clark Atlanta as a tenure-track assistant professor in mathematics.

Lewis mentored the student winner of CAU’s 2017 Undergraduate Research Symposium and is also the recipient of CAU’s Aldridge-McMillan Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Her publications include “Bicircular Matroid Designs” (with McNulty, Neudauer, Reid and Shepardson) in Ars Combinatoria, 2013); “Square Functions as a Dynamic System” (with Ronald Mickens, Ph.D.) in Proceedings of Dynamic Systems and Applications, 2015) and her current work, “The Construction of the Inscribed Polygonal Periodic Functions,” which is funded by the National Science Foundation. She is collaborating with Mickens of Clark Atlanta University and Nancy Neudauer of Pacific University on this work.

Lewis is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi, Gamma Beta Phi and Pi Mu Epsilon honor societies; the National Association of Mathematicians; and Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education.

ALUMNI PROFILE: Chris Presley

Posted on: December 13th, 2017 by erabadie

December 13, 2017 By Bethany Fitts for the Ole Miss Alumni Association

Chris Presley

When Chris Presley (BA biology ’12) needs encouragement and inspiration to face life’s obstacles, he listens to songs like Andra Day’s “Rise Up” in which Day sings, “I’ll rise up. I’ll rise like the day. I’ll rise up. I’ll rise unafraid.” Presley’s recent placement on the St. Louis Business Journal’s “30 Under 30” list, which recognizes top people within any profession who are considered rising leaders within the community, is a testament that Presley took Day’s lyrics to heart.

“That was a big highlight—knowing that I’ve only been in St. Louis for about three and a half years [while] most of the people on that list were from St. Louis. That let me know that I had made contributions to St. Louis that people were starting to see,” Presley said.

After moving to St. Louis, he was moved by the tragedies within Ferguson and joined the Urban League Young Professionals (ULYP) to join the movement for social change. Moreover, Presley served the St. Louis area on community boards as vice president of finance for Urban League Young Professionals of Metropolitan and is past president of the St. Louis Ole Miss Alumni Club. Presley was also the youngest employee in the business school at St. Louis’s Washington University where he helped lead the undergraduate business program from a number four to a number one ranking.

Now in his second year as a Ph.D. student at Saint Louis University, he is well on his way to becoming a senior-level administrator in higher education with a goal of improving access, retention and success for students regardless of their background.

“This may sound weird, but a lot of what’s inspired me is the chaos that’s going on around America and knowing that I can make a positive impact not only on people that I’m around but also on future generations to kind of mold and shape them,” Presley said.

Presley’s success is no surprise, because he was a hard worker during his years at Ole Miss. He didn’t initially think he would attend the university due to its proximity to home, but he eventually came around due to the influence of Dr. Donald Cole (PhD ’85), an assistant provost and associate professor of mathematics, who encouraged him to pursue a degree in biology and who opened his eyes to the opportunities he had access to at the university.

Another selling point for Presley was the university’s marching band. He loved the Pride of the South and became a drum major during his junior year.

“I knew that I wanted to be in the marching band, “Presley said. “I auditioned and got a scholarship, and from the first day I fell in love with the Pride of the South. It was a great experience to lead the band and conduct the band at the football games and to be among 60,000 fans.”

Outside of the marching band Presley was a 2012 Campus Favorite, an Ole Miss Women’s Council scholar and an IMATE scholar. The IMATE program, which is an acronym for Increasing Minority Access to Graduate Education, serves underrepresented minorities who are interested in STEM fields.

“As a biology student I was part of [the IMATE] program,” Presley said. “It really helped me gain leadership skills but also exposed me to different areas to do research and to think about pursuing the next level of my education.”

The IMATE program’s dedication to promoting minority access impacted Presley beyond his years as an Ole Miss undergraduate. In fact, his commitment to diversity and inclusion led him to be chosen as one of only five employees at Washington University to participate in the 2015 Global Diversity Overseas Seminar, a nine-month professional development opportunity.

Since Presley’s trip to Seoul, South Korea, he has been a strong advocate for international and minority students, leading to his recognition as Advisor of the Year and a teaching role for an Identity Literacy course. Moreover, he recently launched the Olin Fleischer Scholars Program, a summer program for underrepresented students in high school to gain exposure to business majors and professions.

“I’m always very fulfilled when I’m talking to someone who never knew that one of the programs I established was an option for them,” Presley said. “And then once they go through the programs, being able to see how their attitude has changed when they continue to keep in contact with me and ask even more questions and when I see them reaching the goals they set for themselves–it’s very rewarding.”

Presley’s mission is to eliminate any obstacles people might face in pursuing their education and to help create a reality for people who may have never envisioned the opportunities available to them.

“I want to let people know that regardless of their background, whether it be socioeconomic status or race or religion or sexual orientation, they can achieve whatever goals they set for themselves,” Presley said.

Presley currently leads the operations team and manages the enrollment aspects for prospective MBA students at the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, an alliance of 19 top-tier MBA programs across the country. The Consortium’s mission is to enhance diversity and inclusion in global business education and leadership. In the future, he would like the option to teach and be a senior level administrator and, “maybe return to Mississippi.”

Doctoral Alumna Uses Math for Public Good

Posted on: May 19th, 2017 by erabadie

$Carla Cotwright-Williams, Ph.D.$

Carla Cotwright-Williams (PhD mathematics ’06)

In 2014, Carla Cotwright-Williams (PhD mathematics ’06) worked as the technical lead on a million-dollar federal contract to assess data quality in a Department of Homeland Security data system, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. At present, she serves as the Hardy-Apfel IT Fellow for the Social Security Administration. She cites communication as both a large part of her responsibilities and a significant factor in her success.

The communication skills her professors had admired so early on had deep roots. What began with her experience working alongside Maurice Eftink [former graduate school dean, associate provost emeritus, and professor emeritus of chemistry and biochemistry] with the IMAGE program, a National Science Foundation-funded program to expose children of color to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) graduate studies, only flourished in her many roles as the communicator of data to laypeople.

She knows all too well the difficulty people often face in trying to convey scientific or mathematical information to people from other fields.

“It’s a big challenge in mathematics and other STEM fields,” she said. “We’re not always the best communicators. And so the rest of the world can’t always appreciate what we do. But I like to say I’m using my math to help the public.”

And Cotwright-Williams is certainly helping the very young people, specifically young women of color, who will one day follow in her footsteps.

“I didn’t meet a black woman mathematician until I was in grad school,” she said.

But thanks to women like her, the face of the world is changing.

“We’re no longer hidden figures that are trying to make an impact on the world.”

Read the full alumna profile of Carla Cotwright-Williams in the 2017 University of Mississippi Graduate School summer newsletter>>