Estate Gift to Support Active Learning Facility
Participants in the Mississippi Bridge STEM Program take notes in a class led by UM mathematics instructor Kelvin Holmes.
JUNE 4, 2019 BY BILL DABNEY
A recent unrestricted gift to the University of Mississippi from the estate of Maurice Lucas Kellum of Tupelo, Mississippi, is being directed to support construction of a leading student-centered science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) building on the Oxford campus.
University leaders have a vision for the 200,000-square-foot-plus building to be an important tool to bolster science literacy in Mississippi by providing active learning classrooms and state-of-the-art labs to prepare STEM majors and K-12 teachers of those subjects. The building will help address the critical need to increase STEM graduates and support growth in the state, regional and national tournament.
Kellum’s gift of $187,025 will help offset building costs associated with the $150 million project, which is poised to be the crown jewel of the university’s Science District along University Avenue.
Maurice Lucas Kellum
Kellum, who died in October 2017, was married for 56 years to the late Dr. William Carl “Bill” Kellum Sr., a 1950 UM graduate. He was the first board-certified internal medicine specialist in Tupelo and served as the chief of staff of the North Mississippi Medical Center. He was also a U.S. Army veteran who served in World War II.
Maurice Lucas Kellum dedicated her life to her family and her church. The Kellums had six children, 14 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren – several of whom are Ole Miss graduates.
UM Provost Noel Wilkin believes Mississippi’s future workforce projections suggest a great need for professionals with degrees in STEM fields.
“Our science facilities at Ole Miss have served us well for decades and we are now faced with space needs for a student enrollment that has soared in the last decade and a half,” he said. “In addition, we need academic spaces that encourage more engagement; the new facility will focus on active learning spaces that better facilitate the work of students and faculty members.”
“The new STEM building is designed as a premier educational facility that will allow us to expand and enhance our ability to prepare students to become recognized professionals in these fields.”
In addition to the STEM facility, the UM Science District includes Coulter Hall (chemistry), Thad Cochran Research Center (National Center for Natural Products Research, Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and School of Pharmacy); Faser Hall (pharmacy); Shoemaker Hall (biology); Hume Hall (mathematics); Carrier, Anderson and Brevard halls (engineering), the Kennon Observatory and Lewis Hall (physics and astronomy); and the Haley Barbour Center for Manufacturing Excellence.
The planned UM science, technology, engineering and mathematics building will be an important tool to bolster science literacy in Mississippi by providing active learning classrooms and state-of-the-art labs to prepare STEM majors and K-12 teachers of those subjects. The 200,000-plus-square-foot facility is poised to be the crown jewel of the university’s Science District along University Avenue.
A major pedestrian artery through the Science District is to be named in honor of the Gertrude C. Ford Foundation, which has contributed nearly $54 million to the university, including funds for STEM building construction. Ford Way will run between University Avenue and All American Drive just north of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, which includes the location for the new STEM building.
Kellum’s estate gift awarded her membership in the 1848 Society, named for the year the university opened the Lyceum doors to its first students. The society recognizes alumni and friends who provide for the university through planned and deferred gifts.
For information on including Ole Miss in your estate, contact Byron Liles, senior director of gift planning, at byron@olemiss.eduor 662-915-7601.