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Spring 2013

Memphis Mayor AC Wharton travels long, rewarding road

UM, MSU place rivalry aside to develop joint teaching program

International GatewayCroft Institute gives students competitive edge

International GatewayCroft Institute gives students competitive edge

A l u M n i R e v i e w

features

A L U M N I R E V I E W

Vol. 62 No. 2Spring 2013

On the cover: Kees Gispen, executive director of the Croft Institute for International Studies, sends students out into the world from the Croft Institute building porch.

Photo by Nathan Latil

6 From the CirCle the latest on ole miss students, faculty, staff and friends

16 Calendar

44 sports Basketball team wins seC title Bjork earns contract extension

46 arts and Culture

48 reBel traveler

52 alumni news

departments

International GatewayCroft institute gives students competitive edgeBy reBeCCa lauCk Cleary

20

28

34

In the Driver’s Seat memphis mayor aC wharton travels long, rewarding roadBy tom speed

Education Alliesum, msu place rivalry aside to develop joint teaching program By andrew mark aBernathy

Recipe for Successalumna works for emeril in the Big easyBy annie rhoades

40

on the cover

2 Alumni Review

from the Ole Miss Alumni ReviewPublisher

Timothy L. Walsh (83)

editor

Jim Urbanek II (97)jim@olemiss.edu

AssociAte editor And Advertising director

Tom Speed (91)tom@olemiss.edu

contributing editor

Benita Whitehorn

editoriAl AssistAnt

Brandon Irvine

designer

Eric Summers

corresPondents

Kevin Bain (98), Tobie Baker (96), Rebecca Lauck Cleary (97), Lexi Combs,

Mitchell Diggs (82), Jay Ferchaud, Michael Harrelson, Robert Jordan (83),

Nathan Latil, Jack Mazurak, Deborah Purnell (MA 02)

Edwin Smith (80), Matt Westerfield

officers of the university of MississiPPi AluMni AssociAtion

Bill May (79), president

Richard Noble (68),president-elect

Larry Bryan (74),vice president

Mike Glenn (77),athletics committee member

Sam Lane (76),athletics committee member

AluMni AffAirs stAff, oxford

Timothly L. Walsh (83), executive directorJoseph Baumbaugh, systems analyst III

Clay Cavett (86), associate directorMartha Dollarhide, systems programmer

IISheila Dossett (75), senior associate

directorJulian Gilner (04), assistant directorSarah Kathryn M. Hickman (03),

assistant director for marketing Port Kaigler (06), alumni assistant and

club coordinatorAnnette Kelly (79), accountant

Tom Speed (91), publications editorScott Thompson (97), assistant directorJim Urbanek (97), assistant director for

communicationsRusty Woods (01), assistant director for

information servicesJames Butler (53), director emeritus

Warner Alford (60), executive director emeritus

The Ole Miss Alumni Review (USPS 561-870) is published quarterly by The University of

Mississippi Alumni Association and the Office of Alumni Affairs. Alumni Association offices

are located at Triplett Alumni Center, 651 Grove Loop, University, MS 38677.

Telephone 662-915-7375.AA-10504

Dear Alumni and Friends,

Even as the excitement of the SEC Tournament and all of “March Madness” fades into memory, this is shaping up as one of the most extraordinary spring seasons ever for the Universi-ty of Mississippi. Over the past few months, the Rebel hoopsters have given us plenty of thrills with several great wins and a stir-ring run through the conference tournament, but they’re not the only ones who have made their mark on this university and the state it represents.

Early last month, more than a thousand of our students spent a Saturday raking leaves, shelving books, painting, clearing brush and working with youth as part of the Big Event, an annual day of service for the Oxford-Lafayette County community. This year’s Big Event included dozens of projects benefiting individuals and

organizations, and it gave students and residents a chance to get to know one another. This year-ly day of service has proven to be life-changing for both student volunteers and recipients of their efforts, and it has helped make our community a better place for all.

Other students have taken the concept of service even further. Several students spent their spring break helping out in Mississippi Delta communities with

AmeriCorps VISTA workers as part of an Alternative Spring Break project. Another group of students spent spring break cleaning buildings, raking leaves and performing other chores at homeless and women’s shelters on the Gulf Coast, a project organized by the university’s Depart-ment of Student Housing. And several Ole Miss football players spent their break in the Central American nation of Panama, where they helped feed the homeless and worked with children as part of a Fellowship of Christian Athletes-organized effort.

It’s not just our students but also our faculty and staff who are making a dramatic difference in our state and world.

Recently, we learned the amazing story of a Mississippi toddler born infected with HIV but who shows no sign of the infection two-and-a-half years later, thanks to the pioneering care of Dr. Hannah Gay. A pediatric HIV specialist at the UM Medical Center, Dr. Gay gave the baby a faster and stronger treatment than usual at birth, and medical experts say the swift action cured the child. Dr. Gay has been lauded for her work, but her focus was simply on providing the best possible care for her patient. In the process, her commitment and creativity may lead to an advance that helps untold numbers of patients around the world.

Many more examples of outstanding service and dedication can be found across all our cam-puses, and there’s much more to come. Commencement is only days away, and a whole new class of graduates is preparing to go out into the world to make its mark. These graduates’ creativity, dedication and passion will make a lasting imprint both on Ole Miss and on the world.

Please join me in applauding them.

Sincerely,

Daniel W. Jones (MD 75)Chancellor

Ole Miss Alumni ReviewPublisher

Timothy L. Walsh (83, 91)

editor

Jim Urbanek II (97)jim@olemiss.edu

AssociAte editor And Advertising director

Annie Rhoades (07, 09)annie@olemiss.edu

contributing editor

Benita Whitehorn

Art director

Amy Howell

contributors

Andrew Mark Abernathy (08, 10), Kevin Bain (98), Rebecca Lauck Cleary (97),

Mitchell Diggs (82), Jay Ferchaud, Tina Hahn, Robert Jordan (83), Barbara Lago (82),

Nathan Latil, Jack Mazurak, Edwin Smith (80, 93), Tom Speed (91, 03)

officers of the university of MississiPPi AluMni AssociAtion

Larry Bryan (74)president

Jimmy Brown (70)president-elect

Trentice Imbler (78)vice president

Kimsey O’Neal Cooper (94)athletics committee member

T. Michael Glenn (77)athletics committee member

AluMni AffAirs stAff, oxford

Timothy L. Walsh (83, 91), executive director

Joseph Baumbaugh, systems analyst IIIAllie Bush (12), Web developer

Clay Cavett (86), associate directorMartha Dollarhide, systems programmer II

Sheila Dossett (75), senior associate directorJulian Gilner (04, 07), assistant director

Port Kaigler (06), alumni assistant and senior club coordinator

Annette Kelly (79), accountantSteve Mullen (92), assistant director

for marketingAnnie Rhoades (07, 09), publications editor

Anna Smith (05), alumni assistant and club coordinator

Scott Thompson (97, 08), assistant directorJim Urbanek (97), assistant director

for communicationsRusty Woods (01), associate director

for information servicesJames Butler (53, 62), director emeritus

Warner Alford (60, 66), executive director emeritus

The Ole Miss Alumni Review (USPS 561-870) is published quarterly by the University of

Mississippi Alumni Association and the Office of Alumni Affairs. Alumni Association offices

are located at Triplett Alumni Center, 651 Grove Loop, University, MS 38677.

Telephone 662-915-7375. 109935

Chancellor

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4 Alumni Review

Presidentfrom the

Dear Alumni and Friends,

As the 2012-13 school year winds down, I believe most of you would agree that this has been an outstanding year for our university. Whether measured by independent rank-ings or by the overall vibe among Ole Miss people, we seem to be on a roll. With positive momentum on so many fronts, I believe that our best is still to come.

I realized that serving as president of our Alumni Asso-ciation would allow me to better understand the depth and breadth of all that goes on at Ole Miss, but I am somewhat overwhelmed after experiencing this role for six months. Except for a short time around winter break, numerous activities take place on our campus all the time. A recent highlight for me was the opportunity to meet with our club leaders from around the country, who came together to enhance what is happening in each of the 64 local clubs. Leaders came from all over Mississippi, as well as Boston, New York, Minnesota, San Antonio, Houston, Atlanta and many other cities and towns.

Along those same lines, the Student Hall of Fame reunion in early March brought back a large number of outstanding alumni. In many conversations during those two weekends, the prevailing message was how much these alumni treasure their time spent at Ole Miss, and it was obvious that they still love their university.

Another recent highlight for me was spending time with members of a freshman leadership group. This group was impressive, engaged and excited to be at Ole Miss, and I left this meeting feeling great about the future student leadership at Ole Miss. I have also been fortunate to get to know many of our upper-class student leaders, who are working hard to ensure that current students have the same positive experience that most of us enjoyed. These student leaders face many challenges with a larger and more diverse student body than ever before, and it is impressive to see their passion to do what is best for our university.

In closing, I would like to thank the Class of 2013 for its many contributions to the growth and success of Ole Miss during its tenure. I especially applaud these stu-dents’ class gift: the Daniel W. Jones, M.D. Service Before Self Scholarship Fund. Chancellor Jones has worked diligently to make service a meaningful part of the Ole Miss DNA, and our graduating class’s recognition of the importance of service will provide additional momentum to his goal.

I look forward to the 2013-14 school year being our best yet, and I trust all of us will do whatever we can to make this happen.

Best regards,

Larry H. Bryan (BBA 74)

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The laTesT on ole Miss sTudenTs, faculTy, sTaff and friends

caption

Phot

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Jay F

erch

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Selfless GestureCHANCELLOR HONORED FOR LIFETIME OF SERVICE LEADERSHIP

University of Mississippi Chan-cellor Dan Jones (MD 75) has made service to others an inte-

gral part of everything he does, starting as a medical missionary in South Korea and continuing through his tenure at the UM Medical Center. Since becoming chancel-lor in 2009, he has worked to make ser-vice part of the “Ole Miss DNA.”

In honor of his efforts, representa-tives of the university’s Class of 2013 surprised Jones in Jackson in February

with an announcement of a new scholar-ship fund paying tribute to his leadership in encouraging service activities.

The Daniel W. Jones, M.D. Service Before Self Scholarship Fund will be the living legacy of students who were

incoming freshmen when the chancellor began his tenure, says class president Jon Daniel McKiever of Jonesboro, Ark., a public policy leadership major. McKiever delivered the news at an Ole Miss alumni luncheon hosted at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.

“I will always remember Chancellor Jones as a man who continuously com-mitted himself to serve the university that I love and inspire students to serve both within the university and their own com-

munities,” McKiever said at the luncheon. Jones says he was “overwhelmed,

surprised and happy” when the students announced the gift to establish the fund.

“Anything that further embeds the commitment to service for the university

moves us forward, and it makes me very happy that there will be a scholar-ship, not because it bears my name but because it is going to be a scholarship focused on service,” he says.

A longstanding tradition is for the graduating class to leave a permanent gift to the university.

“The senior class took a significant amount of time in deciding what gift we desired to present,” McKiever says. “While it is true we were the first freshmen under Chancellor Jones, what made him a perfect candidate for the naming of our scholar-ships is his great passion for serving both the students and the university.”

The chancellor initiated the online service directory “Service DNA: Trans-formation is at our core” as part of his inauguration activities in 2010.

At that time, Jones said, “At the University of Mississippi, we have the opportunity and responsibility to move beyond the transformation of individual lives. We must purposefully participate in transforming our community, state, nation and world.”

Members of the Class of 2013 have been working on various projects to raise funds for the scholarship endowment. Individuals and organizations interested in contributing can mail contributions by check with the Daniel W. Jones, M.D. Service Before Self Scholarship Fund noted in the memo line to the University of Mississippi Foundation, P.O. Box 249, University, MS 38677 or online at www.umfoundation.com/makeagift. AR

Jon Daniel McKiever (left), president of the UM Class of 2013, congratulates Chancellor Dan Jones on the establishment of a scholarship fund in his honor and is accompanied by David Horton, treasurer, and Tyler McBeth, vice president. The three class officers surprised Jones with the announcement at an alumni club meeting in Jackson.

6 Alumni Review

Liver Transplant Program Revived‘THEY’VE GIVEN ME MY LIFE BACK,’ PATIENT SAYS OF UMMC TEAM

In an operation in March that gave a Jackson mother a new chance at life, a team at the University of Mississippi

Medical Center successfully completed the state’s first liver transplant in 22 years.

The transplant recipient, Karen Battle, received her new liver on March 4 and headed back to her south Jackson home on the 15th, says Dr. Christopher Anderson, UMMC associate professor of transplant surgery and division chief of transplant and hepatobiliary surgery.

“They’ve given me my life back,” Battle says of the university’s transplant team, the donor and donor’s family. “I’ve learned that you should celebrate every moment you have. If you’re holding back, waiting for something special, don’t. Live and enjoy it now.”

Battle contracted autoimmune hepa-titis in 2009, a condition that turned her immune system against her own liver, causing cirrhosis.

Through the last four years, she fought the disease with the help of specialists from Nashville to New Orleans. Despite those efforts, her condition worsened, and it became clear that Battle, 36, would eventually need a new liver.

More than a year ago, a specialist at Vanderbilt University put her in touch with Anderson, who had moved back to his native Mississippi from Washington University in St. Louis.

On arrival at UMMC, Anderson had begun building the team of specialists and meeting the regulatory requirements to restart UMMC’s liver transplant program.

“One person cannot do transplants. It takes a team of specialists — a hepatologist, surgeons, anesthesiologists — institutional support, commitment from administra-tion, nursing and support staff to make a transplant program work,” he says.

One of the physicians he hired is Dr. Brian Borg, associate professor of digestive diseases and the state’s only transplant hepatologist, who joined the team in August. Another is Dr. Mark Earl, assis-tant professor of transplant surgery.

At the end of January, the United

Network for Organ Sharing, the govern-ing body for organ transplantation in the U.S., approved UMMC’s liver transplant program.

Battle’s condition worsened through-out February to the point where she was admitted to UMMC’s Wallace Conerly Critical Care Hospital on Feb. 27 and was put on UMMC’s liver transplant list.

“She was in end-stage liver disease, and at that point many other organs are affected. Her kidneys had stopped producing urine. We recognized she was spiraling downward,” Anderson says.

“She was, in my opinion, straddling the fence of being a good candidate to even go through the procedure versus, if she gets much sicker, we’re going to have to say transplant’s not going to help.”

Only days after admitting and listing Battle, Anderson received a call saying a suitable liver was available, and Earl set off to procure it. At about 9:30 p.m. on March 4, transplant team members began prepping Battle to remove her severely damaged liver.

Earl returned with the donated organ, and the transplant continued, ending in the early morning hours of March 5.

“This was a complex case, and Karen’s condition was very fragile. For our first

case, we had wanted a more simple case, but our team worked together just like we’d wanted,” Anderson says.

Borg says the chances of Battle’s survival were very low if she had not received the organ.

Battle says she’s incredibly grateful to the donor and the donor’s family. Though privacy laws keep recipient and

donor families from directly exchang-ing names and contact information, third-party organizations such as the Mississippi Organ Recovery Agency can arrange that exchange if both sides agree.

The liver program marks the second-to-last step in building University Transplant’s complete abdominal trans-plant line. The team broke a UMMC record last year with 103 kidney trans-plants. Now, only pancreas transplanta-tion remains, which Anderson says may come later this year.

Anderson says he expects University Transplant will handle 10-15 liver trans-plants this year.

“There are a lot of unsung heroes here,” he says. “Transplant floor nurses, intensive care unit nurses, administration, dialysis nurses, blood bank staff, liver transplant coordinators and nephrologists were all key in making Karen’s case a success.” AR

The University of Mississippi Medical Center’s transplant team conducts the state’s first liver transplant in 22 years.

Photo by Jay Ferchaud

Spring 2013 7

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Improving More LivesKIDNEY TRANSPLANTS HIT UMMC RECORD IN 2012

Teams at the University of Mis-sissippi Medical Center trans-planted a record 103 kidneys last

year, a figure they could surpass in 2013 even while restarting liver transplanta-tions following a 22-year hiatus.

“This record stands as a bench-mark as we work toward becoming a complete abdominal-organ transplant c en t e r,” s a y s Dr. James Kee ton , UMMC vice chancellor for health affairs. “Our talented faculty and

staff members couldn’t have accom-plished this without the support of our partners at the Mississippi Organ Recovery Agency.”

The all-time high in kidney trans-plants allowed more patients to see dramatic quality-of-life improvements. As well, more patients could stay close to home for the major procedure than ever before, says Dr. Christopher Anderson, associate professor of sur-gery and division chief of transplant

and hepatobiliary surgery. “We’re extremely proud that we hit

this mark. It means advanced care is more available for Mississippians and that our transplant program’s capabilities have achieved a new level,” he says.

“We’re also pleased to see our success rate in these patients is on par with what you’d expect to see nationally.”

UMMC is the only health care facility in Mississippi that transplants organs. AR

Abdominal transplant team members include, front row from left, Ashley Seawright, nurse practitioner, Dr. Truman Earl, Dr. Fauzia Butt, Dr. Christopher Anderson, Dr. Iasmina Craici, Dr. Kenneth Kokko and Dr. Mehul Dixit, and back row from left, Dr. Brian Borg and Dr. Steven Wagner. Not pictured: Dr. Louis Juncos and Dr. Shirley Shlessinger.

Photo by Jay Ferchaud

8 Alumni Review

Medical BreakthroughRESEARCHERS DESCRIBE FIRST ‘FUNCTIONAL HIV CURE’ IN AN INFANT

The storm of interview requests from local, national and inter-national media hit in early

March after Dr. Hannah Gay (BA 76, MD 80) and her two collaborators dis-cussed their findings surrounding Gay’s functional curing of an HIV-infected child during a major infectious diseases conference in Atlanta.

“We’re extremely proud of Dr. Gay’s work and for all she’s done in her career to improve the lives of Missis-sippi’s children,” says Dr. James Keeton (BA 61, MD 65), UMMC vice chancellor for health affairs. “She’s the kind of physician who takes a deep personal interest in her patients and in moving forward HIV care in a careful, evidence-based way.”

In late summer 2010, medics transferred a newborn baby to the Blair E. Batson Hospital for Children from another Mississippi facility. The mother found out during labor that she was infected with HIV.

Gay, associate professor of pediatrics and an HIV special-ist, took over the infant’s care. Experience told her the child stood a high risk for infection. She decided to treat the infant, then just more than 30 hours old, with a three-drug antiretroviral therapeutic prescription.

Currently, high-risk new-borns — those born to mothers with poorly controlled infections or whose mothers’ HIV status is discovered around the time of delivery — receive a one-or-two-drug antiretroviral combi-nation at prophylactic — or protective — doses for six weeks. Only if infection is diagnosed do they begin therapeutic prescriptions.

Gay’s previous findings — and those of others in the field — pointed to better viral control with earlier intervention.

Tests returned a few days following birth confirmed an HIV infection.

Gay kept the infant on therapy for 18 months; then the child was lost to follow-up care. For five months, the child didn’t receive the medications. A team of case managers at the Mississippi State Department of Health worked to track down the child, as with many such cases.

When the child returned to her care, Gay says, she expected the viral loads to have spiked. Except they hadn’t. The

standard clinical blood test for HIV came back clean.

“My first thought was, ‘Oh no, I’ve been treating a child who wasn’t infected,’” she says.

However, looking back over the results from the baby’s first month of life, Gay saw no doubt, the child had been infected. Gay ordered tests for HIV-specific antibodies, the standard clinical indicator of HIV infection, and for HIV DNA, which detects the virus within infected cells. Both came back negative.

She contacted her friend Dr. Kath-erine Luzuriaga, an immunologist at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. The two then called on Johns Hopkins Children’s Center virologist Dr. Deborah Persaud.

Using ultrasensitive laboratory tests, the researchers verified Gay’s clinical results.

In their case report describing the world’s first case of a functional cure of

an HIV infection in an infant, the three theorized that quick administration of therapy kept the virus from establishing itself in the child.

The three submitted their abstract for the 20th Confer-ence on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in downtown Atlanta. Persaud presented it on March 4.

Luzuriaga said complete viral eradication is the big goal.

“Bu t , f o r now, [ tha t ] remains out of reach, and our best chance may come from aggressive, timely and precisely targeted use of antiviral thera-pies in high-risk newborns as a way to achieve functional cure,” Luzuriaga says.

The physicians called for research into early therapeutic treatment in high-risk babies.

“Our next step is to find out if this is a highly unusual response to very early anti-

retroviral therapy or is something we can actually replicate in other high-risk newborns,” Persaud says.

Gay says careful and thorough research would show whether that’s possible and that studies are already being designed. She emphasizes that not enough data exist to recommend chang-ing the current practice.

The child remains under Gay’s care and off antiretroviral medication. The mother and child have elected to remain anonymous. AR

Dr. Hannah Gay, a pediatric HIV specialist at the University of Mississippi Medical Center

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Spring 2013 9

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Minding the FactsSTUDY CONNECTS GENE VARIANTS TO MIDDLE-AGE COGNITIVE DECLINE

Scientists analyzing a gene linked to obesity and diabetes found that people with certain variants expe-

rienced more cognitive decline in middle age.

The findings, pub-lished Jan. 1 in the journal Neurology, add another element to an array that could someday chart risk profiles for each person’s likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s or dementia.

Just as importantly, those gene variants could become targets for drug developers i f further research shows a link between midlife cognitive decline and more serious late-life dementia.

“Ultimately we’d like to know more about risk factors that affect cognition

because the time to intervene is earlier rather than later,” says Dr. Thomas Mosley, professor of geriatric medicine

and director of the Memory Impairment and Neurodegenerative Dementia (MIND) Research Center.

Mosley and col-laborators at other institutions studied 2,083 African-Ameri-cans from the Jackson metro area and 8,364 Caucasians from North Carolina, Maryland and Minnesota.

The scientists knew from their earlier research that diabetes is related to cognitive decline, and other studies have linked obesity to cognitive decline. For those reasons, they focused on

an obesity- and diabetes-linked gene, FTO. In the last couple of years, the

researchers looked at four variants of FTO. While everyone has the FTO gene, not everyone has all four of the variants.

The scientists overlaid the cognition-test results with each participant’s FTO analysis. They found white Americans with two of the four gene variants had more change in their cognition than participants without those variants.

“We still don’t know whether that modest amount of cognitive change in midlife translates into increased risks for more clinically significant changes such as dementia in late life,” Mosley says. “We have an ongoing study to attempt to answer this question.”

Afr ican-Americans showed no changes associated with the gene vari-ants. As well, the results didn’t change when analyzed by other risk factors. AR

Mosley

NEW DIRECTOR NAMED AT PHYSICAL ACOUSTICS CENTER

Joseph R. Gladden III was selected as the new director of the National Center for Phys-ical Acoustics at the University of Mississippi.His appointment began Jan. 1, follow-

ing approval from the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning.

Gladden, an associate professor of physics, joined the UM faculty as an assis-tant professor in 2005 after earning his Ph.D. and working as a postdoctoral fellow at Pennsylvania State University. Before then, he worked three years as a physics instructor at the United World College in Montezuma, N.M. The United World College is an interna-tional school for gifted students representing about 70 countries with a network of 10 sis-ter campuses around the globe.

Alice Clark, UM vice chancellor of research and sponsored programs, says

she is confident that NCPA will continue to flourish under Gladden’s leadership.

“Dr. Gladden is a highly regarded

scholar, educator and leader in the field of physical acoustics,” Clark says. “NCPA will benefit from his national reputation, technical expertise, commitment to edu-cation and his proven leadership skills.”

Gladden says his vision is for the cen-ter to expand NCPA’s more than 20-year history of partnering with both the fed-eral government and private industry on research projects.

“There are many responsibilities, but perhaps the most important is to act as the public face for the NCPA,” Gladden says. “The director is responsible for con-veying the capabilities and achievements of the scientists and engineers at NCPA to all interested parties, which can range from other organizations on campus to the federal government to private industry.” AR

Gladden

10 Alumni Review

Best Crisis CommunicationsPR STUDENTS WIN COMPETITION AT JOURNALISM CONFERENCE

A team of three public relations stu-dents from the Meek School of Journalism and New Media won

first place in an on-site competition in Feb-ruary at the Southeastern Journalism Conference.

During the competition at Union University in Jack-son, Tenn., seniors Frances Allison of Birmingham, Ala., Jane Lloyd Brown of Baton Rouge, La., and Alyssa Randolph of Knox-ville, Tenn., were supplied details of a hypothetical hostage situation. They had just 90 minutes to develop a crisis communications plan for the scenario.

“When we walked in, we were a little intimidated and nervous, but by the

time we finished, we felt very confident in the plan we created,” Brown says.

Robin Street (BA 75, MA 85, MS 97), UM lecturer in journalism who

specializes in teaching PR, selected the students for the competition.

“They have repeatedly proven in class how bright and talented they are,” Street says.

“I was confident the judges would discover that as well.”

Other Ole Miss journal-ism students also placed in the competition. Second place for copy editing went to Austin Miller, a senior from Grayson, Ga. Third place in page design, news writing and editorial writing went, respectively, to Emily Roland, a senior from Merid-ian; Adam Ganucheau, a junior from Hazelhurst; and Phillip McCausland, a

senior from Carlisle, Pa., all members of the Daily Missis-sippian staff. AR

CRIME FICTION AUTHOR SELECTED AS GRISHAM WRITER-IN-RESIDENCE

Ahighly acclaimed mystery-crime fiction author has been selected as the 2013 John and Renée

Grisham Writer-in-Residence at the Uni-versity of Mississippi.

Megan Abbott is the Edgar-winning author of the novels Queenpin, The Song Is You, Die a Little and Bury Me Deep. Her newest novel, Dare Me, about the dark side of life for high school cheer-leaders, was published in July and has been optioned for a feature film by Fox 2000 Pictures.

“I feel very, very fortunate,” Abbott says of her selection. “When a writer pal of mine learned of my appointment, she said, ‘That’s my dream gig!’ And it’s mine too.”

Born in the Detroit area, Abbott grad-uated from the University of Michigan and received her doctorate in English and American literature from New York University. She has taught at NYU, the

State University of New York and the New School University. This year, she is teach-ing at the Crime Fiction Academy at New York City’s Center for Fiction.

Abbott has much to bring to campus as the first non-Southerner to be cho-sen, says Beth Ann Fennelly, director of the MFA program in creative writing and associate professor of English.

“The committee reviewed dozens of recently published books, searching for a candidate who is emerging and dynamic, someone who has a lot to give our stu-dents and someone also who would ben-efit from a year of writing time,” Fennelly says. “Her oeuvre is interesting in that she was initially known as a mystery-crime writer, but has such skill and liter-ary panache and background that she’s become more of a dual crossover writer.”

Abbott will teach a graduate work-shop in fall 2013 and an undergraduate workshop in spring 2014.

Her 2011 novel, The End of Every-thing, a crime novel set in suburban Michigan, made the Best Books of the Year lists for publications including Pub-lishers Weekly, The Boston Globe, Bal-timore City Paper and the Washington Examiner. AR

Abbott

A team of University of Mississippi public relations students brought home the top prize in a Southeastern student competition that required working on site. Pictured, left to right, are the students’ PR instructor, Robin Street, lecturer in journalism and public relations, and team members Jane Lloyd Brown, Frances Allison and Alyssa Randolph.

Spring 2013 11

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Beyond WordsMUSEUM EXHIBIT CAPTURES FAULKNER’S MYTHICAL LANDSCAPE ON FILM

Photographs depicting William Faulkner’s fictional Yoknapataw-pha County, shot in the 1960s by

former University of Mississippi faculty member Alain Desvergnes, are on display at the University Museum.

“The University of Mississippi Museum is exceptionally pleased to pres-ent the Yoknapatawpha photographs of French photographer Alain Desvergnes, and to welcome this artist back to north-ern Mississippi more than 45 years after he captured these compelling images,” says Robert Saarnio, museum director. “Alain’s photographs convey a time and a place both distant and strikingly familiar to those of us who live here, and we eagerly anticipate the opportunity to hear from him about this fascinating project.”

The exhibit will remain on display at the museum through Aug. 17.

Desvergnes was born in 1931 in the

Périgord region of France. After studies in journalism and sociology and stints as a reporter and art critic, he lived in North America for 19 years. From 1963 to 1965, he was an assistant professor at UM, where he read the works of Faulkner and fell in love with mythical Yoknapatawpha County. Inspired by Faulkner’s words, Desvergnes sought to photograph the county, documenting both its beauty and its sorrow, which was visually unknown in Europe.

The University Museum is at the intersection of University Avenue and Fifth Street. Hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays. General admission to this special exhibition is $5, $4 for seniors and $3 for students ages 6-17. Admission is free for UM students, UM Museum members and children under 5. Special group rates are available. To book a tour, contact esdean@olemiss.edu. AR

This photograph of a little girl is among Alain Desvergnes’ images included in ‘Portraits as Landscapes, Landscapes as Portraits: Yoknapa-tawpha County in the 1960s’ at the UM Museum.

SCHOLARSHIPS BOOSTED TO REWARD LEADERSHIP

F or hundreds of high school stu-dent body presidents, valedic-torians and salutatorians; Eagle

Scouts; and participants in Mississippi Boys State and Girls State, a University of Mississippi education just became a much better value.

The university has increased the amounts for several of its “leadership scholarships” by 50 percent. A new scholarship also has been created for any entering freshman who participated in Mississippi Boys State or Girls State.

The idea is to recognize high-achiev-ing students and encourage them to con-tinue to aim high, says Whitman Smith, Ole Miss director of enrollment services.

“It’s a deserved reward for students who have gone above and beyond,” Smith says. “They should be recognized for being leaders, and they should have an incentive to come to a school where they can continue to develop their leadership skills in an academic atmosphere that will challenge them and give them what they need to achieve their full potential.”

Beginning this fall, entering freshmen who were student body presidents, vale-dictorians or salutatorians, Eagle Scouts or Girl Scouts of America Gold Award recipients qualify for $6,000 scholarships, up from $4,000, over four years ($1,500 per year). Mississippi Boys State and Girls State participants are eligible for awards

of $500 for their freshman year.The university’s financial aid officers

have advocated increasing these schol-arships because the level of achievement they honor is “a good predictor of persis-tence, vision and the ability to get things done,” says Laura Diven-Brown, the uni-versity’s director of financial aid.

Two other scholarships — one for fresh-men who were named as governor for their state’s Boys State or Girls State, or who were their state’s delegate to Boys Nation or Girls Nation, and another for freshmen who were selected among the top 20 All-Star Scholars by the Mississippi Economic Council — get awards of $4,000 over four years ($1,000 annually). AR

Photo by Alain Desvergnes

12 Alumni Review

Out-of-this-World PlantsSCIENTIST’S EXPERIMENT DELIVERED TO SPACE STATION

AUniversity of Mississippi scien-tist’s experiment to determine if edible plants may be grown on

Mars and the moon has arrived at the International Space Station.

John Z. Kiss, Graduate School dean and professor of biology at UM, is principal investigator on “Novel Explorations into the Interactions between Light and Gravity Sensing in Plants.” The seedling growth samples were onboard SpaceX-2 when it launched March 1 from Cape Canaveral.

Part of NASA’s Fundamental Space Biology program, the project is designed to study light and gravity signaling in plants and their effects on cell growth and proliferation. It also may have relevance for improving crop species on Earth.

The launch was the first phase of the four-part experiment. The next three launches are set for later in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

The hypothesis of Kiss’ research is that positive red-light sensing, which was

known in older plant lineages, is masked by normal 1-g conditions in more recently evolved lineages. Through the experiment, the scientists aim to confirm and characterize the red-light-dependent phototropic response in flowering plants.

The experiment will be conducted on the ISS with different genotypes of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana in experimental containers placed in the European Modular Cultivation System, a large incubator that provides control over the atmosphere, lighting and humidity of growth chambers to study plant growth. The experiment containers contain white, blue and red lights that can be controlled from the ground to expose the plants to different kinds of light.

“By using the two centrifuges in the EMCS, it is possible to carry out the experiment in microgravity and frac-tional gravity, along with the 1-g control, within the same space environment,” Kiss says. “Following a six-day time

course in the EMCS, the samples will be either frozen or chemically fixed and returned to us. Additionally, images will be taken throughout the whole experi-ment and downloaded real time.” AR

The experimental containers, loaded with seeds, are packed in suitcases, ready to be transported to the launch site at Cape Canaveral.

UNIVERSITY ATTORNEY NAMED CHANCELLOR’S CHIEF OF STAFF

Lee Tyner, who has served as uni-versity attorney at the University of Mississippi since 2003, was

named the new chief of staff for Chan-cellor Dan Jones in February.

When he assumes the position July 1, Tyner will replace Andy Mullins, who retires June 30 after 19 years on the Ole Miss admin-istrative staff. Tyner will retain his responsibili-ties as the university’s chief legal officer.

“I am pleased that Lee has agreed to take on these new responsibilities as chief of staff,” Jones says. “He is a gifted attor-ney and serves us well as chief legal offi-cer, but he has other skills and insights that are quite valuable. He has a keen ability to analyze problems and help develop solu-tions in a variety of situations.”

The added responsibilities will provide new challenges and opportunities, Tyner says.

“I am very thankful that the chancel-

lor has the trust and confidence in me that I can help others and help the uni-versity,” he says. “I really view myself as a utility player to help the chancellor, oth-ers on the leadership team and the uni-versity to be successful.”

Tyner says he also looks forward to working more closely with Provost Morris Stocks and Larry Sparks, vice chancellor for administration and finance, in his new role.

“There’s a great leadership team and a great chemistry here, a group of out-standing people who see serving the uni-versity as their greatest role,” he says.

Among his other duties, Tyner has helped overhaul the university’s alcohol policies as part of the Alcohol Task Force in 2006-07, assisted the chancellor with transitions in the Department of Athletics last year and helped lead the University Communications division on an interim basis in 2011. As

special assistant to the chancellor for exter-nal affairs, he has worked with Jones to align efforts of the university’s alumni, com-munications, government relations and development operations since 2011. AR

Tyner

Spring 2013 13

Circlefrom the

Enhancing the Ole Miss ExperienceNEWLY ESTABLISHED PARENTS COUNCIL ALREADY MAKING IMPACT

Since 24 families from eight states founded the Ole Miss Parents Council in 2012, the organiza-

tion’s work and support has already enhanced several areas at the Univer-

sity of Mississippi through gifts total-ing $25,000.

Initiatives receiving contributions from the Parents Council were the Ole Miss Food Pantry; a military student

support specialist to support veterans enrolling at the university; the Southeast-ern Conference annual recruitment tour scheduled this spring in the Northeast; Student Affairs marketing materials; and a new motorcycle for the University Police Department.

“We are very blessed to be a part of the Parents Council,” says Karen Goodall of Gallatin, Tenn. “It has been a wonder-ful first year for (my husband) Bob and me. As a group, we were able to give funds to many worthy causes, including a motorcycle for the University Police Department.”

The purpose of the Parents Council is to encourage communication between the university and parents to improve the Ole Miss experience for students and their parents, says Elizabeth Mil-hous, director of parent development. Council members provide advice and guidance to the Division of Student Affairs and University Development on programs related to parents. They serve as liaisons as well as effective advocates for Ole Miss.

“Though these families are paying for their children’s tuition, books, housing and other needs, they give an additional $1,000 annual gift to serve on the Ole Miss Parents Council,” Milhous says. “Council members have expressed confidence that their investments in Ole Miss will bring great returns, and within [the council’s] first year, they have. The university community is deeply grateful for this wonderful support, input and involvement.”

To learn more information about the Ole Miss Parents Council or to receive a brochure, contact Elizabeth Milhous at milhous@olemiss.edu or 662-915-3181. AR

Brandi Hephner LaBanc (left), UM vice chancellor for student affairs, Elizabeth Milhous, director of parent development, and Daniel Ross, UPD officer, get a look at a new motorcycle donated to UPD by the Parents Council.

Phot

o by

Rob

ert J

orda

n

14 Alumni Review

16 Alumni Review

Calendar

MAYThrough Aug. 3

Ongoing exhibit: “Into the Flatland: Photographs by Kathleen Robbins.” Open to the public. UM Museum. Email museum@olemiss.edu.

Through Aug. 17 Ongoing exhibit:

“Portraits as Landscapes, Landscapes as Portraits: Yoknapatawpha County in the 1960s.” Open to the public. UM Museum. Email museum@olemiss.edu.

1 Softball: Ole Miss vs. Alcorn State. Ole Miss

Softball Complex, 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Visit www. olemisssports.com.

1 Baseball: Ole Miss vs. St. Louis. Swayze Field,

6:30 p.m. Visit www. olemisssports.com.

3 Reception: School of Pharmacy reception at

Magnolia State Pharmaceuti-cal Society Convention in Biloxi, Beau Rivage, 6-8 p.m. Call 662-915-7375.

3-4 50-year Reunion Weekend: Class of 1962,

1963, 1964. Oxford campus. Visit www.olemissalumni.com, or call 662-915-7375.

7 Reception: School of Law alumni reception

at the offices of Copeland, Cook, Taylor & Bush, P.A.

in Ridgeland, 5:30 p.m. Call 662-915-7375.

7 Performance: “Menopause the Musical.”

Ford Center for the Perform-ing Arts, 7 p.m. Call 662-915-2787.

8 Club Season: Newtown County Ole Miss Club

meeting. Location and time TBA. Visit www.olemissalumni. com/events, or call 662- 915-7375.

8 Club Season: Marshall County Ole Miss Club

meeting. Location and time TBA. Visit www.olemissalumni. com/events, or call 662- 915-7375.

9 Club Season: South Mississippi Ole Miss Club

meeting. Location and time TBA. Visit www.olemissalumni. com/events, or call 662- 915-7375.

9 Club Season: River City Rebel Club meeting.

Location and time TBA. Visit www.olemissalumni.com/events, or call 662-915-7375.

10 Baseball: Ole Miss vs. MSU. Swayze

Field, 6:30 p.m. Visit www.olemisssports.com.

11 Baseball: Ole Miss vs. MSU. Swayze

Field, 4 p.m. Visit www. olemisssports.com.

Photo by Robert Jordan

Softball: Ole Miss vs. Alcorn StateMAY 1

Spring 2013 17

11 Commencement: Convocation with

Myrlie Evers-Williams, 9 a.m., the Grove. For a full schedule of Commencement activities, visit www.olemiss.edu/commencement.

11 Graduation Day Brunch: The Inn at

Ole Miss, 11 a.m. Visit www.olemissalumni.com, or call 662-915-7375.

12 Baseball: Ole Miss vs. MSU. Swayze

Field, 1 p.m. Visit www. olemisssports.com.

JUNE2 Performance: “The

Addams Family” national Broadway tour. Ford Center for the Performing Arts, 8-10 p.m. Call 662-915-2787.

6 Oxford Shakespeare Festival: Dining with the

Stars Silent Auction. Bid on dining experiences with local celebrities ranging from chefs to authors to the mayor. Free admission. Powerhouse Community Arts Center, 7-9 p.m. Visit http://shakespeare.olemiss.edu.

7 Club Season: Ole Miss Club of New York

annual summer meeting. Location and time TBA. Visit www.olemissalumni.com/events, or call 662-915-7375.

8 34th Annual  Mississippi Picnic:

New York. Central Park, noon-6 p.m. Visit www.olemissalumni.com, or call 662-915-7375.

13 Club Season: Birmingham Rebel

Club meeting. Location and time TBA. Visit www. olemissalumni.com/events, or call 662-915-7375.

14, 15, 21, 28 Oxford Shakespeare Festi-

val: “Love’s Labour’s Lost” by William Shakespeare, directed by Christopher Schager. Meek Hall Audito-rium, 7:30 p.m. Visit http://shakespeare.olemiss.edu, or call 662-915-7411.

14 Golf Tournament: Mississippi Society

of Georgia Celebrity Golf Tournament. Wolf Creek Golf Club, Atlanta, 10 a.m. Visit www.olemissalumni.com, or call 662-915-7375.

14 Mississippi Night at Turner Field:

Atlanta, Ga., 5:30 p.m. Visit www.olemissalumni.com, or call 662-915-7375.

15 Fifth Annual Mis-sissippi Picnic in

the Park: Atlanta. Chastain Park, 10:30 a.m. Visit www.olemissalumni.com, or call 662-915-7375.

16 Reception: School of Pharmacy reception

at the Mississippi Pharmacists Association Convention in Destin, Fla., at the Grand Sandestin, 6:30 p.m. Call 662-915-7375.

16, 29 and July 7 Oxford Shakespeare

Festival: “Love’s Labour’s Lost” by William Shake-speare, directed by Chris-topher Schager. Meek Hall Auditorium, 2 p.m. Call 662-915-7411.

20 Annual Reception: Washington, D.C.,

Ole Miss Club. Location and time TBA. Visit www.olemissalumni.com, or call 662-915-7375.

22 23rd Annual Mis-sissippi on the Mall:

Washington, D.C., National Mall, time TBA. Visit www.olemissalumni.com, or call 662-915-7375.

22, 28 Oxford Shake-speare Festival:

“Macbeth” by William Shakespeare, directed by Joe Turner Cantú. Ford Center for the Performing Arts, 7:30 p.m. Call 662-915-7411.

23 Oxford Shakespeare Festival: “Macbeth”

by William Shakespeare, directed by Joe Turner Cantú. Ford Center for the Performing Arts, 2 p.m. Call 662-915-7411.

25 Gertrude Ford Sym-posium: Khayat Law

School Auditorium, 2 p.m. Call 662-915-7411.JUNE 2

18 Alumni Review

Calendar

27-30 Oxford Shake-speare Festival:

“Hello, Dolly!” directed by René Pulliam. Ford Center for the Performing Arts. Vari-ous times. Visit shakespeare.olemiss.edu. Call 662-915-7411 for tickets.

JULY10-13 Alumni Events:

School of Law and Lamar Order events at the annual Mississippi Bar meeting in Destin, Fla. Includes presen-tation of the school’s Law Alumna/Alumnus of the Year award. Call 662-915-7375.

16 Reunion: Central Mississippi Ole

Miss Rebel Club. Trustmark Jackson Convention Center, Jackson, 5-8 p.m. Visit www.olemissalumni.com, or call 662-915-7375.

23 Club Season: Rebel Club of

Memphis meeting. Location and time TBA. Visit www.olemissalumni.com/events, or call 662-915-7375.

23 Club Season: Meridian Ole Miss

Club meeting. Location and time TBA. Visit www. olemissalumni.com/events, or call 662-915-7375.

25 Club Season: DeSoto County Ole Miss

Club meeting. Location and time TBA. Visit www. olemissalumni.com/events, or call 662-915-7375.

26 Reception: School of Pharmacy reception

at annual Mississippi Society of Health-System Pharma-cists Convention in Jackson at historic King Edward Hotel, 6:30 p.m. Call 662-915-7375.

Oxford Shakespeare Festival: “Hello, Dolly!”JUNE 27-30

Mary Haskell (BM 81) and her daughter, Mary Lane Haskell, will be starring as Dolly Levi and Irene Molloy in the Oxford Shakespeare summer musical ‘Hello, Dolly!’ June 27-30 at the Ford Center.

23rd Annual Mississippi on the MallJUNE 22

For a location near you, call us at 1-888-797-7711, or visit our Branch Locator at bancorpsouth.com.

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Add the Ole Miss debit card to any personal checking account today, plus get these great features:

l Free Mobile Banking App

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*Customers who enroll for bill pay and have a personal BancorpSouth checking account can receive free Bill Pay. To receive free Bill Pay, customers must have either an online statement or direct deposit, otherwise there is a $4.99 monthly charge for Bill Pay. Ole Miss debit card has a $5.00 annual fee.

Bank deposits are FDIC insured up to $250,000. BancorpSouth Investment Services, Inc., and BancorpSouth Insurance Services, Inc., are wholly owned subsidiaries of BancorpSouth Bank. Insurance products are offered by BancorpSouth Insurance Services, Inc. Investment products are offered by BancorpSouth Investment Services, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC. Insurance and investment products are • Not a deposit • Not FDIC insured • Not insured by any federal government agency • Not guaranteed by the bank • May go down in value

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InternatIonal Gateway

20 Alumni Review

InternatIonal Gateway

Croft Institute gives students

competitive edge

By rebecca lauck Cleary

Spring 2013 21

hristine Day (BA 06), now a resident of Paris, recalls when an Israeli colleague saw a Face-book photo she posted of bright spring flowers

on the Ole Miss campus.“He called me and said, ‘I can’t believe

that is your university! You told me it was a beautiful place, but I didn’t realize until I saw the photos how beautiful. I want to go there.’”

Day enjoys telling people about Oxford and the overall experience she received at the University of Mississippi’s Croft Institute for International Studies.

Housed in a tastefully renovated 1853 antebellum building in the heart of cam-pus, the Croft Institute for International Studies equips students like Day with global perspectives and gives them a com-petitive edge with peers around the world.

It all started with a dedicated com-mitment from the Joseph C. Bancroft Charitable and Educational Fund, which has provided $36 million in funding since the program’s inception in the late 1990s and is ongoing. The Croft Institute, which opened its doors in 1998, was created to

assure that generations of Ole Miss stu-dents are better prepared to successfully participate in the global community.

The Joseph C. Bancroft Charitable and Educational Fund, established by the estate of Croft Metals founder Joseph

C. Bancroft, is a nonprofit organization that supports charitable and educational programs. McComb native Gerald M. Abdalla (BBA 69, JD 73), CEO and presi-dent of Croft, LLC and a Bancroft Fund director, was instrumental in establishing the institute. Other directors are Robert M. Bird, retired senior partner with Price Waterhouse Coopers, Gerald M. Abdalla Jr. (BA 00, JD 03) and Tom A. Abdalla (BA 03).

“The Croft Institute is the primary ben-eficiary of our charity, and we support the program to the fullest,” says Tom Abdalla, chairman of the Board of Trustees of the

Croft Institute. “The return on our invest-ment is what the students accomplish at the institute and their post-institute careers. It is a great, thriving program.”

For Abdalla, the ability to help people is a blessing.

“We are very proud of the Croft Institute. I keep a close eye on it and expect the best. I am happy and pleased with the end result,” Abdalla says. “I can’t say enough about the administration, the professors and students and all of their accomplishments.”

Magnet for High-achieving Students

In its 15th year, the Croft Institute hosts approximately 180 students (60 freshmen) annually from more

than 22 states and 12 coun-tries with ACT scores ranging from 28 to 36. The institute boasts 13 faculty members and 12 associate faculty mem-bers, all of whom help ensure students are prepared through a rigorous curriculum to earn the demanding, interdisci-plinary undergraduate degree within the College of Lib-eral Arts.

The Croft Institute focuses on the connections among po l i t i c s , e conomic s and culture at the international level, providing students both

with an understanding of how the con-temporary world works and the tools for meaningful careers.

Kees Gispen, a professor of European history, has been the institute’s executive director since 2007, although he has

The front porch of the Croft Institute is a popular gathering place for faculty and students to study and socialize while overlooking the Grove.

(Above) Peter Frost, visiting professor of international studies, leads a class discussion in East Asian studies.

Photo by Nathan Latil

Phot

o by

Nat

han

Latil

22 Alumni Review

taught there since 1998 and was associate director from 2005 to 2007.

“Along with the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College and other new programs, the Croft Institute has been a magnet that attracts substantial numbers of high-achieving students. We have improved the quality of the students we accept, and in that regard we are comparable to any Ivy League school,” Gispen says.

Croft keeps the best and brightest students in Mississippi as well, which is important to the state and its higher education system.

“This breaks with a pattern that has seen many of our best students go to colleges and universities in other states,” Gispen says. “Croft has done much to reverse this trend, thereby improving the state’s competitiveness and standing, and, importantly, lowering the cost of a first-rate col-lege education for Miss i s s ippians . Croft also pulls in talented students from other states.”

In addition to foreign-language emphasis (Croft s t u d e n t s a r e required to have e ight semesters o f fo re i gn l an -guage instead of t h e u s u a l f o u r and must study abroad), the program calls for every stu-dent to write a senior thesis, a major test of one’s ability to investigate a problem independently, develop a coherent argu-ment, organize complex material and demonstrate perseverance.

Gispen believes this prepares students for success in their professional lives.

“These are all qualities that are abso-lutely essential for leaders and people in positions of responsibility in today’s ever more complex world.”

Students select East Asia, Europe or Latin America (Mississippi’s strongest international trade partners) or, as of fall 2011, the Middle East (a focus of current geostrategic concern), as areas of regional concentration. Most of those who choose East Asia enjoy a close association with

the Chinese Flagship Program. In addi-tion, all students select a global theme to emphasize.

Forty Croft students receive scholar-ships, plus a rising-sophomore and a foreign-student scholarship are offered, bringing the annual scholarship total to more than $350,000.

Change agent for academics

he contributions of the Ban-croft Fund to the University of Mississippi’s academic envi-

ronment have reached a scale not likely realized by the general public,” says UM Chancellor Dan Jones (MD 75). “This tremendous support has played a signifi-cant role in transforming our image from that of a state university to a nationally

recognized and respected higher education institu-tion. Having such a p r e e m i n e n t program as the Crof t Ins t i tu te not only improves the offerings and

image of Ole Miss but also those of the state of Mississippi. Programs of this caliber propel our state forward.”

From her Paris office, Day can speak

to the program’s merits. Using her Croft foundation, she facilitates strategic opportunities for TRM Oncology’s international clients in multiple countries around the world, but with an emphasis on Europe. Previously, she was associated with the global communications agency TBWA and with marketing for the Global Oncology team at Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, both also with international hubs in Paris.

“The Croft Institute helped me hone and refine the skills that I use now on a daily basis in my global role,” Day says. “Croft shaped my critical and strategic thinking and reasoning needed in my day-to-day activities. Also, Croft added to and enhanced my understanding of the way the world works in terms of global history, economics and cultural nuances, all essential in any kind of global environ-ment or position. The CIA and State Department aren’t the only places that require these skills.”

Day says that even if she decided to change professions, her solid knowledge and skills would enable her to pursue an array of careers on the global level. Day — who was born in St. Louis, Mo., but grew up in Germantown, Tenn. — was also a member of the Sally McDonnell

Barksdale Honors College like most Croft students. She describes her preparation by the Croft faculty.

“The classes, while extremely demand-

Christine Day (BA 06)

Christine Day travels throughout Europe for work, including a recent oncology conference in St. Gallen, Switzerland.

Spring 2013 23

ing, were thought provoking and delved deeply into the material. I sometimes had the feeling that I wasn’t really in a class but rather in high-level discussions or debates with experts in various fields. Also, it seemed the Croft professors were forever looking for a way to not teach in a traditional manner, which made the overall experience very enriching.”

the road to washington

F or Ben Hammond (BA 06), a native of Pearl and a Jackson Preparatory School graduate,

Croft had a major impact by exposing him to foreign cultures. He had never traveled outside the United States before college, but the 28-year-old has now spent three years in four different countries.

Now living in Washington, D.C., Hammond utilizes his Croft foundation as a Republican staffer on the Senate Appropriations Committee, which has jurisdiction over the discretionary side of the federal budget. The committee evalu-ates federal agency budget requests, drafts annual appropriations bills and gets them

enacted into law.“The job is a good mix of budget

analysis and policy,” Hammond says. “You don’t do policy without the dollars to run the programs, and we, as staff, through our recommendations to the senators, help shape how agencies carry out their missions.”

Following graduation, he interned with U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran (BA 59, JD 65) and then accepted a one-year Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship in South Africa. Hammond also took a year in Germany to pursue fellowships-in-residence at the German Parliament’s Budget Committee in Berlin and in the business development office of the aircraft maker EADS in Munich on a Robert Bosch Foundation Fellowship.

“It was Croft that got me interested in government and policy,” Hammond says. “I think it’s dumb luck more than anything that I ended up in Washington. Looking back, I don’t think I would have ever been interested in coming here if not for the different opportunities Croft made available to me.”

The Croft Scholar is grateful for the financial assistance his academic honor

provided. Scholars receive $8,000 per year for four years if requirements are maintained.

“The Croft Scholarship is one of the largest offered at Ole Miss. The ability to receive an education of Croft’s quality and to do so without having to go into debt is an opportunity the university should be very proud in offering.”

“I always thought of Croft as a small liberal arts school that just happened to be on the campus of Ole Miss,” Hammond says. “Small class sizes, a talented student body, quality professors, a curriculum that sends you to faraway places around the world — and it’s all housed in an antebel-lum building that overlooks the Grove.”

opening a window to the world

Hammond remembers his Croft professors inspiring students to think outside the box.

One example is Professor Peter Frost, who joined UM’s Croft Institute in 2001 after many years of teaching about China and Japan as the Frederick L. Schuman

Ben Hammond (BA 06) traveled to Germany on a Robert Bosch Foundation Fellowship, an opportunity for accomplished young Americans to complete high-level professional development, for 2011-12.

24 Alumni Review

Professor of International Studies at Williams College in Massachusetts. He is grateful to the Bancroft Fund principals for making it possible for Croft to build a quality honors program.

“All too often,” he says, “students pay a lot of tuition to sit in large lecture classes. Thanks to the Bancroft Fund, we can combine some generous financial help with small classes in our own beautifully restored building. This makes it pos-sible for us to attract very high quality students.”

Starting off is often tough. “We have a

very demanding curriculum,” Frost says. “Students have to meet challenging stan-dards and also spend at least a semester in the country of the language that they are studying. When I look at their first quiz, I know that the grades are not going to please the students. But by the second quiz, they usually are there. They come here and have to make a big jump. We help them, but they do it themselves.

“Faculty love working here,” he continues, “because Croft students are so talented, hardworking, charming and decent to each other. We try to teach them independence, initiative, discipline and

above all, the ability to understand and communicate with peoples and cultures that are often quite different from their own. We kind of hate to see them gradu-ate, but we are confi-dent that what they learn here will make them great leaders for our country.”

T h e g r o w i n g r e c o g n i t i o n a n d academic respect for the Croft Institute — along with other

major initiatives such as the Honors Col-lege, Chinese Flagship Program, Arabic program, public policy leadership major and the Center for Intelligence and Secu-rity Studies — have garnered national recognition for the university.

“Collectively these programs all have played a crucial role in broadening views and lifting horizons at Ole Miss,” Gispen says. “They raise the level of discourse in the classroom and on campus in general. They bring nationally and internation-ally renowned speakers to the university. They increase awareness of the larger world and of global problems, and,

perhaps most importantly, are doing the i r par t to internat ional ize and strengthen the university’s undergradu-ate curriculum as a whole.”

appreciating Croft’s Influence

another graduate making an impact in the nation’s capi-tal is Jacob Patton (BA 03),

the president of Trisignia, a Web consult-ing firm he founded in 2006. The Oxford native describes Croft as an innovative yet enduring institution that leaves its mark.

“Croft classes were challenging, but in the flow of things, when you’re in the same fascinating classes with the same, super-talented cohort of students — folks a lot smarter than me — you get used to the pace, and the challenges are stimulat-ing and inviting,” says Patton, also a Croft Scholar. “Classes became a series of interesting puzzles to tease out.”

For recent graduate Keon Dillon (BA 11), a native of Shannon, Croft paved the way for his admission into the University of Michigan’s doctoral program in sociology.

“The depth and rigor of the Croft curriculum made me think more critically about my identity in an international context,” says Dillon, who completed an internship in Ecuador with an organiza-tion that provides legal and psychological services to women suffering from domes-tic abuse. “These experiences raised my consciousness and motivated me to pursue critical cultural studies.”

Keon Dillon (BA 11) teaches a course on American and Iraqi societies at the University of Michigan while earning his Ph.D.

Jacob Patton (BA 03) heads his own Web consulting firm in Washington, D.C.

Spring 2013 25

Focus on Health Care, Mississippi

w hile the Croft Institute r e m a i n s t h e Ba n c ro f t Fund’s priority, the organi-

zation has extended its reach to the Uni-versity of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, providing $2.5 million to ren-ovate and expand the pediatric intensive care unit at the Blair E. Batson Children’s Hospital as well as support other Medical Center initiatives.

Suzan Thames, a UM Foundation board member, says the Bancroft Fund directors’ and the Abdallas’ outreach goes far beyond monetary contributions as they are people who genuinely want to see quality health care for Mississippians.

“They are individuals who sincerely care about all aspects of the health care of children in Mississippi and who are personally involved,” Thames says. “The Croft Institute and all the other things they’ve established have done wonders to enhance the draw of people to our campus in Oxford. I know and respect the impact and importance of that, but they are also great friends of the University of Missis-sippi Medical Center.”

As the impact of the Bancroft Fund’s contributions grows through both health care and academics, perhaps nowhere is it more valuable than when bright, disciplined Croft alumni choose to apply their talents in Mississippi.

Ryan Parsons (BA 11) and Erin Mauf-fray (BA 12) are serving posts as Ameri-Corps VISTAs (Volunteers in Service to America) on the Ole Miss campus.

Parsons, a Hattiesburg native, became fluent in Mandarin Chinese while a Croft Scholar. After studying abroad in Qingdao, China, he returned to Croft as a senior and received the Gerald M. Abdalla Prize for highest grades at Croft, the Terasawa Prize for best thesis and a Taylor Medal, Ole Miss’ highest academic award. He was then named one of three 2011 Portz Scholars by the National Collegiate Honors Council and spent the summer following graduation in Beijing teaching American ROTC students Chi-nese language skills as part of an emerging military leaders program. Parsons com-pleted a master’s degree at the University of Cambridge in development studies.

He then decided to bring his talents and experiences back to serve Mississippi.

Gulfport native Erin Mauffray won best thesis among the Latin American concentration students, which inspired her application to AmeriCorps.

“It was the capacity-building aspect of AmeriCorps that intrigued me most,” she says. “I wrote my undergraduate thesis on disaster communities based on my experience abroad in Valparaíso, Chile. I was there for the 2010 8.8 magnitude earthquake and observed how their soci-

ety started to rebuild in the months fol-lowing. That, combined with my personal experience in 2005, when my family lost our home to Hurricane Katrina, made this position with AmeriCorps personal to me. I know how important it is for com-munities to have the tools to strengthen from within.”

Mauffray and Parsons work on service-learning ventures including Rebel Global Connections, a collaborative proj-ect supported by the university’s McLean Institute for Public Service and Com-munity Engagement. The program brings

Mississippi Delta elementary students to campus to engage with international and American students.

“Rebel Global Connections aims to alleviate the problem of cultural isola-tion for schoolchildren from high-needs districts by introducing them to cultures and languages from around the world through age-appropriate programming,” Mauffray says.

As the Croft Institute prepares for its 13th commencement, it is clear that increas-ing numbers of Croft graduates are starting

impressive careers in business, law, teaching, global technology and politics. Whether in the United States or at least temporarily abroad, their hard work, language skills and ability to understand different cultures are helping both Ole Miss and the state of Mississippi by following the best ideals of the Croft Institute. AR

Rebecca Lauck Cleary (BA 97) is a com-munications specialist in University Com-munications. University Development and Foundation staff members also contributed to this article.

Ryan Parsons (BA 11) and Erin Mauffray (BA 12) meet on the Croft Institute porch to plan an upcoming Rebel Global Connections event for elementary students.

Photo by Robert Jordan

26 Alumni Review

Window of OpportunityThe Ole Miss Alumni Association’s Past Presidents’ Spouses Club has em-

barked on an exciting campaign to purchase a new stained glass transom for The Inn at Ole Miss. The new transom, depicting Barnard Observatory, will join depictions of the Grove, the Lyceum, Ventress Hall and Triplett Alumni Center, which now grace the Inn’s elegant lobby.

The club needs your help! $10,000 is needed to design, craft, and install the new window. Donations may be made to: Ole Miss Alumni Association Window Fund, P.O. Box 1848, University, MS 38677. Donations are tax-deductible. Help us add to the beauty of our beloved Ole Miss! Hotty Toddy!

Membership Options__$40 Annual

__$50 Annual Joint

__$800 Life

__$850 Life Payment Plan ($170 annually for 5 years)

__$995 Joint Life

__$1,050 Joint Life Payment Plan ($210 annually for 5 years)

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I am already an annual member. Please auto-renew my membership each year.

Renew or join online at www.olemissalumni.com, or fill out this form and mail to Ole Miss Alumni Association, P.O. Box 1848, University, MS 38677. Questions? Call 662-915-7375. CODE: REV

GOAL: 25,000 ACTIVE MEMBERSOnly you can help your Alumni Association reach this important milestone!Make your Alumni Association the strongest in the SEC and the nation by renewing your membership each year and encouraging classmates, neighbors, fans and Ole Miss supporters to also join and remain active.Even fans who didn’t graduate from Ole Miss can join as Associate Members.

Memphis Mayor AC Wharton (JD 71) has enjoyed a long law and political career, much of it forged in the halls of the University of Mississippi School of Law, where he was by all accounts a model student and an inspirational instructor.

He served for more than a quarter of a century as adjunct professor, taking time from his burgeoning private law practice to drive down to Oxford at least

once a week and inspire a new generation of lawyers and public servants.Those hours, weeks, months and years traversing the highway reveal a dedication that has

come to be a hallmark of his public work. It may not be glamorous, but it helped mold him into the mayor he is today.

Learning to ‘sell some law’Wharton grew up in Lebanon, Tenn., and studied political science at the historically black

Tennessee State University in nearby Nashville. Upon graduation in 1966, he chose to attend law school at Ole Miss, in part, because of the commitment of a forward-thinking dean in the tumul-tuous times of the late 1960s. After all, the university had been integrated just four years prior.

“Of the many reasons I chose Ole Miss,” says Wharton, “one was the late Dean Joshua Morse’s effort to bring more black lawyers to Mississippi and to the South in general. The key thing is that he made it clear that the focus was on getting you ready to practice law and not a whole lot of theory, and that’s what I wanted to do.”

Wharton adds that the legal profession was a different world for African-American lawyers of the time, and he was particularly drawn to a school that would prepare him for the real world.

“I often say that, so many times, when it comes to African-American attorneys, we don’t have the luxury of practicing law,” says Wharton. “That’s kind of elite. We have to get out there and sell some law and educate folks to their rights and the need to use lawyers. I said, ‘This is the place; I want to hit the ground running!’”

John Bradley (LLB 62), one of Wharton’s professors, remembers him as a serious scholar who also got along well with his classmates.

“I remember him as an engaging, interested and able student who was liked and respected by the faculty and by his fellow students,” Bradley says. “He was one who made race relations easy because he both gave and deserved respect without regard to race.”

After graduating with honors in 1971, Wharton moved to Washington, D.C., where he went to work for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. But Ole Miss soon came calling.

First African-American law professor at Ole Miss“The whole time I was at Ole Miss,” Wharton says, “the handful of black students in the law

school kept urging the law school to hire a black professor. That did not come to pass. But after I graduated, I was working in Washington and got a call from the law school, and they said, ‘We do want to hire a black professor.’ They said, ‘We know who you are; we know your ability.’”

In the DrIver’s seat Memphis Mayor AC Wharton travels long, rewarding road

By Tom Speed

28 Alumni Review

Photo by Jody H

erndon

Spring 2013 29

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30 Alumni Review

At the time, Wharton was faced with paying for student loans, as was his wife, so he turned the job down. Besides, the work he was doing was important, and he enjoyed it. As it turned out, the work he did in Washington would help to define the rest of his career.

By 1973, Wharton found himself working in Memphis for the nonprofit Memphis Area Legal Services, helping to deliver legal services to low-income people in need. Then, the call came again. The law school wanted him to teach a course in employ-ment discrimination, but he said no again. A compromise was eventually reached, and Wharton became not only the first African-American law professor at Ole Miss, but also one of the first adjunct professors to teach part-time while maintaining a full schedule as a working practitioner.

Wharton was asked by the university to teach one night a week, so each week he would trek down to Oxford in his Volk-swagen after a hard day at the office.

“The understanding was I was going to do that for one semes-ter,” says Wharton, “which would have been the fall of ’74. I said I’d put up with it for one semester. I was much younger, gasoline was 50 cents a gallon, and the speed limit was 75 between here and Oxford. So it was no big deal.

“I’d work all day up here and be on the Ole Miss campus in a little over an hour. I thought this one semester would be over soon. It didn’t turn out that way. They called and asked me to teach another (course), Legal Problems of the Elderly. I did that, and it just went on and on and on. That one semester turned into 25 years.”

At Ole Miss, Wharton was beloved by his colleagues and

his students. Those same qualities that made him a beacon of race relations as a student were now endearing him to his new cohorts. It wasn’t long before he began to motivate his students. One of those students most influenced by Wharton was Deborah Bell (JD 79), who is now a professor of law at Ole Miss.

“His class,” says Bell, “was what inspired me to do what I did as my specialty for about 20 years. I went to Atlanta and worked for a federal judge, then worked for the Legal Aid Soci-ety. It really caught my interest, so I left law school deciding to do housing work; then I went to legal services and did housing

as my specialty and came back pretty soon after to teach, and that was my teaching specialty as well.”

Bell was so inspired by Wharton that when she was selected to receive the prestigious Champions of Justice award from the Mis-sissippi Center for Justice, she chose Wharton to introduce her.

“You were supposed to ask someone really important to your career,” she says. “It’s nice to have somebody really influential. He was the person that I would pick as the most influential in sending me in the direction I went. I guess he did that for a lot of students who were interested in some sort of social-reform work.”

Wharton was already a member of the faculty when Michael Hoffheimer came to Ole Miss.

“When I met AC, he was a very experienced adjunct professor who had been teaching for years,” says Hoffheimer, professor of law and Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association Distinguished Lecturer. “I knew him by reputation and got to know him a little as a colleague on the faculty.”

Today, the School of Law is placing an emphasis on using practitioners in the training and education of its students, but Wharton was the first.

“We have been very fortunate over the years of having some extraordinary, competent practitioners with a great deal of experience, sometimes coming long distances to teach at the university,” Hoffheimer says. “Professor Wharton was the first that I knew.”

Civic involvementWhile teaching courses at Ole Miss and guiding a generation

of students, Wharton was continuing his “day job” as an attorney in Memphis. Though it was not his early intent to get involved in politics, his civic involvement eventually led him there.

“When my wife and I both finished law school and came to Memphis, there wasn’t a community organization that we weren’t involved with,” Wharton says. “Never did a judicial elec-tion cycle come by that we didn’t get involved. We wanted to get folks elected to office who shared the same values and concerns. I believed in the law devoutly that if black folks in the South and in this nation as a whole were ever to get a fair shot, the law had to be the prime engine for that.”

That involvement and passion for civil justice led to him being appointed as the public defender of Shelby County

The mayor kicks off an Easter egg roll inside because of rain.

Wharton checks his Blackberry during a fire drill.

Mayor Wharton does an interview during the ‘Elvis’ radio show in Memphis.

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Photo by Isaac Singleton

Spring 2013 31

(Tenn.) in 1980. He worked for years in that capacity before being elected the first African-American mayor of Shelby County in 2002. After being credited with saving the county from the brink of bankruptcy, he was re-elected in 2006 with a resounding 77 percent of the vote.

“I was not surprised,” says Hoffheimer of Wharton’s foray

into life as an elected official. “I was very pleased when he went into politics. We need more people like him in politics. From what I can see, Memphis is very lucky to have him. He seems to be doing a wonderful job.”

In 2009, a special election was held to fill the vacated seat of mayor of the city of Memphis. Wharton won handily in a field of 25 candidates. Since then, he has been heralded for improving conditions in the city by many metrics. He won re-election with 62 percent of the vote in 2011.

Wharton credits his legal training for his success. “I think a law background is one of the best backgrounds

for anyone who wants to get into public service for a number of reasons,” he says. “First of all, it’s well-rounded. You have to know something about every discipline. You have to understand that there are always opposing views on matters. And that’s what lawyers are trained to deal with — opposing views. The essence of a democracy is how to reconcile peacefully opposing views.

“The other thing, and I always make this point to aspiring

lawyers, particularly those already in law school, is that we are the one profession that has a code of ethics that follows us wherever we go, whether we are practicing law or not practicing law.”

As a politician, Wharton has focused on the same issues of equal-ity that inspired him in his career as both an attorney and a professor. To that end, his latest effort is to improve Memphis public schools.

“If we pull the children together, they will develop a tolerance for diversity and differences that will follow them throughout their lives,” Wharton says. “We’re all tied together. We all pay for the failures of the educational system.”

Though his teaching days are behind him, Wharton still stays involved with his alma mater when he can.

“I still have a great affinity for Ole Miss,” he says. “I feel like I owe them a debt of gratitude, and I try to repay that by going down whenever possible, whether it’s to talk to the law school in general or to the black law students or anybody who invites me down. I’m always happy to go down and talk with them. I’m very proud of the university.”

With the same zeal that drove him to break new ground as a law professor, public servant and elected official, AC Wharton continues to strive to better the world around him.

“He’s never seemed to get jaded,” Bell says. “He’s still enthusiastic and engaged in what he’s doing. It’s just so wonderful to see.” AR

The mayor chats with actor Tyrese in his office.

Photo by B

obby White

32 Alumni Review

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34 Alumni Review

Education

AlliEsUM, MSU place rivalry aside

to develop joint teaching programBy Andrew Mark Abernathy

omething nearly unheard of happened in Mississippi on Jan. 22.

The University of Mississippi and Mississippi State University, ardent rivals in athletics and student recruitment, made a joint announcement. During a news conference at the Institu-tions of Higher Learning building in Jackson, UM Chancellor Dan Jones (MD 75) and MSU President Mark Keenum stood side by side to announce a plan for improving teacher preparation in their state — the Mississippi Excellence in Teaching Program, or METP, a shared scholarship program funded with $12.95 million in private dollars from the Jackson-based Robert M. Hearin Support Foundation.

With up to four years of full tuition, room and board , s tudy abroad , professional development and a tablet computer, it’s the most valuable teaching scholarship ever offered in Mississippi. The announcement marked the first of what may be many steps educational leaders at UM and

elsewhere are taking to help change the perception of teaching and bring prestige to the profession.

“This is a project that will move us forward,” said Jones at the event. “But, this by itself won’t solve all our problems. We’ll need lots of other people to get engaged in this, but we believe this is an important step of our two great universities: working together and saying through these full scholarships that teaching is important.”

In a state where about 62 percent of students graduate from high school, according to the National Center for Education

Statistics, and generational poverty has a direct effect on student achievement, increasing

and retaining the number of quality teach-ers who enter Mississippi classrooms is a goal that could positively impact the state’s academic and economic future. With new Common Core standards being implemented into public education nationwide, more teachers with high proficiencies in English and

Spring 2013 35

mathematics instruction also will be needed. With so much at stake, producing new, dynamic teachers for Mississippi is a cause that has turned rivals into partners in education.

“The first group will come in fall 2013,” says David Rock, dean of the UM School of Education and a key player in design-ing the program. “Each campus will take on 20 new fellows, 10 in mathematics education and 10 in English education. In five years, the goal is to produce 160 new teachers. Think of the difference that 160 great teachers could make in our children’s future. It could be huge. We’re working together because we must address this right now.”

The METP is centered on a simple concept: Recruit the best students to produce the best teachers. Ideal recruits are graduating high school seniors with a 28 or above on the ACT and a GPA of 3.5 or above, students typically sought by honors colleges around the country. As the program grows and evolves, spots in the program will be made available to junior-level

transfer students with equally impressive credentials. However, one other important criterion is considered for

admission — a passion for improving education in Mississippi. The program offers a huge incentive in exchange for a significant commitment. All METP recruits sign a five-year agreement to teach in a Mississippi public school after graduation. Leaders at both schools hope to secure funding within the next few years to offer a $6,000 annual salary stipend to graduates who enter high-needs school districts.

At orientation this fall, each recruit will be named a “fellow” of the program. Should a fellow change his or her major or leave Mississippi before meeting the service requirement, awarded scholarships will be converted into loans and paid back to the program to reinvest in future aspiring teachers. Graduates may choose to defer their commitment for up to two years to attend graduate school.

“We believe that if these teachers stay five years in Missis-sippi, they’re more likely to stay here for their careers,” Jones says. “We believe that by supplying schools with very bright teachers, it will have a halo effect for the whole system and make our schools stronger and better.”

How it begAnIn June 2010, Rock, who previously served as a mathematics

education professor at UM from 1998 to 2004, rejoined the faculty as dean of the School of Education. He brought with him a record of collaborating with other institutions to create new programs and impact working teachers. During his tenure as dean of education at Columbus State University in Columbus, Ga., he successfully worked with education schools at Georgia

The Mississippi Excellence in Teaching Program (METP) is a collaboration

between Ole Miss and MSU to attract top-performing students to an innovative,

new teacher education program using one of the most valuable scholarships

ever offered in the state.

The METP is centered on a simple concept: Recruit the best students to produce the best teachers.

Photo by Robert Jordan

36 Alumni Review

Southern University and Valdosta State University to merge teaching efforts, pool resources and offer online graduate degrees for working teachers. The graduate enrollment for the three education schools increased drastically.

“The school system supported us,” Rock says. “Teachers were saying, ‘Finally, three institutions coming together to focus on doing what’s best for the state.’”

During his first year back at UM, Rock continued this theme of collaboration in his discussions with colleague Richard Blackbourn, dean of the College of Education at Mississippi State University.

“We talked many times in my first year back at Ole Miss about doing something together for the state of Mississippi, not just for our own institutions,” he says. “Our goal every time we spoke was to make an impact in the state. How can we work together and not apart?”

In f a l l 2012 , IHL Commis s ione r Hank Bounds approached Keenum, Jones, Rock and Blackbourn about the possibility of attracting more high-caliber students to teacher-preparation programs out of high school. Through much discussion, a vision for a collaborative program emerged. In a spring 2012 meeting hosted by the CREATE Foundation in Tupelo, a small committee of education faculty from UM and MSU emerged with a framework that would become the

METP. The big uncertainty was funding. The Hearin Foundation became an obvious source. The

organization had previously awarded multimillion-dollar grants to both universities. As recently as October, the foundation gave more than $5.7 million to Ole Miss to enhance a variety of programs within the School of Education. The two deans took the proposal to Hearin board member Matt Holleman, who arranged a presentation to the entire board.

“We suspected they would at least fund part of it,” Rock says. “We originally planned to have a year to plan and implement this, but they told us, ‘Don’t wait. Do it now.’ This is that important.”

Setting tHe StAgeSplit between the two institutions, the Hearin grant provides

seed money for five years. The first cohort is expected to graduate in May 2017. Rock says the long-term goal is to secure funding from other organizations to expand the program in size and sub-ject areas such as science education or early childhood education.

Getting the program off the ground and running for the first cohort, however, required quick work between the two schools. One big step was locating the aspiring teachers who have credentials that education faculty at both universities believe will produce excellent teachers.

Many METP fellows are expected to enroll in the collaborating institutions’ honors colleges, which could open the door to more honors and education classes.

Photo by Robert Jordan

Spring 2013 37

“This is an opportunity like we’ve never seen before,” says Ryan Niemeyer, co-director of the Mississippi Teacher Corps and the recently appointed program director for the UM chapter of METP. “We want these scholarships to make a difference in the lives of young people who can help our schools and become leaders in their communities.”

Niemeyer (PhD 08) was selected to lead the program in early February. Field experience coordinator Lina Trullinger was selected to lead MSU’s chapter. Together they’ve worked to establish an administrative structure, a website and application process and, most importantly, recruit potential fellows. In the wake of the announcement, interest in the program has come from as far away as Chicago and Dartmouth, Mass.

“We were confident that this would work from the begin-

ning,” says Niemeyer. “But, we had to get into our state’s schools to do it. For a lot of students in Mississippi, the choice between MSU or Ole Miss is pretty much predetermined, so we split up the map based on where we thought our students were. But when we’re in the field, we’re recruiting for the program as a whole. That means we’re sending some students to State, and they’re sending some our way too. Meanwhile, we also have to set up a whole administrative structure. It’s been kind of like riding two horses at once.”

The design of METP requires collaboration between Ole Miss and MSU on multiple levels including recruitment, admis-sions and curriculum design — such as new honors college-style education courses with small class sizes and one-on-one time with professors. It’s expected that many METP fellows will also enroll in the institutions’ honors colleges, which could open the door to more honors education classes.

Once a semester, both the UM School of Education and the MSU College of Education will host students from the other institution to expose all fellows to new faculty and discuss contemporary issues in education. During the summer, students will swap campuses for weeklong residencies and complete course work. The goal will be to create a culture of excellence within the program that spans across campuses and brings a deep understanding of educational issues at state, national and international levels.

“We’d like to have our fellows gain exposure to top educators across the state, nation and even across the globe,” Rock says. “To do that, we’re probably going to find ways for students to visit the top schools in the nation and in other cultures, where teachers are highly regarded. That could mean a group trip to Europe and

not just visit one country or one school but multiple schools in multiple countries, so they can actually see some of the world’s best teachers in action.”

On March 15, faculty at both campuses began reviewing applications for the program. Finalists are currently undergoing an interview process with faculty. New METP fellows will begin classes at both campuses this fall.

“Everything we’ve done is strategic,” Jones says. “We believe that our two universities coming together will get the attention of policymakers and funders to show that we’re here to do some-thing important for our state.” AR

For more information, visit metp.org.

The design of METP requires collaboration between Ole Miss and MSU on multiple levels including recruitment, admissions and curriculum design.

Photo by Robert Jordan

38 Alumni Review

is BackSunday Brunch

 

 

taste tradition

Reservations are now available for the following times:10:00 a.m., 10:45 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12:15 p.m. & 1:00 p.m.

Walk Ins Accepted on a First Come, First Serve BasisDeadline for reservations will be Thursdays at Noon

Adults- $16.95 plus tax per personChildren- $9.95 plus tax per person

Children 5 & under Eat Free!

Please call (662) 915-1237 for reservations.

The Office of Admissions and Enrollment Services Needs Your Help!

Do you have children or grandchildren that you’d like to attend Ole Miss? If

so, help us get them here!

Visit http://olemiss.edu/admissions/ VIPLauncher.html, click the link that

applies to your students, and complete the form. We’ll add them to our VIP

mailing list, and they’ll create a personalized website tailored to

their interests.

Visit www.olemiss.edu/admissions or call us at 662-915-7226 or 1-800-OLE-

MISS (in Mississippi) to learn more about the Office of Admissions and

Enrollment Services.

T h e U n i v e r s i t y o f M i s s i s s i p p i

ole missneedsYOU

40 Alumni Review

Jumbo Gulf shrimp courtbouillon with housemade chaurice sausage, crab boil mirliton, trinity and vinegar peppers from Emeril’s Delmonico.

Spring 2013 41

orking for a famous, world-class chef has its perks.In August 2012, Camille Breland (BBA 06) joined Emeril Lagasse’s team as

public relations manager for Emeril’s Homebase, the celebrity chef ’s corporate office, handling communications for all of his 13 restaurants. With popular television shows, restaurants, books and more, Lagasse is one of the most well-known chefs in the country.

“I love the vibe of the restaurant industry,” says Breland. “It’s such a fluid, fun and energetic environment.”

Part of Breland’s initial training was a three-week stint in each of Lagasse’s three New Orleans restaurants, shadowing all facets of the business from the dishwashers in the back of the house to the servers in the front of the house.

“It was the best thing they could have done because now I have so much more respect and understanding for what they do in the restaurants,” Breland says. “It was an invaluable learning experience about the restaurant industry that I use every

day in my job. When I go in there they know me now, so they feel more comfortable helping me and sharing information. It was great

for relationship building.” For her job, Breland focuses primarily on the restaurants, but occasionally she assists with

television interviews, questions from com-munity members as well as Lagasse’s recently

launched television show, “Emeril’s Florida.”

“Emeril was here during Super Bowl week, and I went with him to the ‘Good Morning America’ shoot and a shoot with ‘Inside Edition,’” says Breland. “I was handling all of the media requests for

him surrounding the Super Bowl.”

Alumna works for Emeril in the Big Easy

Chef Emeril Lagasse with Camille Breland, Emeril’s Homebase PR manager

42 Alumni Review

Lagasse says Breland is a welcome addition to his Homebase operation.

“She’s a real team player and has been put right into the thick of things during some of the busiest and best times surrounding Super Bowl and Mardi Gras,” he says.

Written communication also is an important part of the job, and Breland, a Columbia native, says she’s always loved writing.

“I’ve kept a journal since the first or second grade that serves as a dialogue, almost a narration of my life,” she says. “I love looking back and seeing how my thoughts on life in general have changed.”

After graduating from Columbia High School in 2002, Breland set out for Ole Miss to pursue an education in journal-ism. While perusing numerous internships in media and public relations, she decided to alter her focus and attain a business degree in marketing communications.

“At the time, the industry was changing,” says Breland. “I thought it would be more strategic and better for my career to change to the business school.”

While studying at Ole Miss, Breland wrote for The Daily Mississippian and worked in public relations for the University Communications office. She quickly became fascinated by the power that news media have over the population.

“It’s how people receive information,” Breland says. “The way news media say and convey information is how people learn about their community and their nation.”

Juggling the demands of student life and writing for news outlets was a challenging task, but Breland managed to make

it work. Between classes, she found time to hone her skills conducting interviews and writing stories. A member of Delta Delta Delta Fraternity, Breland also served as vice president of public relations and communications as well as intramural chairwoman.

Breland briefly worked with Oxford-based Nautilus Publish-ing Co. after graduation as a writer and editor before accepting a job in Nashville in 2007 with iostudio, which provides inte-grated marketing and advertising services.

Breland credits the wealth of experience she gained in social media, Web analytics and email marketing while at iostudio with helping to advance her career.

“I started out just writing and editing for the publisher’s magazines, and then it blossomed into everything in media, which is how the world of media is today,” says Breland. “You can’t just write for print publications. You have to be versed in all of it, which really set the stage for how I got my job with Emeril’s Homebase.”

After three years, Breland left iostudio to get a master’s degree in mass communication from Middle Tennessee State Univer-sity, which she did in 2012 while serving as communications officer for Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority.

Breland then looked to expand her horizons and soon found herself in New Orleans, conducting public relations for Lagasse’s 13 restaurants around the country.

What Breland enjoys most about her job is the opportunity to promote a business and an industry that she is truly passionate about.

“New New Orleans” creations on the line at Emeril’s Restaurant in New Orleans.

Spring 2013 43

“It’s easier for me to do my job because I care about the restaurants, and I love the food and Emeril,” Breland says. “It’s really fun to pitch stories and convey that. Who doesn’t love going out to eat?”

Eric Linquest, president and chief operating officer for Emer-il’s Homebase, says Breland is a self-motivated, diligent worker.

“I especially appreciate the posi-tive enthusiasm she brings to her position,” says Linquest. “Right from the start, during her training and since actually taking over her position, s h e h a s s h o w n b o t h enthusiasm and dedica-tion in learning about our company and in executing her responsibilities.”

B r e l a n d k n o w s s h e wouldn’t have gotten where she is today without the help of a few influential people along the way. One professor in particular, Robin Street (BA 75, MA 85, MS 97), professor of journalism at Ole Miss, has been a key factor in Breland’s success. While pursuing her undergraduate degree, Breland was urged by Street to enter a contest for public relations professionals and students, which led to a PRism Award from the Public Relations Society of America.

“She was definitely a mentor,” Breland says. “She’s always truly interested in how I’m doing both personally and profes-sionally, so I really look up to her.”

While working for one of the busiest men in the industry can be hectic at times, Breland wouldn’t have it any other way.

“He’s so energetic and truly passionate about his restaurants and cooking,” says Breland

of Lagasse. “This is his life’s work. This is what he does and what he’s

passionate about, so it’s great working for someone you can

see that in and who truly does convey that love and passion. It makes me want to do a better job.”

Breland is uncertain about what the future holds

but foresees being part of the Emeril’s Homebase family

for many years, hoping to help the restaurants grow and continu-

ously gain more exposure in the media industry.

“Emeril has so many people who have worked for him 20-plus years, and it’s because he’s such a good guy to work for,” she says. “Seeing that makes me realize that I could definitely stay here. It’s a good company, where they care about their employees and care about people.” AR

Emeril’s Delmonico, located on the famed St. Charles Avenue streetcar line, has a Creole tradition dating back to 1895.Below: The signature banana layer cake from NOLA Restaurant in the French Quarter.

44 Alumni Review

SportsSportsSEC ChampionsOLE MISS REBEL BASKETBALL BRINGS HOME SEC TITLE

The Ole Miss men’s basketball team claimed its first SEC Champion-ship title since 1981, beating the

Florida Gators 78-64 on March 16.

The Rebels have an overall record of 28-49 in 51 SEC Tournament appearances and have reached four SEC Championship finals. The team took home the title of SEC West Division champions in 1997, 1998 and 2001. Its last SEC Tournament title came in

1981, when it defeated Georgia 66-62.This is the first time Ole Miss has

advanced to the finals under head Coach Andy Kennedy.

After advancing to the NCAA Tourna-ment with its win over Florida, the Rebels went on to defeat Wisconsin 57-46 before falling to La Salle on March 24, ending its run to compete in the Sweet Sixteen.

“They [La Salle] have a good basket-ball team,” Kennedy says. “They made

more plays. Heck of a game.”This year marked the Rebels’ seventh

NCAA Tournament appearance in school history and the first since 2002.

Kennedy, the coach with the most wins in school history, was named SEC Coach of the Year by NBCSports.com after guiding the Rebels to a 27-8 record, a 12-6 league mark and the SEC Tourna-ment championship.

The Rebels piled on additional postseason honors. Reginald Buckner, Marshall Henderson and Murphy Hol-loway all earned SEC postseason honors. Henderson was voted SEC Player of the Year by CBSSports.com, SEC Newcomer of the Year by the Associated Press, first team All-SEC by Blue Ribbon College Basketball and NBCSports.com, second team all-conference by the AP and the league’s coaches, and received All-District honors from the U.S. Bas-ketball Writers Association.

Holloway also earned first team All-SEC honors from Blue Ribbon and second team accolades from the AP and the league’s coaches. Buckner was voted to the SEC All-Defensive squad by the league’s coaches for the third-straight year.

The Ole Miss Rebels finished the season tied for the most wins in school history with 27. AR

The Rebels brought home the SEC Championship title in March.

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CHEERLEADERS PLACE SECOND IN WORLD UNIVERSITY, FIFTH IN NATION

The Ole Miss cheerleaders captured second place in the World University Championships and fifth in Division

IA at the Universal Cheerleaders Associa-tion National Championships in January at the Walt Disney World Resort.

The competition is considered the most prestigious cheerleading champion-ship in the country.

Ole Miss placed second in the World Uni-

versity Championships among nine interna-tional and U.S. teams and fifth out of 13 final-ists in the National Championships. The Rebels finished third among SEC schools in Division IA. Memphis won the event, followed by Ken-tucky, Alabama and University of Central Florida.

The Rebelettes also competed at the University Dance Association nationals in Division IA Jazz and Hip Hop, advancing to the semifinals.

“I’m so proud of the spirit squads for how they represent the Ole Miss brand,” says Michael Thompson, senior associate athlet-ics director for marketing and communica-tions. “Being recognized as one of the very best in the world doesn’t happen without determination, sacrifice and hard work.”

The cheerleaders are coached by Trey Griffin and assisted by Perren Young. The Rebelettes are coached by Emily Wood. AR

Spring 2013 45

Vote of ConfidenceOLE MISS ANNOUNCES CONTRACT EXTENSION FOR BJORK

On the one-year anniversary of his introduction in March, Ross Bjork’s contract as Ole

Miss athletics director was extended to reach the state maximum of four years, while his base salary will increase from $400,000 to $460,000 annually.

“It is hard to imagine an athletics director who has had a more successful first year,” says Chancellor Dan Jones. “Ross and his team have worked hard to bring Rebel Nation together. It is clear he has gained the confidence of the fan base, his colleagues in athletics administration, our coaches and athletes, and donors. And he certainly has my complete confidence.”

Year one of the Bjork era in Oxford laid a foundation for success, including first-year head football Coach Hugh Freeze guiding the Rebels to a bowl game for the first time in three years and the

Rebels reclaiming the Egg Bowl trophy. That impressive turnaround was followed by an SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament championship and the end to a 10-year NCAA Tournament drought.

“Each and every day I am truly grateful and humble for the opportunity afforded our family here in Oxford and at the University of Mississippi,” Bjork says. “We cannot thank Chancellor Jones enough for his confidence in my leadership and his belief in our staff and coaches who are helping propel Ole Miss Athletics to new heights.”

While inspiring Ole Miss fans, Bjork has restructured Freeze’s contract as well as the athletics department with new divisions for External Affairs and Health & Sports Performance. The Ole Miss Athletics Foun-dation, formerly UMAA, also underwent a rebrand, while the Forward Together

campaign has risen from $62 million to more than $81 million in the past year. AR

Football Staff StrengthenedJONES NAMED CO-DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR AND CORNERBACKS COACH

Ole Miss added a successful coach and recruiter to its foot-ball staff in co-defensive coor-

dinator and cornerbacks coach Jason

Jones, as announced in early March by Rebel head Coach Hugh Freeze.

Jones comes to Oxford after five sea-sons at Oklahoma State, where his teams amassed a 49-16 record. In his nine seasons as a college coach, his teams have made a bowl game appearance every year.

“Jason’s experience and energy make him a perfect fit for our staff, and we’re excited to get him on campus and ready for spring practice,” Freeze says. “He has been a winner at every stop throughout his career, and he has a proven track record as a recruiter. I look forward to coaching alongside him as our team continues its journey.”

In his time in Stil lwater, Jones coached three different Cowboy corners to first team All-Big 12 honors and a pair of Thorpe Award semifinalists in Perrish

Cox (2009) and Brodrick Brown (2011). Cox was a first team All-American in 2009 as well.

Jones is a 2001 graduate of the University of Alabama with a degree in financial planning. He was a two-year starter at defensive back for the Crimson Tide and was part of three bowl teams, an SEC West championship in 1996 and SEC championship in 1999.

He earned a master’s degree from Ala-bama in sports management in 2005. He and his wife, Kysha, have three children: Andrew, Jace and Jarah.

Jones, who will have play-calling duties in the Rebels’ secondary, replaces previous co-defensive coordinator Wesley McGriff, who recently joined the New Orleans Saints’ coaching staff in the NFL. AR

Bjork

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46 Alumni Review

Culturearts &

Eat Drink Delta: A Hungr y Traveler’s Journey through the Soul of the South by Susan Puckett, 296 pages, $24.95 (Paper-back), ISBN: 9780820344256

The Mississippi Delta is a complicated and fascinating place. Part travel guide, part cookbook and part photo essay, Eat Drink Delta, by veteran food journalist Susan Puckett (with photographs by Delta resident Langdon Clay), reveals a region shaped by slavery, civil rights, amazing wealth, abject deprivation, the Civil War, a flood of biblical proportions and — above all — an overarching urge to get down and party with a full table and an open bar.

Puckett uncovers the stories behind convenience stores, where dill pickles marinate in Kool-Aid, and diners, where tabouli appears on plates with fried chicken. She celebrates the region’s hot tamale makers and introduces us to a new crop of Delta chefs who brine chicken in sweet tea and top stone-ground Mississippi grits with local pond-raised prawns and tomato confit.

The guide also provides a taste of events such as Belzoni’s World Catfish Festival and offers dozens of tested recipes, includ-ing the Memphis barbecue pizza beloved by Elvis and a lemon ice-box pie inspired by Tennessee Williams.

Susan Puckett (BA 77) is a native of Jackson. She was the food editor at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for 18 years and has written for many national food

and culture magazines. She is author of six previous books, including A Cook’s Tour of Mississippi and The 5:30 Challenge Cookbook. Puckett lives in Atlanta.

Called to the Fire by Chet Bush, 224 pages, $21.99 (Hardcover), ISBN: 9781426753282

This is the true story of Charles John-son, an African-American preacher who went to Mississippi in 1961 during the summer of the Freedom Rides. Un w i t t i n g l y t h r u s t i n t o the heart of a national trag-edy, the murder of three c ivi l rights activists, h e ov e r c a m e fear and adver-sity to become a leader in the c i v i l r i g h t s movement.

A s a k e y African-American witness to take the stand in the trial famously dubbed the “Miss i s s ippi Burning” case by the FBI, Johnson p l a y e d a k e y r o l e f o r the U.S. Department of Justice, offering clarity to the event that led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This story of love, conviction, adversity and redemption climaxes with a shocking encounter between Johnson and one of the murderers. The reader will be riveted to the details of a gracious life in pursuit of the call of God from the pulpit to the streets and ultimately into the courtroom.

Chet Bush is a pastor/writer in Oxford. He received a bachelor’s degree in religion from Trevecca Nazarene Uni-versity and a Master of Divinity degree at Nazarene Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Allie (BA 12), are active members of the Ole Miss Alumni Association.

Shore Excursion by Marie Moore, 230 pages, $13.95 (Paperback), ISBN: 9781603818742

Travel agents may be a vanishing breed, but Sidney Marsh, a New York transplant from Mississippi, is holding her ground — at least on land. She is the tour leader on a cruise from Scandinavia to Rus-sia for a group of eccentric senior citizens who call themselves the High Steppers. Sidney expects her days to be filled with

long meals, shopping expeditions and visits to museums, churches and fjords. However, this cruise is anything but routine. A killer is on board, targeting the High Steppers and quite possibly Sidney.

After the first suspicious death, the capta in and his crew are grimly determined to carry on as usual. Frustrated and dismayed by their inaction, Sidney decides to launch her own investigation. She

enlists the halfhearted h e l p o f h e r f r i e n d and business partner, the f lamboyant and fun-loving Jay Wilson. Suspects abound, but the closer Sidney gets to the truth, the less she understands. How can a luxurious European cruise go so wrong?

I n 1 9 8 5 , M a r i e Moore (BAEd 70) left the newspaper business to open a retail travel agency, which she man-

aged for the next 15 years. She and her hus-band live in Memphis and Holly Springs.

Information presented in this section is com-piled from material provided by the publisher and/or author and does not necessarily repre-sent the view of the Alumni Review or the Ole Miss Alumni Association. To present a recently published book or CD for consideration, please mail a copy with any descriptions and publishing information to: Ole Miss Alumni Review, Ole Miss Alumni Association, P.O. Box 1848, University, MS 38677. AR

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Log on and enjoy the fun! HottyToddy.com is a next generation news source designed to connect the worldwide Ole Miss and Oxford family.

Visit hottytoddy.com and click on the SUBSCRIBE FREE and sign up for our newsletter for the latest in Oxford and Ole Miss shopping, dining, sports, entertainment and much more!

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1-2page.pdf 1 9/2/11 4:15 PM

Travelerrebel2013

The Ole Miss Alumni Association is offering a number of spectacu-lar trips for 2013.

Alumni and friends obtain group rates and discounts. All prices are per person, based on double occupancy and subject to change until booking. Airfare is not included unless noted. For a brochure or more information, contact the Alumni office at 662-915-7375. The most current and complete listing of trips and prices is available on the Ole Miss Alumni Association’s website at www.olemissalumni.com/travel.

ITALIAN INSPIRATIONAPRIL 27-MAY 5, 2013 Embark on an inspiring voyage, where history and legends come to life as you travel the Mediterranean along the shores

of Italy, Greece and Croatia. Depart-ing from Rome’s port, Civitavecchia, cruise south to Sorrento, a resort town nestled on the cliffs overlooking the Bay of Naples. Explore its charming old town, stroll the fascinating ruins of Pompeii, or visit the captivating Isle of Capri. Wander medieval lanes in the fascinating Sicilian town of Taormina, and gaze at the legend-ary, towering Mount Etna. Next, sail to Greece, take in the magnificent scenery of Zakynthos and explore Corfu’s lovely old Venetian quarter. Before concluding your journey in the floating city of Venice, visit medieval Dubrovnik, the beautiful red-tiled gem on the Dalmatian coast. Cruise to celebrated ports aboard the elegant Riviera, Oceania Cruises’ newest ship, which boasts some of the finest amenities at sea. — From $1,799

KENTUCKY OAKS AND DERBYMAY 2-5, 2013 The Kentucky Derby is run annually on the first Saturday in May. This one-and-a-quarter-mile race at the famed Churchill Downs is known as “the most exciting two minutes in sports” or the “Run for the Roses,” named for the blan-ket of roses draped over the winner. The attendance at the Kentucky Derby ranks first in North America and usually sur-passes the attendance of all other stakes races. Travel packages are available for the Kentucky Derby and can be paired with the Kentucky Oaks, scheduled for the day prior to give you access to both events. Room packages include three nights of hotel accommodations at the Hampton Inn, Country Inn & Suites or Holiday Inn Express; lounge access

Venice, Italy

48 Alumni Review

and celebrity jockey meet and greet; food and bars provided from morning to sundown; as well as transportation to and from the track on Oaks and Derby days. — From $1,199 with room

TRANSPACIFIC VOYAGE — LANDS AND ISLANDS OF MYSTERYMAY 5-20, 2013 Featuring the six-star, all ocean-view suite M.V. Silver Shadow, cruise from Tokyo to Japan’s Northern Islands, Russia’s Far East, the Bering Strait and Aleutian Islands of Alaska. Optional excursions include the highlights and landmarks of Tokyo; a scenic excursion revealing Russia’s culinary, cultural and religious influences on Alaska; and a full-day fishing excur-sion in Homer, the “Halibut capital of the world.” The trip includes free airfare from 43 gateway cities, free beverages throughout, all gratuities and port taxes, dedicated butler service and $1,000 per couple shipboard credit. — From $4,995

CELTIC LANDSMAY 9-18, 2013 Cruise for eight nights aboard the exclu-sively chartered, deluxe M.S. Le Boréal from Edinburgh, Scotland, to Wales, Ire-land and France. By special arrangement, Dwight David Eisenhower II, University of Pennsylvania professor and grandson of former Gen. and President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Celia Sandys, historian and granddaughter of Great Britain’s for-mer Prime Minister Winston Churchill, will join participants to provide exclusive lectures and personal insights. Enjoy guided excursions in each port of call, including the D-Day landing beaches in Normandy and the UNESCO World

Heritage sites of the Neolithic Ring of Brodgar and Skara Brae on the Orkney Islands and Caernarfon Castle near Holyhead, Wales. Edinburgh pre-cruise and Paris post-cruise options are offered. — From $5,395

TRADE ROUTES OF COASTAL IBERIAMAY 22-30, 2013This seven-night cruise from Barcelona, Spain, to Lisbon, Portugal, on the M.V. Silver Cloud promises fun and luxury. Port calls include Valencia, Cartagena and Cadiz, Spain. The cruise includes gourmet meals with single, unassigned seatings, complimentary drinks and 24-hour room service. Also, onboard guest speakers will provide educational discussions on local history, nature and culture. Fitness classes and daily enter-tainment are also scheduled.

Extra excursions can be arranged including tours of the historic Spanish port of Soller de Mallorca, Valencia, Cartagena and Granada. — From $4,399, including air from 43 gateway cities

ANCIENT KINGDOMS OF CHINAJUNE 13-28, 2013A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hear Julie Nixon Eisenhower discuss China and her late father’s pivotal role in bringing Communist China out of isolation. This comprehensive, 15-day journey includes a seven-night, exclu-sively chartered grand cruise along the fabled Yangtze River, sailing all the way from Shanghai upstream to Chongqing. And, spend two nights in Shanghai, one night in Xi’an and three nights in Beijing in five-star hotels. Highlights include five UNESCO World Heritage sites;

The Great Wall, China

Caernarfon Castle, Wales

Spring 2013 49

2013

Travelerrebel

the Three Gorges Dam; seldom-visited Nanjing, Huangshan and Wuhan; mysti-cal Old and spectacular New Shanghai; Xi’an’s Terra Cotta Warriors; Beijing’s Forbidden City; and the Great Wall. Guilin/Hong Kong post-program option is available. — From $3,995

BALTIC TREASURESJUNE 24-JULY 5, 2013Spend 10 nights aboard the cruise ship Marina, traveling to historic and scenic ports. With ports of call in Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Poland and Germany, this cruise promises a variety in scenery and culture. Activities in port include visiting the Royal Palace in Stockholm, Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, and a scenic drive to Berlin to see landmarks such as the Brandenburg Gate. The cruise program includes free round-trip airfare from select cities. — From $3,999

ALASKA’S GLACIERS AND THE INSIDE PASSAGEJUNE 27-JULY 4, 2013Join this magnificent seven-night cruise from Vancouver, British Columbia, through the Inside Passage, to Seward, Alaska, aboard the six-star, all-suite M.V. Silver Shadow. Take advantage of early-booking savings of $3,000 per couple. A host of complimentary fea-tures aboard ship include all onboard gratuities and port taxes, personal but-ler service and beverages throughout the cruise. See untouched coastlines, watch for wildlife, and cruise up close to the Sawyer and Hubbard glaciers. Call at historic Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Sitka. A Vancouver pre-cruise option and Fairbanks/Denali National Park post-cruise option are offered. — From $4,299, including air from 43 gateway cities

ICELAND TO GREENLAND — TO THE ARCTIC CIRCLE IN THE WAKE OF THE VIKINGSAUG. 12-24, 2013Join this once-in-a-lifetime, 13-day itinerary from Iceland to the beautiful, rugged west coast of Greenland and the rarely visited Arctic Circle. Cruise aboard the deluxe M.S. Le Boréal featuring all outside staterooms and suites including all excursions and meals. Call on ports inaccessible to larger vessels on this exclusive itinerary, and explore one of the world’s last great frontiers. Be among the few people in the world to ever cross into the Arctic Circle. Visit remote towns and settlements to learn more about the fascinating Inuit people. Zodiac excur-sions are led by expert naturalist guides. A pre-cruise option in Northern Iceland is offered. — From $7,595

TASTE OF EUROPEAUG. 26-SEPT. 6, 2013This 10-night cruise aboard the Nautica promises a taste of Europe. Ports of call in four countries offer a variety of activities. Extra activities include seeing the medieval walled town of Concarneau in France, exploring the Old Quarter of Bilbao in Spain and visiting the ornate Belem Tower in Lisbon, Portugal. Round-trip airfare from select cities is included. — From $3,999

WATERWAYS OF RUSSIAAUG. 30-SEPT. 9, 2013Join us for nine nights aboard the exclusively chartered, deluxe M.S. Volga Dream, the premier ship cruising Russia’s waterways with a capacity of 109 pas-sengers. This carefully crafted itinerary highlights Russia’s two great cultural capitals — St. Petersburg, Czar Peter the Great’s “window on the West,” featuring a guided tour of the State Hermitage Museum, and the fabled city of Moscow, political and commercial capital of the world’s largest country. Cruise to the leg-endary open-air museum of Kizhi Island, the 14th-century monastery of Goritsy, Stockholm, Sweden

50 Alumni Review

medieval Yaroslavl and 10th-century Uglich, rustic remnants of old Russia. A two-night Moscow post-cruise option is available. — From $3,995

VILLAGE LIFE IN THE ITALIAN LAKESSEPT. 14-22, 2013Experience the true essence of life in northern Italy’s fabled Lake District for one full week, with a lake-view room in the charming Hotel Regina Olga in Cernob-bio, a picturesque village overlooking Lake Como. Enjoy a private boat cruise on Lake Como and expert-guided excursions to Bel-lagio, Villa del Balbianello, the Borromean Islands and Stresa. Enriching lectures and the exclusive Village Forum™ with local resi-dents bring you personal perspectives of the region’s modern life and cultural heritage. This comprehensive itinerary also features an optional excursion to stunning Lugano, Switzerland, and a two-night Milan pre-program option. — From $2,995

PARIS TO PROVENCESEPT. 16-24, 2013This quintessential French sojourn features a stay in Paris, travel on the famous TGV high-speed train from Paris to Lyon and a five-night Rhône River cruise through the countryside of Provence. Spend a full day in Lyon, France’s gastronomique gateway, before embarking the exclusively chartered

M.S. Amadeus Symphony. Experience the world-famous Côtes du Rhône w ine reg ion , the l andscape tha t inspired the great Impressionists Paul Cézanne and Vincent Van Gogh, and visit the Roman city of Orange, the historic Papal Palace of Avignon and the wonderfully preserved Roman Amphitheater in Arles. The London pre-program option travels through the Chunnel to Par is ; an Aix-en-Provence post-program opt ion i s offered also. — From $3,495

TOWN AND COUNTRY LIFE IN TUSCANYSEPT. 16-24, 2013Experience la dolce vita di Toscana (Tuscany’s sweet l i fe) for one full week in one of Italy’s most fabled and timeless provinces. Stay for four nights in the heart of Florence and for three nights in an ideally located deluxe hotel in medieval Siena, both UNESCO World Heritage sites. This delightful sojourn introduces you to the authentic traditions and culture of Tuscany, with specially arranged excur-sions and cultural enrichments featur-ing Florence; Siena; the ancient hill town of San Gimignano, a UNESCO World Heritage site; Chianti, known for its world-famous wines; and the exclusive Village Forum™ with local residents. — From $3,245

ISLAND LIFE IN ANCIENT GREECE AND TURKEYSEPT. 24-OCT. 2, 2013Join us for this exclusive nine-day odyssey to the windswept paradise of Greece’s ancient islands and Turkey’s fabled coast. Cruise from Athens to Istanbul aboard the exclusively chartered, deluxe small ship M.S. L’Austral. Meet local residents during the specially arranged Village Forum™ for a personal perspective on the true character of the Aegean Sea’s maritime culture. Carefully designed, expert-led excursions are highlighted by the UNESCO World Heritage sites of the classical ruins of Delos, the Old Town of Rhodes, the Monastery of St. John on Pátmos and legendary Troy. Extend your voyage with the Athens pre-cruise option and the Istanbul or Cappa-docia post-cruise option. — From $3,595

CANADA AND NEW ENGLANDSEPT. 24-OCT. 6, 2013Cruise on the ship Regatta from Quebec to New York City, and experience the Cana-dian and New England fall scenery like never before. Activities in the ports of call offer a variety of activities such as seeing the original manuscript of Anne of Green Gables in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; the Halifax Citadel on Nova Scotia; and touring the Vanderbilt Marble House in Newport, R.I. Free round-trip airfare from select cities is included. — From $4,299

New England

Spring 2013 51

52 Alumni Review

Newsalumni

Welcome Aboard2013 ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD MEMBERS ANNOUNCED

The new members of the Alumni Association board of directors are involved in a wide range of careers and community organiza-tions. One-third of the board is appointed each year by the Ole Miss Alumni Association president and serves a three-year term.

Carl Chaney (BBA 83, JD 86) is the president and CEO of Hancock Hold-ing Co., the parent company of Han-cock Bank and Whitney Bank. He is past chairman of the Mississippi Bank-ers Association and serves on the boards of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, New Orleans branch, and Mississippi Power Co. Chaney also serves as chairman of the

Compensation Committee and is a member of the Controls and Compliance Committee for Mississippi Power Co. He and his wife, Jinx, have three children: Morgan, Brent and Maxcy.

SCott Coopwood (BA 84) is a newspa-per and magazine publisher, television host on the Mississippi Delta ABC affiliate, and owner of a full-service advertising, marketing and public rela-tions firm, Coopwood Communica-tions. While at Ole Miss, he was a member of Kappa Alpha Fraternity. He currently serves on the board of the Cleveland branch of Planters Bank &

Trust Co., the advisory board of the University of Mississippi’s Meek School of Journalism and New Media, and he continues to serve on other regional and statewide boards. He lives in Cleveland with his wife, Cindy, and their three children.

Billy CrewS (BA 78) serves as vice president for strategic partnerships for Teach for America in the Mississippi-Arkansas region. He served as CEO and publisher of The Northeast Missis-sippi Daily Journal for 20 years. He is former director of BancorpSouth, past chairman of the Community Develop-ment Foundation in Tupelo and past chairman of the Commission on the

Future of Northeast Mississippi. While at Ole Miss, he served as ASB president in 1977-78. He and his wife, Catherine (BFA 79), live in Oxford. They have three children: Mary Catherine, Lowrey and Perrin (BA 13).

retired Maj. Gen. jiM donald (BS 87) is former chairman of the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles and was elected by his colleagues to serve two consecutive terms in that position. He earned the Bronze Star for his bold leadership as a task force commander with the 101st Airborne “Screaming Eagles” during Gulf War I. He is the 2010 recipient of the Mississippi Trail-

blazer Award, honoring his achievement in the military and government. He is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and serves as a member of several government and civic boards.

roBert GaGe (BBA 76, JD 78) is CEO of RiverHills Bank in Port Gibson. He has been employed with the bank since 1979 and was elected CEO in 1983. He has been active in the Mississippi Bankers Association since the organization was started and is a member of the Mississippi State Bar Association. He and his wife, Jacquelyn (77), have two chil-

dren, Virginia (BA 07) and Robert.

Mandy GaGliardi (BAccy 94) is a part-ner in the New Orleans office of Chaffe McCall, LLP. She practices in the areas of federal and state taxation, the Louisiana Motion Picture Incen-tive Program, and federal and state his-toric tax credits. While at Ole Miss, she was a member and treasurer of Phi Mu Fraternity as well as Panhellenic vice president. She previously served

Ole Miss as president of the New Orleans Alumni Club. She resides in Mandeville, La., with her husband, Michael, and their two children, Matthew and Madison.

Spring 2013 53

C. Fred GraveS iii (BBA 78) is presi-dent and CEO of Graves Oil Co. in Batesville. He is active in the local community through numerous civic and charitable organizations. He and his wife, Charlie, are members of First United Methodist Church in Batesville. They have three children, Houston, Carlyle and Jordan, and two grandsons.

Sue t. hale (BAE 72, MCD 75, SpecCD 78) is director of clinical edu-cation and assistant professor in the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences at Vanderbilt University. She was a member of the Ole Miss Depart-ment of Communication Sciences and Disorders faculty for 24 years. She is a fellow of the American Speech-Lan-guage-Hearing Association. She served

as a delegation leader for People to People Citizen Ambassador programs to China and Tibet in 2011 and South Africa in 2012. She and her husband, Lance (BBA 70), have two chil-dren, Kim and Scott.

ann B. henSon (BAE 75, MEd 76) is actively involved in early child-hood education throughout Missis-sippi and serves as coordinator of Project PREPARE. An active mem-ber of Germantown United Meth-odist Church, she also serves as a volunteer tutor for Memphis City Schools. She is a life member of the Jun io r Aux i l i a r y and ha s been

active with numerous charitable organizations. She lives in Germantown, Tenn., with her husband, Gene (BAccy 76). They have two daughters, Staci (BAccy 03, MAccy 04) and Stephanie (BAccy 08, MAccy 09), and one grandchild, Henson.

lawrenCe B. johnSon jr. (BBA 79) is a regional customer service manager/governmental affairs for Entergy Mis-sissippi Inc. in Jackson. He is a past advisory board member for Planters Bank and past board member for the Washington County Boys and Girls Club. He is an active board member of the American Association of Blacks in Energy and parish council member at

Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Jackson. He lives in Madison with his wife, Nancy (BA 80), and their two children, Lawrence III and Langston.

Stephen d. johnSton (BBA 93) is vice president of corporate development at Itron Inc. Johnston was the CEO of SmartSynch Inc., a smart-grid tech-nology company headquartered in Jackson. He currently sits on a number of boards, including the University of Mississippi Research Foundation board, the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and the Jackson Academy Board

of Trustees. He and his wife, Melissa (MS 93), live in Jackson with their four children.

Marilyn h. Mulherin (BA 78) is an art-ist known for her impressionist still-life and landscape paintings. She lives in Dallas with her husband, Harbert Mulherin. The couple also enjoys being at their farm in Tennessee. She has renewed interest in Ole Miss since both children, Helen (06) and Harbert (BBA 08), attended.

54 Alumni Review

Newsalumni

dan Quon (BA 72, DMD 79) leads a dental practice in Jackson that he began in 1984. He also serves as clini-cal professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and serves on the staff of St. Dominic/Jackson Memorial Hospital. He has served as president of District IV of the Mississippi Dental Association and is a member of the

American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and the Pierre Fauchard Academy. He lives in Madison with his wife, Wanda. They have a son, Jason Daniel (BAccy 11).

otiS SanFord (BA 75) is a full-time fac-ulty member with the University of Memphis and conducts various lec-tures and workshops both on and off campus on journalism, politics and public policy. He also is co-host of “Informed Sources,” a weekly public affairs show on WREG-TV. He holds the Hardin Chair of Excellence in Journalism at the University of Mem-

phis and is a weekly Viewpoint columnist for The Commercial Appeal. Before joining the University of Memphis faculty in 2011, he was editor for opinion and editorials at The Commer-cial Appeal and formerly served as the paper’s managing editor.

MarCi SliMan (BBA 92) is a commu-nity activist and former campaign staff member with Gov. George W. Bush of Texas and gubernatorial staff member with William F. Weld of Massachusetts. While at Ole Miss, she was a member of Delta Delta Delta Fraternity, elected Miss Ole Miss and inducted into the Hall of Fame. She is currently involved with

numerous civic and charitable organizations. She resides in Tupelo with her husband, Sam (BS 90), and their three chil-dren, Sam, Morrison and Miriam. She is a member of St. James Catholic Church.

Cheryl turner (BS 79, MPA 90) is director of special programs for the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration, Office of Insur-ance. In that role she is a key member of the management team that adminis-ters the state’s health and life insurance programs, the Self-insured Workers’ Compensation Trust and the state employees’ wellness program. She is

the Southern regional director of Delta Sigma Theta Fraternity, sitting on the national executive board. She is the first Missis-sippian to be elected to the position since its inception in 1926.

Spring 2013 55

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56 Alumni Review

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Sustaining Life Membership Program The Sustaining Life Membership program is a voluntary way for current Life Members to provide additional annual sup-

port to the Ole Miss Alumni Association at one of several tax-deductible levels: Platinum, Gold, Silver, Blue and Red. These contributions are used to support necessary programs to engage Ole Miss alumni and friends and to help create future alumni leaders through student involvement, scholarship and leadership programs.

Fiscal Year 2013 Members

Platinum $1,000+Dr. J. Steven BlakeMr. and Mrs. Rees T. Bowen IIIMr. and Mrs. Louis K. Brandt Mr. and Mrs. David E. Brevard Mr. and Mrs. Christopher A. Callero Mr. and Mrs. Charles C. Clark Dr. Fred G. Corley Jr.Ms. Karen CraigThe Hon. and Mrs. Brad J. Dye Jr.Dr. and Mrs. Richard M. HillMr. Julius W. KingDr. and Mrs. A. Michael Koury Mr. and Mrs. David O. McCormick Dr. and Mrs. Edwin E. Meek Mr. and Mrs. H. Dixon Montague Dr. Paul H. Moore Sr.Dr. and Mrs. Don Newcomb Mr. and Mrs. Richard G. Noble Mr. Christopher PhillipsMr. W. Ashton Randall IIIDr. and Mrs. Lynn K. Whittington Mr. and Mrs. Charles D. Wilson

Gold $500-$999Mr. and Mrs. W. Hinton Andrews Mr. and Mrs. Larry H. Bryan Ms. Angela D. CarneyMr. and Mrs. James H. CreekmoreMr. William M. Dalehite Jr.Mr. and Mrs. Tristan Patrick DeBord Mr. and Mrs. Danny B. Dedmon Mrs. Georgia McKenzie EllisonMr. and Mrs. S. Lawrence Farrington Mr. and Mrs. T. Michael Glenn Mr. and Mrs. William Walton

Gresham III Dr. and Mrs. W. Briggs Hopson Jr. Mr. William H. Howard IIIMr. Frank M. LeniorMr. and Mrs. Edward C. Maloney Mr. and Mrs. John A. McKinney Mr. Matthew A. MillsMr. and Mrs. Robert B. Nance III Mr. Jason A. NilesMrs. Dusky H. NorsworthyDr. and Mrs. Daniel Quon Dr. and Mrs. John C. Stitt Mr. and Mrs. Thomas L. Venus Mr. and Mrs. H.L. Williams Jr.

Silver $250-$499Mr. Hirschel T. Abbott Jr.Dr. and Mrs. George L. Arrington Jr. Ms. Kathryn B. BlackDr. and Mrs. Benjamin E. Box Mr. and Mrs. William A. Brown Ms. Pamela J. Cox

Dr. James W. DavisMr. William Jason DerrickDr. and Mrs. David N. Duddleston Mr. and Mrs. John H. Geary Dr. and Mrs. Walter M. Gorton Mrs. Laura L. GradolfDr. and Mrs. George J. Heard Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Hardy M. Hill Mr. R. Huston HollisterMr. and Mrs. Charles V. Imbler Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Charles V. Imbler Mr. and Mrs. Donald D. Jones Dr. Russell F. Kearney Jr.Dr. William F. KeetonMr. Carroll A. Kemp Jr.Dr. and Mrs. Noah B. Kimball Mr. Peter J. MagielnickiMr. and Mrs. William T. May Mr. and Mrs. William T. Mays Jr. Mrs. Beverly Y. MilamMr. and Mrs. G. Terrell Morgan Mr. and Mrs. William T. Moroney Dr. and Mrs. Lee D. Morris Mr. Lacy G. NewmanMr. and Mrs. Douglas C. Noble Mr. and Mrs. Glen Oglesby and Mr. and Mrs. Mike Overstreet Mr. Brad PittmanDr. and Mrs. Mark A. Ray Col. and Mrs. James W. Rice Jr. Dr. Newell B. RobinsonMr. and Mrs. Larry Rocconi Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Robert Seibels III Mr. and Mrs. W. Marion Smith Mr. and Mrs. William H. Street Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Jon C. Turner The Hon. and Mrs. Roger F. Wicker Mrs. Jennifer Ingram Wilkinson

Blue $100-$249Mr. and Mrs. Samuel F. Alexander Mr. and Mrs. John Warner Alford Jr. Ms. Carol T. BarnesMr. Cornelius H. BlockMr. Edward S. BoppDr. John W. BowlinMr. and Mrs. David M. Brown Mr. and Mrs. Kirk A. Brown Mr. and Mrs. James N. Butler Ms. Inez O. CameronDr. David K. CarterMr. and Mrs. John S. Case Mr. and Mrs. Mark J. Chaney Sr. Mrs. Karel K. ColeMr. and Mrs. Charles L. Cook Mr. and Mrs. Mark Jackson Cowart Dr. Art J. Cox IIIDr. and Mrs. Andrew CroneMrs. Ann R. Dennis

Dr. A. Percy Durfey Jr.Mrs. Tyler McCutchen EasterlingMr. and Mrs. Hugh Edwards II The Hon. and Mrs. Robert W.

Elliott Sr. Dr. Charles Farris Jr.Dr. and Mrs. James V. Ferguson Jr.Mr. and Mrs. Brooke Ferris Lt. Col. and Mrs. Robert B. Gann,

USMC (Ret.) Dr. Randel C. GibsonMr. Karl D. GottschalkMr. William F. HaganMr. and Mrs. Robert S. Hancock Jr.Mr. and Mrs. Van E. Hedges Mr. and Mrs. Mike Henry Mr. Joseph M. Hinshaw IIIMr. Robert H. HodgesMr. and Mrs. Paul B. Howell Mr. Carson M. HughesDr. Calvin T. HullMr. and Mrs. William M. James Mr. Marcus C. Jennings IIIMr. and Mrs. Frank H. Jones Mr. Walker W. Jones IIIMr. Henry A. Lakes andMr. and Mrs. John B. Laney Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Preston H. Lee Jr. Mrs. Barbera H. LiddonMr. and Mrs. C. Matthew Lusco Mr. Michael K. MasonDr. Fred Mitchell MasseyMrs. Ashley Anderson MatteiDr. Thomas J. McDonald Sr.Mrs. Freddie Sandidge McEwanDr. and Mrs. Fred L. McMillan Jr. Dr. and Mrs. Charles E. Moore Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Markeeva A. Morgan Ms. Deanne M. MosleyMrs. Leah S. NarroMr. and Mrs. Thomas C. Norwood Mr. and Mrs. Wayne C. Oglesby Mrs. Sue M. PearsonMr. James A. Peden Jr.Mr. and Mrs. George L. Price Mr. Floyd E. Pruden Jr.Mr. and Mrs. Gary L. Ramsay Mr. Dennis N. RayMr. and Mrs. Julius M. Ridgway Dr. Robert E. RingerMr. Fred A. Ross IIIMr. John R. SchwaljeMr. Tilden M. ShanahanDr. Thomas R. SingleyMr. and Mrs. Jeffrey B. Strouse Dr. Beverly A. StubblefieldCmdr. and Mrs. Douglas R.

Thompson Dr. and Mrs. Ancel C. Tipton Jr.

Mrs. Margaret J. VarshockDr. and Mrs. D. Winn Walcott Ms. Mary Virginia WatsonMrs. Marsha D. WilliamsMr. Robert W. WittyMs. Earline WoodsMr. Michael W. Wright and

Ms. Vickie M. CookMr. and Mrs. David A. Ziegenhorn

Red $1-$99Mr. and Mrs. Charles A. Brewer Mr. and Mrs. Jason V. Calvasina Dr. Christopher Haley CarltonMrs. Patricia T. ConnerMr. and Mrs. R. Steven Cox Mr. Roy Eugene Cox Jr.Ms. Kinnie DivineDr. and Mrs. Ralph M. Fortenberry Dr. and Mrs. William P. Garth Jr. Mr. Joseph W. Gex IIMr. Joseph A. Haley IIIMr. William E. HarlanMr. William Patrick HenryDr. Stacey S. HollingsworthMr. W. Dennis IngramDr. Charles D. JohnsonMr. and Mrs. Augustus R. Jones Mr. John T. Keeton Jr.Mr. and Mrs. William D. Kidd Mrs. Frances P. MadisonMr. and Mrs. Michael F. Martin Mr. George O. Merrill Jr.Mr. and Mrs. Glen Andrew Murphy Mr. Oliver M. Oates Jr.Mr. Aubrey PattersonMr. Mickey J. PerryThe Hon. Charles W. PickeringDr. and Mrs. Dave A. Russell Mr. and Mrs. Pat H. Scanlon Sr. Mr. and Mrs. Hal Binford

Southward Jr. Capt. Jack F. Speed Jr.Ms. Jennifer M. StudebakerMr. and Mrs. Russell D. Thompson Mr. and Mrs. Jay A. Travis III Mr. Eugene S. Van Cleve Jr.Mr. and Mrs. Walter J. White Dr. and Mrs. Louis J. Wise Jr. Dr. and Mrs. Travis W. Yates

Spring 2013 57

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58 Alumni Review

Newsalumni

’40s williaM winter (BA 43, LLB 49) of Jackson received the 2012

FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award.

’50s harry r. allen (BBA 55, LLB 59), of Currie, Johnson, Griffin,

Gaines & Myers PA in Biloxi, was selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2013.

GeorGe CoSSar jr. (BPA 57, LLB 60) of Charleston was honored with the dedication of a new speaker’s podium at the Charleston Art Center (C.A.R.E. Center) for use in the Grand Hall.

louanne pepper CoSSar (BAEd 59) of Charleston was honored with the dedication of a new speaker’s podium at the Charleston Art Center (C.A.R.E. Center) for use in the Grand Hall.

jaCK F. dunBar (LLB 57), of Holcomb, Dunbar, Watts, Best, Masters & Golmon PA, was named Tupelo Area Lawyer of the Year 2013 (Tupelo Personal Injury Litigation-Defendants) by Best Lawyers.

Charlie KeMp (BBA 59, MBA 62) was awarded the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award by the Federal Aviation Administra-tion Board in appreciation for dedicated ser-vice, technical expertise, professionalism and many outstanding contributions to further the cause of aviation safety.

’60s Guthrie aBBott Sr. (BA 64, JD 67), University of Missis-

sippi School of Law professor emeritus, was featured in an article in Leadership in Law, recognizing his achievements and contribu-tions to the legal profession.

Bill dalehite jr. (BA 65, JD 97), of Steen, Dalehite & Pace LLC in Jackson, was named Lawyer of the Year at the 2012 Mississippi Business Journal Leadership in Law awards banquet.

riChard G. noBle (BBA 68, JD 73), of Crosthwait, Terney & Noble PLLC in Indi-anola, was selected as a 2012 Leadership in Law honoree by the Mississippi Business Jour-nal. He is immediate past president of the Ole Miss Alumni Association.

jaMeS w. o’Mara (BA 62, JD 67), of Phelps Dunbar LLP in Jackson, was selected as a 2012 Leadership in Law honoree by the Mis-sissippi Business Journal.

edward p. “ed” peaCoCK iii (BBA 69, JD 72) of Clarksdale was selected as Coahoma County’s Citizen of the Year at the annual Chamber of Commerce banquet. He is serv-ing his fifth term as chancery clerk. alan w. perry (BBA 69), of Forman, Perry, Watkins, Krutz & Tardy LLP in Jackson, was named Lawyer of the Year 2013 (Bet-the-Company Litigation) by Best Lawyers.

’70s deBorah h. Bell (JD 79), pro-fessor of law at the University of

Mississippi, was selected as a 2012 Leadership in Law honoree, presented by the Mississippi Business Journal.

ralph ChapMan (JD 74), of Chapman, Lewis & Swan in Clarksdale, was named Lawyer of the Year 2013 (Memphis Personal Injury Litigation-Plaintiffs) by Best Lawyers.

Bill elliSon (BA 77) of Jackson celebrated 20 years as the host of “Grassroots” on Missis-sippi Public Broadcasting. The show received a Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts in 2010.

Gary F. GeiSler (JD 76), of Geisler, Waks & Geisler in Decatur, Ill., was selected by Superior Lawyers as outstanding in the field of personal injury plaintiff work and one of the Top 100 Downstate Lawyers in the state of Illinois.

Gene harlow (BBA 79, JD 82), of Hort-man, Harlow, Bassi, Robinson & McDaniel PLLC in Laurel, was elected 2013 president-elect of the Mississippi Bar Association.

norMan Gene hortMan jr. (BA 75, JD 81), of Hortman, Harlow, Bassi, Robinson & McDaniel PLLC in Laurel, was selected as a 2012 Leadership in Law honoree, presented by the Mississippi Business Journal.

jaMie G. houSton iii (BBA 74, JD 76), of Watkins & Eager PLLC in Jackson, was named Jackson Lawyer of the Year 2013 (Lit-igation-Trust & Estates) by Best Lawyers.

Fred KrutZ (BA 72, JD 77), of Forman, Perry, Watkins, Krutz & Tardy LLP in Jack-son, was named Lawyer of the Year 2013 (Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions-Defen-dants) by Best Lawyers.

lawrenCe l. little (BA 73), of Larry L. Lit-tle & Associates in Oxford, was elected to the board of commissioners of the Mississippi Bar.

GreGory d. MarKow (BBA 75, MBA 76) of Jackson joined GrahamPoole as a partner. He is a certified public accountant.

ShelBy MCKey (BBA 71), of Fort Collins, Colo., recently authored the novel Flood Brothers.

denniS w. Miller (BBA 78), of Jones Walker LLP in Jackson, was named Jackson Law-yer of the Year 2013 (Government Relations Practice) by Best Lawyers.

david w. MoCKBee (JD 74), of Mockbee, Hall & Drake PA in Jackson, was named Lawyer of the Year 2013 (Construction Law) by Best Lawyers.

CeCil S. Moore (BM 79) opened an Allstate insurance agency in Stone Mountain, Ga.

’80s FranCeS S. Chandler (BSPH 85) of Jackson, Tenn., was

selected to represent the United States in ten-nis at the 33rd ITF Seniors World Team Championships.

jenniFer GilloM (BAR 87) joined the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun as an assistant coach.

john hawKinS (BBA 84), of Management Performance International and Pathfinder Consulting, was named president of the board for the RC Durr YMCA in Northern Kentucky and joined the board of advisers for the Chamber of Commerce.

jiM herZoG (MA 80, PhD 85) of Jackson was named vice chairman of the Mississippi Board of Mental Health.

eriC lindStroM (BAccy 86, JD 90) of Lau-rel was named CEO and president of V3 Sys-tems Inc., an international software company that develops and promotes desktop cloud computing solutions.

Class Notes

Spring 2013 59

williaM F. ray (BA 83, JD 86), of Watkins & Eager PLLC in Jackson, was named Jackson Lawyer of the Year 2013 (Litigation-Banking & Finance) by Best Lawyers.

jaMeS threadGill (BSPH 82) became cor-porate pharmacy director for BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee in Chattanooga.

thad w. varner (BAccy 88, JD 92), of But-ler, Snow, O’Mara, Stevens & Cannada PLLC in Ridgeland, was named Jackson Law-yer of the Year 2013 (Public Finance Law) by Best Lawyers.

’90s ted Connell (BA 94, JD 97), o f Merke l & Cocke PA in

Clarksdale, was selected as a 2012 Leadership in Law honoree by the Mississippi Business Journal.

aMy herrinG (BS 95), professor and associ-ate chair of biostatistics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, received the Mortimer Spiegelman Award from the Amer-ican Public Health Association.

j. SCott MartineZ (BA 97) of Shreveport was named president of the North Louisiana Eco-nomic Partnership.

douGlaS C. noBle (BBA 93, JD 96), of McCraney, Montagnet, Quin & Noble PLLC in Ridgeland, was named Jackson Lawyer of the Year 2013 (Litigation-Bankruptcy) by Best Lawyers. He was recognized in Best Law-yers in America for 2013 in the practice areas of bankruptcy and creditor-debtor rights law.

alBert nylander (BAEd 92, MA 94) of Taylor was named director of the University of Mississippi’s McLean Institute.

j.F. (trey) peeler iii (BBA 92) joined Tupelo-based B&B Concrete Co. Inc. with key responsibilities in operations and cus-tomer relations with the Oxford division.

Billy Quin ii (BBA 94), of McCraney, Mon-tagnet, Quin & Noble PLLC in Ridgeland, was named Lawyer of the Year 2013 (Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions-Plaintiffs) by Best Lawyers.

lt. Col. Karen w. riddle (JD 99), member of the U.S. Army JAG Corps in Colorado Springs, Colo., was selected as a 2012 Lead-ership in Law honoree by the Mississippi Busi-ness Journal.

huey l. townSend jr. (BBA 98) of Belzoni was named executive vice president, credit, by the board of directors of Guaranty Bank and Trust Co.

l. Kenton watt jr. (BA 98) was hired as director of regional development in the Office of University Advancement at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas.

’00s Kelly enGliSh (BSFCS 02) of Memphis earned the Thomas A.

Crowe Outstanding Alumnus Award from the University of Mississippi’s School of Applied Sciences.

dianne owen GrahaM (BBA 01) relocated to Wichita, Kan., where she will continue running her political fundraising program firm, Graham Advisors, LLC.

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60 Alumni Review

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HERE’SHERE’SYOURYOUR

LICENSELICENSETOTO

BRAG!BRAG!Now you can sport the officialUniversity of Mississippi license plate!For an additional $50 a year — $32.50 of which returns to Ole Miss for educationalenhancement — you can purchase this “license to brag” about your alma mater. When it’s timeto renew your license plate, simply tell your local tax collector you want the Ole Miss affinitylicense plate. It’s an easy way to help your University.

This particular tag is available to Mississippi drivers only. Some other states, however, offer anOle Miss affinity license plate. Check with your local tax collector for availability.

denSon holliS (BA 01) of Oxford was promoted to development officer IV, senior director of development with the University of Mis-sissippi’s College of Liberal Arts.

Katie KalSi (04) of Memphis designed and launched a line of hand-bags in 2003 that is currently carried by Belk.

roBert david KinG jr. (BAccy 08), CPA/ABV, CVA, CFE, of Hattiesburg, successfully passed the examination and met the requirements to be classified as Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV) by the American Institute of CPAs.

andrew lawS (BBA 00) of Oxford was promoted to managing direc-tor with Huron Consulting Group.

eriC l. patterSon (JD 07), a shareholder with Blair & Bondurant PA in Jackson, was elected a director of the Young Lawyers Division within the Mississippi Bar.

jordan thoMaS (BA 09) of Grenada joined the Delta State Univer-sity Alumni Association as assistant director of alumni affairs.

drew toMinello (BA 09, JD 12) is associated with Campbell DeLong PLLC in Greenville.

riChard wood (BBA 09) accepted the position of assistant guest rela-tions manager for Meyer Vacation Services, a division of SH Enter-prises Inc., in Gulf Shores, Ala.

WeddingsDorothy Alexis Cagle and eric Cline lind (08), Dec. 8, 2012.Carla Compton Cambron (BA 11) and john t. Cassidy jr. (BA 10), July 7, 2012.Melinda Faye Carter and Benjamin yarbrough (BA 75, MD 80), Dec. 24, 2012.leslie Macon dukes (BA 96) and Andrew Gregory O’Bryan, Jan. 26, 2013.Alexa R. Golliher and l. Kenton watt jr. (BA 98), Dec. 15, 2012.Kristen joyce jernigan (BAEd 08, MEd 09) and logan h. power (BA 09, MA 11), Oct. 27, 2012.Mary Frances Jones and Zachary Anders Atwood, Aug. 4, 2012.jennifer elaine lawrence (BA 09, MA 11) and james Gerald Bordelon (BSChE 09), Dec. 30, 2012.Melissa Caroline Murphree (BAccy 06, MAccy 07) and Jason Adam Rober-son, Dec. 15, 2012.Alyson Rebecca Saxton and jordan Matthew Smith (BAccy 08), Dec. 15, 2012.Sarah anne Servati (BA 12) and ralph Sumner abraham iv (BA 12), Dec. 29, 2012.jaime Marie weaver (BBA 09, MBA 12) and patrick alexander ochs (BBA 08), Jan. 5, 2013.

Spring 2013 61

BirthsCecilia Rose, daughter of Meg Milam arnold (BA 01) and Jason Arnold, Nov. 15, 2012.Charlie Emerson, daughter of jill emerson Bell (BAEd 06) and william joel Bell (BE 98), Dec. 21, 2012.Keller Elizabeth, daughter of Kimberly Catherine Collins and Kenneth how-ard Collins (MOT 10), Nov. 26, 2012.Ruby Rey, daughter of Rachel Reynolds Dellucci and david Michael dellucci (95), Feb. 13, 2013.Elle Rawlings, daughter of Kelly r. edwards (BAEd 08) and andrew Bentley edwards (BBA 08), Sept. 10, 2012.Rowan Keen, son of Mary ann Ford (BSPh 02, PharmD 04) and nathan G. Ford (BA 01, MA 02), Jan. 14, 2013.Jane Harold, daughter of jill M. holland (BA 03) and robert h. holland jr. (BBA 02), Aug. 15, 2012.Lila Elise, daughter of Melissa holmes jones (BA 01, JD 04) and Thomas Dale Jones, July 16, 2012.Edward Wilson II, son of Gina rounsaville Matthews (BA 05) and edward wilson Matthews (BBA 03), Feb. 12, 2013.Caroline Grace, daughter of Grace Fullilove Moore (BAccy 05, MAccy 06) and Alan Derek Moore, Feb. 12, 2013.Henry Avent, son of Mary Kempton Moore (BBA 02) and paul h. Moore iii (BS 01, MD 05), Nov. 9, 2012.Laylah Elise, daughter of Kimberly walker northcutt (BBA 00, MBA 03) and Kellen jamil northcutt (BSES 03, MA 04), Oct. 29, 2012.Elizabeth Avery, daughter of Ali Pierce Pilcher and Chad alan pilcher (BA 04), Sept. 24, 2012.Thomas Walker, son of Marie Thomas Sanderson and Brian walker Sander-son (BBA 95, JD 98), Jan. 17, 2013.Gibson Cole, son of anna Gibson Smith (BA 05) and nathan Cole Smith (BBA 06), Oct. 18, 2012.John Kothman Jr., son of Brooke Stegall weedon (BA 04) and John K. Weedon, July 26, 2012.Rowan Hild, daughter of heather russell wilson (BA 02) and Roger Neil Wilson, Dec. 12, 2012.

in MeMoriaM

1930sForrest nall Burnett (38) of Memphis, Tenn., Jan. 3, 2013

1940sdorothy young akin (BM 47) of Olympia, Wash., Nov. 14, 2012Margaurite laverne wilson anderson (BAEd 48) of Grenada, Feb. 8, 2013albert a. Cannella (BE 43) of Cookeville, Tenn., Dec. 9, 2012Martha wilkins Chandler (BSC 45) of Mount Pleasant, S.C., Jan. 26, 2013richard lamar George (BA 41, BA 52) of Columbus AFB, Dec. 21, 2012john henry harbour (MedCert 43) of Smyrna, Ga., Nov. 22, 2012earnest l. hardin (BBA 49) of Bessemer, Ala., Nov. 30, 2012david aston holley (BSPh 48) of Oxford, Dec. 5, 2012regina Moore holley (BSC 46) of Oxford, Feb. 13, 2013john t. Keeton jr. (BA 47, LLB 54) of Grenada, Dec. 26, 2012

edgar douglas Kenna ii (42) of North Palm Beach, Fla., Jan. 28, 2013joe Kowalski (45) of Gloucester City, N.J., Jan. 17, 2013t.a. liles jr. (BBA 47) of Oxford, Oct. 8, 2012harold j. louis (MedCert 46) of Rochester, N.Y., Feb. 7, 2013Marjorie wingo Murray (BBA 49) of Brandon, Dec. 5, 2012andrew willer orkin (BA 41) of Houston, Texas, Dec. 24, 2012lela Booth patton (BS 47) of Marion, Jan. 21, 2013william whittington perkins Sr. (47) of Brookhaven, Nov. 28, 2012Shirley harkins porter (42) of Huntsville, Ala., Jan. 22, 2013louise Simpson reavis (BA 48) of Janesville, Wis., Oct. 29, 2012roselle turner rogers (BA 40) of Meridian, Jan. 5, 2013william luther Sims jr. (LLB 49) of Rayville, La., Feb. 6, 2013norman Straitt thompson (BSPh 49) of Germantown, Tenn., Jan. 24, 2013Charlton rule vincent (MedCert 49, BS 49) of Laurel, Jan. 9, 2013luke waites (MedCert 45, BS 45) of Dallas, Texas, Jan. 11, 2013james woodward welsh jr. (BBA 48) of Jackson, Dec. 11, 2012ann wright williamson (BA 49) of Meridian, Dec. 13, 2012

1950snell hobgood armstrong (BSC 52) of Madison, Dec. 28, 2012George robert Barnes (BBA 54) of Dearborn, Mich., Dec. 3, 2012lynn B. Bigham (BSPh 50) of Millington, Tenn., Dec. 13, 2012linda Black (BS 57) of Atlanta, Ga., Nov. 19, 2012Maybin Matthew Bordelon (MEd 58) of Camarillo, Calif., Nov. 16, 2012Sue Goolsby Bowie (BAEd 50) of Lafayette, La., Jan. 4, 2013william newell Brabston (BSCvE 59) of Vicksburg, Feb. 12, 2013Mary edwards Brister (BBA 56, MBA 57) of Yazoo City, Nov. 28, 2012ralph Mcdill Caldwell (BAEd 55, MEd 71) of Jackson, Nov. 26, 2012emmett everett Caradine jr. (BBA 57) of Oxford, Nov. 23, 2012aaron S. Condon (LLB 52) of Oxford, Jan. 1, 2013joe thomas downard (BA 50, MD 58) of Selma, Ala., Jan. 26, 2013George w. elliott (51) of Madison, Jan. 10, 2013william Milton Fant (BSPh 50, MD 58) of Corpus Christi, Texas, May 24, 2012Caesar B. Garavelli (MS 57) of Memphis, Tenn., Feb. 16, 2013dorothy allen halliday (BA 56) of Memphis, Tenn., Nov. 30, 2012louie vardaman harrison jr. (56) of Winona, Feb. 17, 2013elsie wilsford heaton (BA 50) of Lyon, Jan. 29, 2013doris Sharron Major (BAEd 51) of Dothan, Ala., Jan. 11, 2013joann horne Malone (53) of Germantown, Tenn., Nov. 27, 2012estelle hawkins Maxwell (54) of Daphne, Ala., Jan. 4, 2013purvis edwin nelson (BA 51) of Tyler, Texas, Feb. 16, 2013joe ned nester (BSGE 56) of Starkville, Jan. 29, 2013james adair pigford (BBA 55) of Meridian, Feb. 4, 2013james Calhoun pittman jr. (LLB 55) of Hattiesburg, Feb. 3, 2013Mary alice robbins (BSHPE 58) of Sardis, Ga., Jan. 19, 2013joy doolittle ross (50) of Senatobia, Jan. 21, 2013Guy Manning rowland (LLB 50, BBA 50) of Memphis, Tenn., Nov. 24, 2012Martha henderson ruble (BAEd 53) of Gulfport, Feb. 3, 2013

62 Alumni Review

Newsalumni

william Morris Stamps (BBA 50) of New Orleans, La., Nov. 28, 2012norbert arthur Stirzaker (MEd 57, EdD 58) of Spartanburg, S.C., Jan. 30, 2013Martha johnston Stock (BM 59) of Cary, N.C., Dec. 1, 2012william Burke thompson (BS 55, MD 58) of Flora, Jan. 30, 2013roudet orvelle turner (BS 53) of Tyler, Texas, Jan. 4, 2013janet van haelen (MEd 59) of Kenner, La., Dec. 24, 2012richard weiss (56) of Clarksdale, Dec. 29, 2012louise Zeller wicker (BA 52) of Virginia Beach, Va., Nov. 26, 2012william d. windham jr. (BBA 57) of Spring, Texas, Feb. 10, 2013

1960sFrank e. allen jr. (BBA 61) of Canton, Dec. 17, 2012judith norris Baker (60) of Lafayette, La., Dec. 23, 2012Musa Baker Caffey (BAEd 65, MEd 69) of Batesville, Dec. 21, 2012Molly rose Childress (BM 63) of Little Rock, Ark., Nov. 8, 2012Myra judith Coursey Crowson (BS 66, MA 67, PhD 85) of Meridian, Jan. 5, 2013Chuck doyle (LLB 62) of Fort Worth, Texas, Feb. 1, 2013eva vaughn ellzey (BAEd 60) of Batesville, Jan. 3, 2013juanita Sugg Glisson (BSN 61) of Forest, Nov. 24, 2012thomas ray halcomb (MCS 66) of Tuscumbia, Ala., Nov. 20, 2012Shirley Broadhead hamilton (BS 61) of Oxford, Feb. 19, 2013eugene prosser hibbett (MCS 63, PhD 69) of Henderson, Tenn., Oct. 6, 2012Glinda jeanne Choat hill (BAEd 69) of Matthews, N.C., Nov. 28, 2012robert Bruce hinshaw Sr. (BSPh 61) of Birmingham, Ala., Feb. 8, 2013linda Fite ingram (BSC 63) of Water Valley, Dec. 1, 2012luther G. latham Sr. (BBA 60, JD 71) of Jackson, Nov. 18, 2012james robert Mayfield (MD 62) of Carthage, Dec. 23, 2012Bobby joe McCarley (BSHPE 62, MEd 68) of Nixa, Mo., Feb. 17, 2013john edward Mesknes (MEd 61) of Lakeland, Fla., Feb. 9, 2013jerry lawrence Mize (60) of Washington, D.C., Nov. 23, 2012william harbin Myers (JD 69) of Ocean Springs, July 7, 2013Mary westmoreland oliphant (BAEd 60) of Water Valley, Nov. 21, 2012Gilbert Bruce payne jr. (BBA 65) of Olive Branch, Jan. 20, 2013Mary Fulmer randle (BA 61, MLS 83) of Hernando, Nov. 29, 2012ernest George reed (MEd 66) of Cuba, Mo., July 4, 2012Fay tullos Sanford (BA 68) of Memphis, Tenn., Dec. 18, 2012Bobbie dean Shaw (MEd 68, AMEd 68) of Louisville, Dec. 27, 2012willette McCracken Smith (BAEd 64) of Birmingham, Ala., Nov. 18, 2012elizabeth Mann Still (MEd 66, SpecEd 76) of Batesville, Jan. 1, 2013lola doane tackett (PhD 69) of Lexington, Ky., Aug. 31, 2012joe lawrence thompson (BSPh 68) of Bay Saint Louis, Nov. 30, 2012edward holland west (BSME 68) of Buhl, Ala., Jan. 22, 2013william albert young jr. (BSPh 62) of Long Beach, Dec. 22, 2012

1970sSandra Cogburn Bedwell (BSN 74) of Alexander, Ark., Jan. 29, 2013richard edward Bell (BBA 72) of Belden, Dec. 24, 2012john edward Bennett (BA 73, MA 75) of Sykesville, Md., Jan. 1, 2013tim david Blalock (JD 74) of Natchez, Jan. 17, 2013

richard alan Blount (BBA 74) of Germantown, Tenn., Nov. 21, 2012james henry Champion jr. (BSJ 70) of Greenwood, Dec. 19, 2012larry huggins Chapman (BSPh 70) of Pensacola, Fla., Jan. 27, 2013julia noland Chryst (MA 71) of McLean, Va., Jan. 25, 2013john thomas Cotter (BA 74) of Lacombe, La., Jan. 21, 2013randall S. Cowell (BAEd 75) of Memphis, Tenn., Dec. 5, 2012larry arthur duty (BBA 74) of Tupelo, Feb. 17, 2013Margery Brown Fulton (MA 77) of Preston, Feb. 12, 2013joe C. Gardner (MEd 76) of Batesville, Feb. 4, 2013Freddie wallis Green (BA 72) of New Orleans, La., Dec. 9, 2012william jackie hammond (MS 72) of Fitzgerald, Ga., Nov. 23, 2012alice Fisk herring (MLS 71) of Oxford, Jan. 18, 2013deborah dennis hill (BS 70) of Arlington, Texas, Dec. 2, 2012hilda lackey hill (MA 70) of Tupelo, Nov. 24, 2012Billy lynn horton (BSHPE 74, MEd 05) of Tupelo, Nov. 30, 2012patricia parrish irby (BAEd 71, MLS 76) of Coldwater, Dec. 29, 2012louis alexander jackson Sr. (76) of Clarksdale, Dec. 11, 2012thomas wood jennings (BPA 77) of Wiggins, Feb. 16, 2013hugh Blair Kriever (MEd 71) of Clearwater, Fla., Jan. 30, 2013George davis lyon jr. (MD 78) of Starkville, Feb. 5, 2013pamela Ford Mackey (BAEd 76) of Plano, Texas, Dec. 25, 2012lorette Bagwell overall (MLS 74) of Potts Camp, Dec. 23, 2012joseph allen Spain (MCS 72) of Mandeville, La., Nov. 4, 2012john M. Szabocsik (PhD 72) of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Dec. 24, 2012Bennie l. turner (JD 74) of West Point, Nov. 27, 2012rodney wayne waldrop (BA 73) of Starkville, Jan. 27, 2013joseph Charles webster (BA 70, JD 72) of Clarksdale, Jan. 16, 2013jon hammond whittington (MA 73) of Jackson, Jan. 12, 2013paul douglas wilkes jr. (MBEd 74) of Bagdad, Fla., Dec. 21, 2012james webster wilson (JD 72) of Ocean Springs, Jan. 5, 2013laura hughes wooley (BSN 77) of Collierville, Tenn., Dec. 1, 2012

1980srita Burns Carter (SpecEd 83) of Corinth, Jan. 7, 2013nickey david Coggin (MEd 82) of Nettleton, Jan. 8, 2013roy lee Coleman jr. (BA 80) of Jackson, Feb. 5, 2013tracee young davidofsky (81) of Collierville, Tenn., Nov. 29, 2012Carla dee evans (BSPh 85) of Tahlequah, Okla., Dec. 1, 2012william joseph Gunn (BA 85) of Pacifica, Calif., Dec. 16, 2012rickey jay hemba (JD 81) of Ocean Springs, Jan. 25, 2013lori williams holland (BA 81, JD 83) of Ridgeland, Nov. 25, 2012daniel Mark jones (80) of Clinton, Feb. 15, 2013james darrell Mangrum (BSPh 89) of Man, W.Va., Jan. 18, 2013nedra nance nabors (MEd 89, SpecEd 00) of Ripley, Feb. 11, 2013donald w. Strickland (MD 87) of Spring, Texas, Feb. 16, 2013james M. tutor (BA 87, JD 90) of Pontotoc, Feb. 13, 2013lewis pierce white jr. (81) of Birmingham, Ala., Feb. 5, 2013jerry Keith young (BA 81, MD 85) of Pontotoc, Jan. 2, 2013

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NEILSON’SON THE OXFORD SQUARE SINCE 1839

Owned and operated by proud

Ole Miss Alumni in the gracious

tradition of the University for years.174

BY GREG BLUESTEIN

AND

MATTHEW DALY

Associated Press Writers

COVINGTON, La. — Oil giant BP said its internal investigation of the unchecked Gulf oil spill is largely focused on work done by other companies as a new government report today showed workers at the federal agency that oversees offshore drilling accepted sports tickets, lunches and other gifts from oil and gas companies.

BP PLC said in a release that an initial investigation found mul-tiple control mechanisms should have p revented the accident that started with an oil rig explosion April 20 off the coast of Louisiana that killed 11 workers.

Seeking the causeBP, the largest oil and

gas producer in the Gulf, listed seven areas of focus as it hunts for a cause. Four involve the blowout pre-venter, a massive piece of machinery that sits atop the wellhead and should have acted as a safety device of last resort but did not. That was manufactured by Cameron International Corp. and owned by Transocean LTD, which

also owned the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.

The other three areas of focus for the investiga-tion involve the cementing and casing of the wellhead, which was Halliburton Inc.’s responsibility.

Assessing decisionsIn BP’s release, Chief

Executive Tony Hayward stopped short of assigning responsibility. President Barack Obama has blasted executives from the compa-nies for blaming each other during Congressional hear-ings this month.

“A number of companies are involved, including BP,

and it is sim-ply too early — and not up to us — to say who is at fault,” H a y w a r d said.

G e n e Beck, a petro leum e n g i n e e r

at Texas A&M at College Station who worked in the drilling industry for two decades, said the list of problems BP is investigating appears exhaustive. But he said the company also needs to look at decisions made by people on the rig.

“That needs to be inves-tigated: Why did they do what they did?” Beck said.

“They need to ask them-selves that very, very serious question: ‘Why did we make these choices?”’

Meanwhile, a new Interior Department report released today found that staffers in the Louisiana office of the Minerals Management Service violated a number of federal regulations and agency ethics rules, includ-ing accepting gifts from oil and gas companies and using government comput-ers to view pornography.

The report by the depart-ment’s acting inspector gen-eral follows up on a 2007 investigation that revealed what then-Inspector General Earl Devaney called a “cul-ture of ethical failure” and conflicts of interest at the minerals agency.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar called the latest report “deeply disturbing” but stressed that it only cov-ered a period from 2000 to 2008. He said he wants the investigation expanded to include agency actions since he took office in January 2009.

BP filed its site-specific exploration plan for the Deepwater Horizon in February 2009.

The Obama adminis-tration has come under increasing pressure as frus-trations build, oil washes up in delicate Louisiana wet-lands, and efforts to cap the well prove unsuccessful.

Serving Oxford, Lafayette County and the University of MississippiTUESDAY, MAY 25, 2010 142ND Year, No. 169 — 50 CENTS

INSIDE

Classifieds 12-13Comics 14Editorial 4Education 6-7

Local 2-3Obituaries 2Sports 8-9Weather 2

INDEX

www.oxfordeagle.com

POMERANZ HONORED

Ole Miss left-handed pitcher Drew Pomeranz was named as the recipi-ent of the 2010 Cellular South Ferriss Trophy given to the top collegiate baseball player in the state of Mississippi. For more details on the honor, see Page 6.

BUSINESSMAN ARRESTED

A local businessman who has been on the lam from the law was arrested last week. Get the details on Page 2.

EDUCATION NEWS

Turn to Pages 6 and 7 of Education to find out what’s happening with local teachers and stu-dents.

UM GRADSMany of the students

graduating from the University of Mississippi earlier this month were from the Oxford area. Turn to Pages 5 and 10 to read the names of the locals who picked up a diploma.

Run-off solution soughtErosion problems wash away county officials’ patience

BY ALYSSA SCHNUGG

Staff Writer

The Lafayette County Planning Commission has ordered the own-ers of Williams Equipment Co. to

produce a plan of action on how it intends to solve erosion issues once and for all at its construction site located across from the Cumberland subdivision.

“I need a schedule of how this is going to progress with a time frame I can put my hands on by June 1,” County Engineer Larry Britt said at Monday’s Planning Commission meeting.

Williams Equipment started con-

struction in the summer of 2008 on its new home for the commercial busi-ness on 4.3 acres of land located on Highway 6 West. Since construction began, neighbors have complained the runoff from the graded prop-erty has caused silt to run onto their lawns, destroying grass and bushes, as well as cause local flooding.

A year ago, a cease and desist order was issued until erosion problems were handled.

“We have had some problems with erosion out there that we’ve been dealing with for a year and a half,” Britt said.

When 3 inches of rain fell in Oxford within 30 minutes last week, the issue resurfaced when silt and water caused erosion on some of the adjoining landowners’ property.

See SOLUTION on Page 2

Oxford schools set budget hearing

BY MELANIE ADDINGTON

Staff Writer

Members of the Oxford School Board set a public hearing for June 14 at 5 p.m. for the public to discuss the district’s 2010-2011 budget.

Despite continued budget cuts from the state during the past several months, the Oxford School District has put together a budget for the coming school year that ensures no jobs will be cut.

The school board has a proposed $29 million budget that, while not yet finalized, won’t cut jobs and won’t raise the tax rate.

On Monday, Gov. Haley Barbour signed the FY 2011 education funding bills, House Bill 1622 and House Bill 1059, Mississippi Department of Education Superintendent Tom Burnham said.

“HB 1622 is the primary funding bill that we recom-mend (districts) develop the FY 2011 budget around,” Burnham said. “HB 1059 is contingent upon the passage of federal legisla-tion that would extend the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage provided for in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.”

Worst-case scenarioCity school officials are bas-

ing their budget on the fund-ing equation that provides Oxford the lowest amount of state funds.

The board will not request any increase to the city’s tax rate, but the district still expects to experience an increase in revenue collec-tions due to the additional taxes it projects to increase from new homes.

Revenue is expected to be up about $420,000 from 2009-2010 for a total of $29.5 million. Mississippi Adequate Education Program funding is slightly down to $12.54 mil-lion from $12.56 million the year before. Ad valorem tax collections will go up from $14.1 million to $15.4 mil-lion. With athletic admission tickets expected to be down about $10,000, the district may have to dip deeper into its reserve funds.

After the hearing, the board will vote on the budget.

In other business, the school board:

— Approved salary scales for employees, teacher assis-tants and administrators.

— Approved a resolution in memory of the late Patricia Aschoff, SPED teacher at Oxford Learning Center. Marcia Cole accepted the plaque and resolution on behalf of the family.

—melanie@oxfordeagle.com

PATRICK SEMANSKY/AP

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar (center) speaks at a press conference in Galliano, La., Monday. Standing behind Salazar are Sen. David Vitter, R-La., and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.

Guinness finds Minn. man is tallest in US

ROCHESTER, Minn. (AP) — Guinness World Records has recognized a Minnesota man as the tallest man in the United States.

The Guinness World Record Association measured Rochester’s Igor Vovkovinskiy (voh-kov-IN’-ski) at 7 feet, 8.33 inches tall during NBC’s “The Dr. Oz Show” on Monday. He edged out Norfolk, Va., sheriff’s deputy George Bell by a third of an inch.

The 27-year- old Vovkovinskiy is originally from Ukraine but moved to Minnesota with his mother when he was 7 years old for treatment at the Mayo Clinic for a pituitary disease that spurred his rapid growth.

Vovkovinskiy now attends the Minnesota School of Business and is pursuing a degree in paralegal studies.

Guinness says the world’s tallest man is Turkey’s Sultan Kosen. He measures in at 8 feet, 1 inch tall.

G R A D U A T I O N C E L E B R A T I O N

BRUCE NEWMAN

Brittney Deonna Jeffries (from left), Wesley Lane Carroll and Kimberly Annette Wilson throw their caps at the Scott Center’s graduation ceremony on Monday afternoon. Also graduating were Laura Leeann Brower and Dillon Lee Hopkins.

BP probe focuses on other companies’ workReport: Oversite workers accepted gifts from oil companies

“...it is simply too early — and not

up to us — to say who is at fault.”

— TONY HAYWARDChief Executive, BP

E-Edition booming

gas producer in the Gulf, Gulf, Gulflisted seven areas of focus as it hunts for a cause. Four involve the blowout pre-venter, venter, venter a massive piece of machinery that sits atop the wellhead and should have acted as a safety deviceof last resort but did not. That was manufacturedby Cameron InternationalCorp. and owned byTransocean LTD, which

problems BP is investigating appears exhaustive. But he said the company also needs to look at decisions made by people on the rig.

“That needs to be inves-tigated: Why did they do what they did?” Beck said.

“They need to ask them-selves that very, very serious selves that very, very serious selves that veryquestion: ‘Why did we make these choices?”’

ing accepting gifts from oil and gas companies andusing government comput-ers to view pornography.pornography.pornography

The report by the depart-ment’s acting inspector gen-eral follows up on a 2007 investigation that revealed what then-Inspector GeneralEarl Devaney called a “cul-ture of ethical failure” and conflicts of interest at the minerals agency.agency.agency

he took office in January 2009.

BP filed its site-specificexploration plan for theDeepwater Horizon inFebruary 2009.

The Obama adminis-tration has come under increasing pressure as frus-trations build, oil washes up in delicate Louisiana wet-lands, and efforts to cap the well prove unsuccessful.

www.oxfordeagle.comwww.oxfordeagle.com

In other business, school board:

— Approved for employees, tants and administrators.

— Approved in memory of the late PAschoff, Aschoff, Aschoff SPED Oxford Learning Marcia Cole accepted plaque and resolution behalf of the family

—melanie@oxfor

School ofpursuing a

paralegal studies.the world’s

urkey’s Sultan measures in at 8 www.oxfordeagle.com

662-234-2222

ONLINE The Oxford Eagle E-Edition helps youkeep up with your home away from home

Complete Coverage of Ole Miss SportsNumber 1 Daily in Mississippi(Circulation Below 9,000)

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64 Alumni Review

Newsalumni

1990sFrances landreth Colvin (BAEd 98) of Water Valley, Jan. 30, 2013rose dorsey Flowers (PhD 93) of Memphis, Tenn., Dec. 8, 2012Bernard jacob Machost jr. (BSN 98) of Bogue Chitto, Sept. 3, 2012deanna Miller Merrill (BSPh 91) of Ridgeland, Feb. 16, 2013jimmie lee powell jr. (Cert 96) of Pensacola, Fla., June 28, 2012jeya Kumar Suppiah (BSCvE 91, MS 93) of Oxford, Nov. 30, 2012patrick walton vaughan (BA 92) of Jackson, Feb. 8, 2013jennifer Kristin west walker (BA 93, MA 95) of Collierville, Tenn., Nov. 19, 2012Charlotte Carol veronica ward (BSW 99) of Coldwater, Dec. 11, 2012

2000srachel anne ables (BA 06, BA 06) of Vancleave, Jan. 5, 2013jermaine terrell jackson (BA 08, BA 08, MA 10) of Oxford, Jan. 18, 2013wesley Michael johnson of Pascagoula, Jan. 8, 2013jessica altom jones (BA 07) of Shannon, Nov. 25, 2012william Bradford Kent of Birmingham, Ala., Jan. 23, 2013harlow Broughton land (BALM 01) of Lake City, Fla., Dec. 2, 2012jennifer Fowler Sample (BSPh 04, PharmD 06) of Nashville, Tenn., Dec. 21, 2012william joseph Seawright jr. (BBA 02) of Oxford, Jan. 6, 2013

2010sdavid louis ott jr. (13) of Atlanta, Ga., Feb. 15, 2013

Faculty and Friendse.w. atkinson of Memphis, Tenn., Dec. 17, 2012richard lee Barnes of Oxford, Jan. 22, 2013robert Grisham Bennett Sr. of Oxford, Dec. 29, 2012louis duboise of Jackson, Feb. 8, 2013rosie Mae dukes of Oxford, Dec. 7, 2012jerry F. edwards Sr. of Jackson, Jan. 1, 2013

roberta K. enochs of Ridgeland, Feb. 11, 2013donna domergue Ferrell of Hattiesburg, Dec. 13, 2012joseph anthony Gerache of Vicksburg, Dec. 24, 2012thomas Stanford hayes jr. of Clarksdale, Feb. 10, 2013Barbara thedy hester of Gulfport, Nov. 30, 2012Bette patterson house of Florence, Jan. 9, 2013Morton Brandon King of Georgetown, Texas, Feb. 14, 2013james n. Maclin of Clarksdale, Jan. 12, 2013Susan newton Mcdonald of Tupelo, Dec. 10, 2012elizabeth thomas Mills of Greenville, Dec. 2, 2012Mary dixon Montague of Hattiesburg, Feb. 10, 2013Melissa Markette oakes of Belden, Jan. 2, 2013william pettis Sr. of Oxford, Feb. 1, 2013helen estes ramage of Tupelo, Dec. 24, 2012timothy patton russell of Oxford, Nov. 24, 2012Gene allen Saucier of Oxford, Jan. 28, 2013david hoover vanderburg of Olive Branch, Dec. 17, 2012lemma Grantham vernon of Madison, Feb. 15, 2013damon wall of Meridian, Dec. 14, 2012Carrol Major wicker of Meridian, Jan. 21, 2013

Due to space limitations, class notes are only published in the Alumni Review from active, dues-paying members of the Ole Miss Alumni Association. To submit a class note, send it to records@olemiss.edu or Alumni Records Dept., Ole Miss Alumni Association, P.O. Box 1848, University, MS 38677-1848. Class notes also may be submitted through the Association’s website at www.olemissalumni.com. The Association relies on numer-ous sources for class notes and is unable to verify all notes with individual alumni. AR

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