Honorary degree nominees sought

Nominations for the first honorary doctoral degrees to be awarded by Mississippi State are being accepted until Jan. 15, 1999.

Nominations, including supporting materials, should be sent to Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs David Cole, who chairs the five-member Honorary Degree Committee appointed by the president in consultation with the provost and Holland Faculty Senate chair.

Other committee members are Euel Coats, chair of the faculty senate; Sara Freedman, dean of the College of Business and Industry; Clyde Williams, associate professor of English; and Joe Thompson, Giles Distinguished Professor of aerospace engineering. All committee members are appointed for one-year terms.

The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning voted last spring to allow each Mississippi university to award up to two honorary degrees each year. Mississippi State's first honorary doctorates will be presented during the May 1999 commencement ceremonies.

Persons eligible for the Doctor of Laws, Doctor of Science, Doctor of Humane Letters, or Doctor of Creative and Performing Arts must have demonstrated nationally recognized sustained achievement in scholarship, public service, creative and performing arts, or professional activity.

Faculty, staff and administrators of the university, and elected or appointed public officials, are ineligible for an honorary degree until one year after leaving their position. Candidates for public office also are ineligible. Degrees may be awarded posthumously.

The Honorary Degree Committee will evaluate nominations, develop additional information about nominees, and verify information submitted. The committee will recommend three to five candidates for the degrees to the president.

Any member of the university community may submit nominations. All information that nominators wish to present to the Honorary Degree Committee should be provided along with the nomination by the Jan. 15 deadline.

The Board of Trustees must approve honorary degrees at least two months prior to awarding the degree. Names of nominees will be kept confidential until they are approved.

In future years, the Honorary Degree Committee will solicit nominations prior to Oct. 1 for degrees to be awarded at the following spring's commencement ceremony.