Portera's inauguration set for February 6

All members of the university community are invited to attend as Malcolm Portera is formally inaugurated on Saturday, Feb. 6, as Mississippi State University's 16th president.

The West Point native and Mississippi State graduate will be installed officially in public ceremonies beginning at 10 a.m. in Humphrey Coliseum. Portera assumed his duties as president on Jan. 1, 1998.

"Obviously, we will be celebrating the fact that we have a new president, but Dr. Portera has made clear that he wants this to be a celebration of the university, its history and its future," said Jack H. White, chair of the university committee planning the event.

Portera's inaugural address focusing on the university's past achievements and future promise will highlight the Saturday program. Representatives of colleges and universities from throughout the state and across the country will join MSU faculty, students, staff, alumni, and organization representatives in the traditional inauguration processional.

Dr. Cassie Pennington, president of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, will conduct the formal investiture. Commissioner of Higher Education Thomas Layzell will bring greetings.

The event's theme, "From Stephen D. Lee to Malcolm Portera: A Legacy of Leadership," recognizes all former MSU presidents, White said. Lee served as the first president of then-Mississippi A&M College from 1880 until 1899-longer than anyone else.

Serving as marshal for the processional will be Dr. Tip Henry Allen Jr., professor emeritus of political science. Music education professor Linda K. Smith will lead the national anthem and alma mater, and music education professor Joel Harrison, organist, will provide the musical prelude, including "Voluntary in D Minor" by John Stanley and "Organ Sonata in C Minor" by Felix Mendelssohn.

Joining Harrison for the processional music of "Suite in D Major" by Jeremiah Clark will be trumpeter Randi L'Hommedieu, head and professor of music education, and percussionist Robert Damm, assistant professor of music education. The postlude is "Suite in D Major for Trumpet and Organ" by Maurice Greene.

Decorations for the inauguration will consist of Mississippi flora including Southern magnolia, snowball viburnum, yellow bell forsythia, and possumhaw holly designed by the faculty and staff of the University Florist and members of the retail floristry program.

After receiving a bachelor's degree in general science in 1969, Portera went on to complete a master's in political science from Mississippi State in 1971. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Alabama, where he spent more than two decades in administrative positions.

During his first year at Mississippi State, Portera has set as priorities continued improvement of undergraduate instruction and residential life, expanded research and graduate programs, and expanded university aid to economic development.

He has announced goals of moving the university into the nation's top 50 public research universities, attaining Association of Research Libraries membership and increasing graduation rates.

Portera is married to the former Olivia Catledge, also a 1969 Mississippi State graduate and West Point native. They have two grown sons.

Prior to joining Mississippi State, Portera worked in the University of Alabama offices of Academic Affairs and Research and served as executive assistant to two presidents before becoming a vice president.

He also served as vice chancellor of the University of Alabama System, with campuses in Birmingham, Huntsville and Tuscaloosa. He retired as vice chancellor in 1996 and launched a business development and strategic planning company.

Portera helped develop several research and instructional programs in Alabama and his industrial development activities helped bring $1.5 billion of capital investment to the state.