Nominations open for honorary degrees

Nominations for honorary doctoral degrees to be awarded by Mississippi State next spring are being accepted until Feb. 1, 2000.

Nominations, including supporting materials, should be sent to Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs David Cole, who chairs the Honorary Degree Committee. Other committee members are Robert Cooper, 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.

The Board of Trustees, state Institutions of Higher Learning generally allows each Mississippi university to award up to two honorary degrees each year, although Mississippi State received special permission to present three during the May 1999 commencement ceremonies. They were the first honorary degrees awarded by the university.

Under IHL guidelines, persons eligible for the Doctor of Laws, Doctor of Science, Doctor of Humane Letters, Doctor of Creative and Performing Arts, or Doctor of Public Service 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 to the president three to five candidates for degrees to be presented at May 2000 commencement ceremonies.

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 Feb. 1 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 by the Board of Trustees.

The first three recipients of honorary degrees at Mississippi State were John H. Bryan Jr., chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Sara Lee Corp. and a native of West Point; Leo W. Seal Jr., chairman and CEO of Hancock Bank in Gulfport; and Harry Charles F. Simrall, dean of engineering at Mississippi State until his retirement in 1978.