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January 23, 2006 Volume 30, Issue 19 |
Honorary degree nominations open
Nominations for honorary doctoral degrees to be awarded by Mississippi State at the spring commencement ceremony are being accepted until Feb. 13.
Nominations, including supporting materials, should be sent to the Honorary Degree Committee in care of the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
Under Board of Trustees, State Institutions of Higher Learning 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.
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. 13 deadline. The committee ultimately will recommend names to the president and degrees will be presented at May 2006 commencement ceremonies.
The state College Board authorized state universities to begin awarding the degrees in 1999 and generally allows each institution to give up to two each year. Mississippi State has awarded nine honorary degrees since then.
Prior recipients of MSU honorary degrees are John H. Bryan Jr., former chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Sara Lee Corp.; Leo W. Seal Jr., chairman and CEO of Hancock Bank in Gulfport; Harry Charles F. Simrall, dean of engineering at Mississippi State until his retirement in 1978; Dave C. Swalm, retired petroleum products company owner; G.V. “Sonny” Montgomery, former 3rd District congressman from Meridian; Hunter Henry, retired Dow Chemical Co. executive; Bobby Martin, president of The Peoples Bank in Ripley; Jack Cristil, radio play-by-play announcer for MSU football and basketball games for the past 50 years; Charles B. Cliett, head emeritus of the aerospace engineering department; and Hartley D. Peavey, owner and chief executive officer of Peavey Electronics in Meridian.
Members of the Honorary Degree Committee are Peter Rabideau, chair, provost and vice president for academic affairs; Connie Forde, professor of instructional systems and workforce development; Kirk Schulz, dean of engineering; Jamie Mixon, professor of art; David Shaw, director of the Remote Sensing Technologies Center; and Bill Wilson, professor of chemistry.