Ole Miss Alumni Review - Spring 2015 by Ole Miss Alumni Association

OLE MISS ALUMNI REVIEW

Spring 2015

Balancing Act

Ole Miss grad manages careers in both art and medicine

SPRIN G 2015 VOL. 64 N O. 2

It’s ‘Showtime’ for alumna on ‘60 Minutes Sports’ Sculpture of Johnny Vaught by Kim Sessums

Numerous construction projects aim to improve campus

OXFORD COMMONS

UNCOMMONLY TASTEFUL Only Oxford Commons offers courtyard and estate homes with elegant French Country designs in the heart of Oxford. Choose from 15 floorplans from 1,701 to 3,192 sq. ft. with fine finishes, customizable options and covered patios. In a Master planned village community with shops, restaurants, new schools, walking trails and Malco movie theatre. Less than a mile from The Square, new Family Fun Center, The Grove and Ole Miss football. Close to everything; far from ordinary. That’s Oxford Commons.

HOMES FROM THE MID $200’s | THEOXFORDCOMMONS.COM/ALUMNI

OLD

HW Y 7N

314 6

AVENT PARK

SISK AVE

OXFORD

UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI THE GROVE

278

OXFORD STATE PARK

OXFORD COMMONS

MODEL HOME 112 MULBERRY LANE OXFORD, MS 38655 HOME INQUIRIES 662-236-0060

RETAIL INQUIRIES 662-234-4043

UNIVERSITY AVE 6 334

MONDAY – SATURDAY 10 AM – 6 PM SUNDAY 1 PM – 6 PM

Ole Miss Alumni Review P ublisher Sheila Dossett (75) Timothy L. Walsh (83) Editor Jim Urbanek II (97) jim@olemiss.edu jim@olemiss.edu A A ssociate ssociate E Editor ditor and and A A dvertising dvertising D Director irector Tom Speed (91) Annie Rhoades (07, 09) tom@olemiss.edu annie@olemiss.edu C Editor C ontributing ontributing E ditor Benita Benita Whitehorn Whitehorn Editorial A ssistant A rt Director Brandon Irvine Amy Howell Designer C ontributors Eric Summers Andrew Abernathy (08,10), Lindsay Abernathy C (09), Kevin Bain (98), Dustin orrespondents Barnes, Mitchell Diggs (82), KevinJames BainCrowe, (98), Tobie Baker (96), Jay Ferchaud, Gero,Lexi TinaCombs, Hahn, Rebecca LauckGabrielle Cleary (97), Robert Jordan Latil, Mitchell Diggs (83), (82),Nathan Jay Ferchaud, Michael Harrelson, Robert Jordan(05), (83), Joshua McCoy, Michael Newsom Latil, Jack EdwinNathan Smith (80,93), TomMazurak, Speed (91,03), Deborah (MA 02) Christina SteubePurnell (11), Mitchell Weidner Edwin Smith (80), Matt Westerfield Officers of the University Oississippi fficers of he University of M AT lumni A ssociation of M ississippi A lumni A ssociation Trentice Imbler (78) Billpresident May (79), president Eddie Maloney (72) Richard Noble (68), president-elect president-elect Hal Moore (76) Larry Bryan (74), vice president vice president Kimsey O’Neal Cooper Mike Glenn (77), (94) athletics committee committee member member athletics Chip Crunk(76), (87) Sam Lane athletics committee member A lumni A ffairs Staff, O xford Sheila Dossett (75), interim executive director director Timothly L. Walsh (83), executive Joseph analystIII III JosephBaumbaugh, Baumbaugh,systems systems analyst ClayAllie Cavett (86), associate director Bush, Web developer Martha ClayDollarhide, Cavett (86),systems associateprogrammer director Martha Dollarhide, II systems programmer II Sheila Dossett associate Julian Gilner (04,(75), 07),senior assistant director director Port Kaigler (06), alumni assistant Julian Gilner director and senior(04), club assistant coordinator Sarah Kathryn M. Hickman (03), Annette Kelly (79), accountant assistant director for marketing Steve Mullen (92), assistant director Port Kaigler (06), alumni assistant and for marketing club coordinator Annie Rhoades (07, 09), publications editor Annette Kelly (79), accountant AnnaSpeed Smith(91), (05),publications alumni assistant Tom editor and club coordinator Scott Thompson (97), assistant director Scott Thompson (97, 08), assistant director Jim Urbanek (97), assistant director for Jim Urbanek (97), assistant director communications for communications Rusty Woods (01), assistant director for Rusty Woods (01), associate information services director information services James for Butler (53), director emeritus (60, 66),director WarnerWarner Alford Alford (60), executive executiveemeritus director emeritus The The Ole Ole Miss Miss Alumni Alumni Review Review (USPS (USPS 561-870) 561-870) is published published quarterly quarterly by by The the University is University of of Mississippi Mississippi Alumni Alumni Association Association and and the the Office 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 125088

2 Alumni Review

fromthe

Chancellor Dear Alumni and Friends,

The past six years have been an amazing time for the University of Mississippi, and the opportunity to be part of the progress this great university has enjoyed is something that Lydia and I will cherish forever. This has been a time of growth, national recognition for the achievements of our students and faculty, a renewed focus on community service and noteworthy success for our athletics endeavors. We recorded the university’s three best consecutive years for private support, with fundraising topping $100 million each year. All this positions the university to continue its leadership role in education, research and service to the state and region. Our student population continues to grow, and our string of record enrollments hit 20 consecutive years last fall, when we registered a state record 23,096 students. The Chronicle of Higher Education noted our sustained success, acknowledging Ole Miss among the 20 fastest growing universities in America. Our freshman class also has continued its growth, swelling to more than 3,800 students last fall. All indicators point to more records this fall. We have continued to improve and expand our facilities on all our campuses. Over the past several years, we have completed major projects to provide new student housing and services, classroom space, athletics facilities and research laboratories on the Oxford campus and at the Medical Center. Much more is on the way, with more than $720 million in construction either underway or in the planning stages. In athletics, we’ve enjoyed a resurgence of several programs and cheered the Rebels to spectacular successes. Just in the past 12 months, UM was the only Division I university to place a team in the College World Series, a New Year’s Six bowl game and the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Our fans have responded, setting attendance records in football, basketball and baseball and helping push our athletics budget past $90 million for the upcoming 201516 season. Throughout this time, I have appreciated the good relationship university leadership has enjoyed with the Alumni Association. I have had the pleasure of working with an exceptional string of Alumni Association presidents, including Rose Jackson Flenorl, Charles Clark, Bill May, Richard Noble, Larry Bryan, Jimmy Brown and the current president, Trentice Imbler. Change is hard, but it is important that we continue to love and support Ole Miss. Let me remind you that we all felt anxious when Chancellor Khayat announced his retirement, but our momentum continued, actually accelerating. And with our current success, I believe we have a growing broad confidence. I am certain this great university will continue to prosper and grow. Both Lydia and I have truly enjoyed our time in Oxford, and we have formed many friendships that will continue beyond my time as chancellor. We are sad to be leaving, but we leave as lifetime Alumni Association members and committed members of the Ole Miss family. Wherever we land, we will always be loyal Ole Miss Rebels. Sincerely,

Daniel W. Jones (MD 75) Chancellor

Spring 2015

Vol. 64 No. 2

features

20 Star Reporter It’s ‘Showtime’ for alumna on ‘60 MINUTES Sports’ BY ANNIE RHOADES

departments 6 FROM THE CIRCLE

The latest on Ole Miss students, faculty, staff and friends

26 Growing Gains Numerous construction projects aim to improve campus BY CHRISTINA STEUBE

18 CALENDAR 40 SPORTS

Bjork’s contract extended Athletics celebrates outstanding year

44 ARTS AND CULTURE 46 REBEL TRAVELER

34 Balancing Act ON THE COVER

Ole Miss grad manages careers in both art and medicine BY TOM SPEED

50 ALUMNI NEWS On the cover: As an OB/GYN and artist, J. Kim Sessums (MD 84) might be delivering a baby one day and unveiling a new work of art the next. His sculpture of former Ole Miss football coach Johnny Vaught was dedicated on campus in 2008. Cover photo by Robert Jordan

OFFERED by BETSY PATTON CHERIE MATTHEWS REAL ESTATE 662.801.4502 mobile 662.234.3878 office

Home sites beginning at $300,000

NESTLED in the rolling hills of North Mississippi, just eight miles from Oxford and Ole Miss, a secluded residential retreat is waiting. Here, life revolves around the land and the lakes. Modern design harmonizes with natural surroundings, and ordinary construction gives way to character-filled dwellings that can truly be called “home.” Once you’ve discovered this place, you’ll know you’ve found your place.

Welcome to Splinter Creek.

S P L I N T E R C R E E K M S.C O M

fromthe

President

Dear Alumni and Friends,

When You A Mississippi-owned & operated home care company servicing the entire state of MS for over 20 years Providing services from 2 to 24 hours daily Offering medical & non-medical care An employee-based company with customer protections

Prime Care NURSING

800-844-4298 pcnursing.com 4 Alumni Review

Since I wrote last, snow fell and blanketed our beautiful campus for a few days. Now the trees and flowers are in full bloom. We have a real treasure. Spring is a special time to be on campus. It is a very busy time with exams and commencement. The new class of graduates is prepared to leave its mark on our future. That said: If you have a graduate and want to do something special, then pay his or her Alumni Association dues for the first year and buy a brick for the walk in front of the Triplett Center. My girls have loved finding theirs. I’d also like to tell you that the first 11 stops of the 2015 BancorpSouth Rebel Road Trip were a great success, bringing Ole Miss to more than 2,000 alumni, friends and fans. The Alumni Association, Ole Miss Athletics and the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation appreciate all of the hard work that our local clubs put in to make these events so special. We also thank Rebel Locker Room, Smile Y’all Photo Booth and Visit Oxford for their participation. The Road Trip continues in Memphis on July 14 and in Jackson on July 16. Our national network of local alumni clubs is stronger than ever. I encourage you to invite your friends and family to be active and continue the momentum we have with our club program. I would like to thank all of our new board members who are featured in this issue. We appreciate your dedication and service to Ole Miss. Change is upon us once again. The IHL board made a tough decision recently that will affect many lives. Dr. Jones, we thank you for the leadership that you have provided to our university. Our future is brighter because of your service. We wish you and Lydia the best. While Ole Miss has seen tough days, we are strong and will persevere. Support our beloved Ole Miss, and love who we are. Thankful to be an Ole Miss Rebel!

Trentice Imbler (BS 78)

“They Say The Greatest Compliment Is A Referral” Mine is growing from client, friend to family.

– Pam Roberson Owner/Broker

Rebel Realty Welcomes Dr. Lawrence ‘Pete’ Graves After graduation from Millsaps, enrolled at University of Tennessee Medical Units College of Dentistry in Memphis, TN. - after 4 years, graduated and practiced Dentistry for 15 years in Memphis, TN. and 10 years in Jackson, MS. - after retirement from practice of Dentistry, developed a home infusion and respiratory company with offices in Jackson and Long Beach, MS. - sold those 2 companies in 2000 and started sleep diagnostic centers with a chain of 15 locations in Mississippi and Louisiana - after selling the sleep centers in 2014 and facing retirement again, decided to pursue a career in real estate, since over the years have purchased and sold numerous properties and businesses and really enjoy real estate, both residential and commercial investment. Married to Shirley Pittman, of Bruce, MS for 50 years with 2 children, Michelle Graves UM(BA ‘90) and Dallas Graves attended UM ‘94-’96.

2084 Old Taylor Road, Suite 100 Oxford, MS 38655 Cell: (662) 816-6262 Office: (662) 513-6262

Call Pete Graves, Realtor (228) 326-9776

fromthe

ircle C

THE LATEST ON OLE MISS STUDENTS, FACULTY, STAFF AND FRIENDS

UM Teacher of the Year

POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR RECEIVES TOP TEACHING HONOR

Brown is a senior research associate of the SSRL and graduate program coordinator. “Professor Brown is being recognized by his peers for outstanding teaching,” Jones says. “I am grateful to him for his commitment to our students and to per-

Photo by Robert Jordan

uring Robert D. Brown’s 24 years of teaching at the University of Mississippi, the popular faculty member has earned many honors, but receiving the Elsie M. Hood Outstanding Teacher Award ranks as his most rewarding.

Robert D. Brown

The professor of political science was presented the coveted accolade on April 9 by Chancellor Dan Jones (MD 75) during the 72nd annual Honors Day Convocation. Brown, who has taught the full range of students at the university, was overjoyed and humbled by the recognition. “I was completely stunned and dumbfounded,” he says. “I know and admire several people who have won this award, so the whole thing is really quite humbling.” Brown joined the UM faculty as an assistant professor in 1991. Over the past two decades, he was promoted to associate professor and professor, in addition to being co-founder and former director of the Social Science Research Laboratory. 6 Alumni Review

petuating the culture among our faculty of making teaching our highest priority.” Brown received the UM Faculty Achievement Award for 2005-06, but says the Elsie M. Hood award is “very, very special to me.” “My home department is full of wonderful, dedicated teachers, and it’s nice to be able to represent them,” Brown says. “I want to be a good teacher, to challenge students to address difficult issues and be challenged by my students in return.” A nomination letter from one student notes that “he not only changed my view of his course in politics, but of all my classes since then, giving me the desire to dig deeper and apply concepts I never would have been interested in

doing so otherwise.” Another student, who has taken Brown’s classes for three consecutive semesters, says, “[He] gives careful attention to each member of the class and creates an environment where a group of strangers felt comfortable discussing controversial and intriguing questions about society.” Brown earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Northern Illinois University and a doctorate at Indiana University. Co-author of 20 refereed articles and book chapters, he served as the principal or co-principal investigator on external grants totaling more than $5 million. Brown says he considers himself lucky to be teaching American politics at the university. “When I walk into a classroom, I never quite know what I’m going to find,” he says. “Things can literally change from day to day, which helps keep the material, and hopefully me, fresh.” Brown is married to Laura DivenBrown (MEd 96), UM director of financial aid. Their son, Sean, is a sophomore at Oxford High School. Each year since 1966, the university recognizes excellence in teaching by presenting the Elsie M. Hood Outstanding Teacher Award. Based on nominations from both students and faculty, the award includes a plaque and a check from the chancellor. Recipients’ names are also engraved on a plaque listing previous winners, which is displayed in the J.D. Williams Library. AR

JOURNALISM STUDENTS SCOOP COMPETITION AT CONFERENCE Photo by Cady Herring

inning top honors in several categories, University of Mississippi journalism students dominated the annual Southeast Journalism Conference competitions. The weekend conference, hosted in February by Georgia State University in Atlanta, included two separate awards ceremonies. Best of the South awards honored student work published or broadcast from November 2013 through November 2014. On-site competitions involved students working on deadline in 17 categories. Combined, UM students won 26 hon- University of Mississippi print and broadcast journalism students proudly display awards won at ors. Ole Miss also placed first in the On- the Southeast Journalism Conference competition. site Championship Team category for the says Patricia Thompson, Student Media hours each week to their work, and winfourth time in five years. Center director and assistant profes- ning awards is nice recognition for their “We are so proud of our students,” sor of journalism. “They devote many dedication.” AR

Salt of the Earth HUSSEY HONORED WITH SEC FACULTY ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

harles Hussey (BS 71, PhD 74), professor and chair of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Mississippi, is a 2015 recipient of the Southeastern Conference’s Faculty Achievement Award. Conference officials announced on April 8 that Hussey received the award, which honors one faculty member from each SEC university who has excelled in teaching, research and scholarship. Hussey, who has been widely recognized for his lifetime of research in molten salt and ionic liquid chemistry, says he is grateful. “I am very humbled to learn that I was chosen for this recognition from the list of many very qualified scholars on the University of Mississippi campus,” Hussey says. “As an alumnus of UM, this is a special honor to me.” Chancellor Dan Jones (MD 75) says Hussey is very deserving of all the recognition he has received. “Dr. Hussey represents all that is positive about academic leaders at the University of Mississippi,” Jones says. “He has an impressive research and scholarly record

that has been recognized with a number of awards. He has a passion for teaching, which benefits students at all levels in our chemistry department. And he has given years of service to the university as

Charles Hussey

chair of his department, building a strong undergraduate and graduate program in chemistry that is nationally recognized.” Hussey joined the faculty in 1978. For

more than 30 years, he has researched the electrochemistry and transport properties of ionic liquids and molten salts. He has authored or co-authored more than 140 refereed journal articles, book chapters, patents and technical reports. The National Science Foundation, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Alcoa and the U.S. Department of Energy have supported his work. He is associate editor of the Journal of the Electrochemical Society. Last year, Hussey was awarded the Electrochemical Society’s Max Bredig Award in Molten Salt and Ionic Liquid Chemistry, an international award recognizing his work in the field. Each SEC Faculty Achievement Award winner becomes his or her university’s nominee for the 2015 SEC Professor of the Year Award and receives a $5,000 honorarium from the conference. The SEC Professor of the Year, named during the month of April, receives an additional $15,000 honorarium and will be recognized at the SEC Awards Dinner in May and the SEC Symposium in September. AR Spring 2015 7

fromthe

Circle Photo courtesy of University Communications

Electrical engineering alumnus Dozie Ibekwe (left) of Nigeria is a 2015 Gates Cambridge Scholarship recipient.

Spark of Greatness ALUMNUS NAMED GATES CAMBRIDGE SCHOLAR

University of Mississippi electrical engineering alumnus is among this year’s recipients of the prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship. Chiedozie “Dozie” Ibekwe (BSEE 11) is the second UM graduate to win the full scholarship to the University of Cambridge. Sam Watson, a 2008 graduate with bachelor’s degrees in mathematics, physics and classics, was the first UM recipient in 2009. “I knew that I had just gotten a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Ibekwe says. “I’ll study for a Master of Philosophy in public policy. After Cambridge, I will utilize my manufacturing and supply chain management expertise to advise African policymakers on crafting and executing effective industrial policies to boost manufacturing and diversify African economies.” Ibekwe enrolled in UM’s Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College through its Junior Entry program and was named Honors Scholar in Electrical Engineering in December 2011. He is slated to earn his Master of Professional Studies in supply chain management from Pennsylvania State University in August 2015. He has been employed by General Electric since graduating from UM, beginning as a lean manufacturing engineer in GE Energy’s aeroderivative division in 2011. Since then, he served 8 Alumni Review

as a process improvement leader in GE Power and Water, a sourcing project manager on the Chevron Big Foot Project of GE Oil and Gas, a manufacturing operations leader for blowout preventers and a supplier quality engineer for GE Nigeria. “My career goal is to use manufacturing, with localized supply chains, to drive development in Africa,” says Ibekwe, now lead buyer in the pressure control division of GE Oil and Gas in Houston, Texas. Ibekwe is “a superb example of a citizen scholar,” says Douglass Sullivan-González, UM Honors College dean. “Dozie studies, he analyzes, and then he acts. As an engineer or as a policy analyst, he has a gift for seeing how things can be better, and he consistently turns his own talents toward those efforts. We are immensely proud of what he has accomplished already and of what he plans to accomplish.” The Gates Cambridge Scholarship, open to citizens of any country outside the United Kingdom, provides a fully funded scholarship to Cambridge for a postgraduate degree. Established in 2000 through a $210 million donation from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Gates Cambridge Trust has selected more than 1,300 scholars from some 100 countries. It grants 95 awards each year, 40 to applicants from the U.S. and 55 to applicants from other countries. AR

Something to Think About STUDY IDENTIFIES GENETIC MUTATION THAT AFFECTS COGNITION

n international team of researchers, including investigators from the University of Mississippi Medical Center, has identified a gene that underlies healthy information processing — a first step on a complicated road to understanding cognitive aging and age-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. The study, published on April 14 in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, is the largest genetics study to link a specific genetic mutation and information-processing speed. “It is well-known that Tom Mosley genetic variation plays an important role in explaining individual differences in thinking skills such as memory and information-processing speed,” says Tom Mosley, director of the Memory Impairment Neurodegenerative Dementia (MIND) Center at UMMC and senior scientist on the study. “However, the genes that underlie

thinking skills remain largely unknown. Our team has identified a genetic mutation that may help unravel this puzzle.” The effort was conducted through the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) consortium, in which researchers from around the world search for genetic causes of disease in the general aging population. Previous studies on families and twins have shown genetics play an important role in cognitive functioning, but finding the specific genes or genetic regions has proved difficult, requiring a combination of large sample sizes and detailed genetic measurements. But in this case, researchers analyzed data from more than 30,000 people who were 45 or older, bringing together genetic and cognitive-functioning data from participants in several studies in

12 different countries. In addition, they examined genetic variations across 2.5 million sites along each individual’s DNA, looking for associations between genetic variants and performance on several different tests of cognitive function. Of the different cognitive skills examined, the strongest genetic association was related to performance on a test of information-processing speed. The most associated variants were located in the CADM2 gene, also known as Syncam2. “It seems like, through this genetic analysis, we have identified a genetic variant, which partly explains the differences in information-processing speed between people,” says Dr. Carla Ibrahim-Verbaas, a resident in neurology at Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, and lead author on the study. “It confirms the likely role of CADM2 in between-cell communication, and therefore cognitive performance. It is of interest that the gene has also been suggested in other studies to be involved in autism and personality traits.” AR

WOMEN’S COUNCIL HONORS OVERBY WITH LEGACY AWARD

he Ole Miss Women’s Council for Philanthropy honored Charles Overby (68), a champion of the First Amendment and free press, with the 2015 Legacy Award this spring at the University of Mississippi. Overby received the Legacy Award, presented by C Spire, at a dinner April 18 at Carrier House, home of Chancellor Dan (MD 75) and Lydia Jones on the Oxford campus. “We are thrilled to honor Charles Overby with a tribute to the cities he has impacted through his professional, personal and philanthropic endeavors,” says Karen Moore (BS 82), OMWC chair. For 22 years, Overby was chief executive officer of the Freedom Forum, a nonpartisan foundation that educates

people about the press and the First Amendment. He served as CEO of the Newseum from 1997 to 2011, during which time he supervised the building’s construction on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington. He also served as CEO of the Diversity Institute, a school created in 2001 to teach journalists and aspiring journalists while increasing Charles Overby diversity in newsrooms. The Legacy Award of the Ole Miss Women’s Council recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions as philanthropists, leaders and mentors

and brought about definitive, positive changes in the university, state and nation. “This is a huge honor, and I am grateful to the Women’s Council for its exceptional philanthropic work,” Overby says. Overby earned a bachelor’s degree from Ole Miss and has been presented honorary doctoral degrees from Mississippi University for Women and Millsaps College. He is a member of the Mississippi Press Association Hall of Fame and was inducted into both the student and alumni halls of fame at UM. AR Spring 2015 9

fromthe

Circle UPD CHIEF TO RETIRE IN MAY

niversity Police Chief a local nurse. Though Calvin Sellers (BPA he has many plans for 97) will retire May retirement, leaving UM 31, closing the books on a won’t be easy, he says. more than 30-year career “You know, it’s not a in law enforcement that place you can just walk included leading campus away from,” Sellers says. efforts to become the safest “That’s going to be the school in the Southeastern hardest part, I think. Conference and one of the Coming to work every day safest in the country. is not hard. Not coming Sellers, 62, plans to to work every day is not spend more time reading, going to be the problem, golfing and skeet shooting. Calvin Sellers but not being involved in He wants to ride his Harleysomething that you care Davidson up the Pacific Coast. He’s also so much about — the department and the engaged to be married to Mary Watts, university — that’s going to be difficult.”

Sellers prides himself on having built a diverse department of officers, who have played a large role in crime prevention through educating students about safety. He also has led efforts to keep campus safe during many highprofile events such as the 2008 presidential debate, concerts and many bigtime sporting events. Being at those events also allowed him to meet many famous musicians, writers and athletes during his 25 years as an Ole Miss officer. For a Q-and-A with Sellers on his career, brushes with the Allman Brothers, B.B. King, Lenny Kravitz and other celebrities, visit www.news.olemiss.edu. AR

From Student to Headmaster SWEENEY REJOINS MISSISSIPPI TEACHER CORPS AS DIRECTOR

ississippi Teacher Corps veteran Joseph Sweeney (MA 06) joined the University of Mississippi School of Education faculty as director of the highly selective teacherpreparation program. Sweeney, who took the helm of the Teacher Corps on March 16, is in the midst of preparing for the program’s 26th cohort of new recruits who will undergo hands-on teacher training during the program’s summer training school in Holly Springs in June and July. “The Teacher Corps is a great program with great people,” says Sweeney, who also serves as an instructor in the Department of Teacher Education. “It’s almost surreal to be back here, but I feel very confident we will continue to offer a valuable service to the state of Mississippi. I feel like I’m home, and this is my dream job.” Established in 1989, the Teacher Corps, which receives its primary funding from the Mississippi Legislature, is an alternate 10 Alumni Review

route program that prepares college graduates to teach and succeed in secondary, critical-needs schools in the state. The program provides graduates job placement with full benefits and salary upon finishing its summer training school. Each year, the summer school calls upon Teacher Corps alumni and UM Joseph Sweeney education faculty to expose the new cohort to skills and tactics they will need as teachers in the state’s most challenging middle and high school classrooms. “Joe Sweeney was a rising star during his time in the program,” says Mississippi Teacher Corps co-founder Andy Mullins (PhD 92). “He was successful as a teacher and as a graduate student and showed skill and leadership abilities from the very beginning. When the opening occurred, we immediately thought that

Joe would be an excellent choice.” The Teacher Corps, which can accept up to 35 new recruits a year, requires teachers to complete graduate course work at UM to earn a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction over two years. Graduates also qualify to apply for an advanced teaching license from the Mississippi Department of Education. More than 600 teachers have come through the program. Sweeney, a native of Traverse City, Mich., joined the Teacher Corps in 2004 and served as an English teacher at East Side High School in Cleveland. He later served as the principal for the Teacher Corps’ summer school for three years and was an adjunct faculty member in the UM School of Education, continuing his connection to the program. AR

Conquering the Next Frontier UM TEAM WINS NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP IN SPACE LAW

T Photo courtesy of University Communications

he University of Mississippi School of Law won its second national moot court championship for 2015, this time in the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C.

Law students Ian Perry (left), C.J. Robinson and Olivia Hoff

Technically, Ole Miss earned the title of North American Champion and, with it, the right to represent the continent at the world finals in Jerusalem in October 2015. “A success like this, in the world’s oldest and most prestigious

space law competition, stands out as a highlight on a student’s resume,” Dean Richard Gershon says. “As an international leader in this unique, emerging area of law, Ole Miss helps propel students into careers at government agencies like NASA and the CIA, as well as position students for opportunities in the growing private space industry and at companies like Bigelow Aerospace and SpaceX.” This victory, on March 21, builds on a string of successes for the law school’s advocacy programs, which includes winning the nation’s pre-eminent environmental law moot court competition for the fourth time in five years, winning four national championships in 2014, earning a top 14 national ranking for the school’s moot court board in 2014, receiving second place at the National Sports Law Negotiation Competition last fall and achieving a top 8 finish at the moot court national championship in January at the University of Houston Law Center. As North American space law champions, the Ole Miss team will compete in the world finals against schools from Africa, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Three members of the International Court of Justice will serve as judges and hear arguments in a hypothetical case involving an asteroid mining dispute and liability for a failed attempt to divert an asteroid from colliding with Earth. In its 24th year, the competition takes place under the auspices of the International Institute of Space Law, headquartered in Paris, and attracts more than 60 law schools from around the globe. AR

NFSMI DIRECTOR TAKES ROLE WITH USDA

atie Wilson, executive director of the National Food Service Management Institute at the University of Mississippi, was appointed by President Barack Obama as deputy undersecretary of food, nutrition and consumer services at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The role includes a variety of responsibilities, including oversight over the development of dietary guidelines and nutrition programs across the country. “I have partnered with the USDA a number of times over the years,” Wilson says. “I’ve taken part in many of their expert panels on nutrition, so the connection has always been there.” Kevin Concannon, undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services, contacted Wilson in January about the possibility of becoming deputy undersecretary. She accepted the job in March 2015.

“Katie has had a wealth of experience in school nutrition, serving in a variety of positions,” Concannon says. “She has testified before Congress and served in leadership roles in the School Nutrition Association. Her clear and lifelong passion for improving the health of schoolchildren and her vast experience in this field make her a perfect choice to hit the ground when she joins us later this spring.” W ilson ser ved as NFSMI’s executive director since 2010. Established Katie Wilson by Congress in 1989, the institute is the only federally funded center dedicated to education, training and technical assistance for child nutrition programs.

“I love NFSMI. It’s a passion of mine,” Wilson says. “We have developed a wonderful staff that’s very capable of doing their jobs. It’s sort of a sweet sorrow, but I’m not worried. The institute is in good hands.” Velmer Burton, dean of the School of Applied Sciences, praised Wilson’s appointment, noting that she did an exemplary job as the institute’s director. “Katie will tr uly be missed as she leaves for Washington, D.C.,” Burton says. “However, we are very excited for her in this new role, which naturally reflects well on Dr. Wilson, the talented NFSMI staff and the initiatives she has established as director here at the University of Mississippi.” AR Spring 2015 11

fromthe

Circle Chemical Pathways CHEMISTRY DEPARTMENT MODIFIES BACHELOR’S CURRICULUM

12 Alumni Review

Photo by Nathan Hammer

he Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Mississippi is now offering two different pathways for students seeking a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. “Our B.S. in chemistry degree has been modified to have two tracks for students to choose from,” says Nathan Hammer, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry. “The first option is a traditional chemistry track that prepares students well for graduate school in chemistry or a career in the chemical industry. The second track has a biochemistry emphasis and is specifically designed for students who wish to go on to medical school or graduate school in biochemistry.” The department has a suggested four-year course outline with electives that count toward the degree and are required for medical school admissions. These requirements are covered by the Medical College Admission Test, or MCAT. The modified degree went into effect in spring 2015. “Both tracks are certified by the American UM chemistry majors Ashley Williams (left), Sarah Sutton and Katelyn Allen conduct Chemical Society and are among the most undergraduate research. rigorous in the country,” Hammer says. By modifying its B.S. in chemistry degree, the department in preparing for the medical profession,” Hammer says. “We better serves the growing number of pre-med students who have essentially taken what our best and brightest pre-med wanted a rigorous bachelor’s degree in the physical sciences, students have been doing on their own the last few years and he says. These students typically enjoy chemistry, physics and crafted a degree that serves them. We have approximately 20 math, but they eventually wish to serve others in a medical students total that are pursuing the new B.S. (in) chemistry profession. degree with the biochemistry emphasis. Most of these are pre“Prior to modifying our B.S. degree, these students had med students associated with the Sally McDonnell Barksdale two options,” Hammer says. “The first was to satisfy our Honors College.” previous B.S. (in) chemistry degree requirements and then Charles Hussey (BS 71, PhD 74), chair and professor of take additional biology and biochemistry classes. The second chemistry and biochemistry, is enthusiastic about having two option was to pursue our B.A. (in) biochemistry degree undergraduate degrees within the department. and supplement it with calculus-based physics, additional “The new Bachelor of Science degree with emphasis in bioadvanced math courses and additional advanced chemistry chemistry is more versatile than our existing Bachelor of Arts courses.” degree in biochemistry,” he says. “It not only prepares students Most students opted to pursue the B.S. degree and take to compete for postgraduate opportunities in the pre-health additional biochemistry and biology courses. Creating a B.S. in professions but also provides them with a solid foundation chemistry degree track incorporates these additional biochem- in advanced chemistry. With this foundation, they are well istry courses as well as an advanced biology elective. equipped for graduate studies in biochemistry as well as the “We have substituted these courses for other chemistry research-based M.D.-Ph.D. programs offered by elite medical courses that are useful for a career in chemistry but not helpful schools.” AR

USA TODAY EDITOR HONORED WITH SILVER EM

red Anklam Jr. (BA 77), a senior editor at USA Today, is the recipient of the 2015 Samuel Talbert Silver Em Award from the University of Mississippi’s Meek School of Journalism and New Media. The award was presented at a dinner April 8 at The Inn at Ole Miss. The school’s highest honor in journalism, the award dates to 1958. Recipients must be Mississippians with notable journalism careers or journalists with notable careers in Mississippi — or both, which is Fred Anklam Jr. the case with Anklam. Though born in Kentucky, where his father was an Army officer, Anklam spent his formative years in Vicksburg, where he graduated from St. Aloysius High School in 1972. After a year at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, he completed his college degree in journalism, with minors

in anthropology and English, at UM. He was a staffer of The Daily Mississippian student newspaper and a member of Sigma Delta Chi and the Society of Professional Journalists. For six years after graduation, Anklam was a reporter for the Jackson (Miss.) Clarion-Ledger where, as part of a team in 1982, he worked on a six-month investigation of Mississippi schools and a related special legislative session that led to a Pulitzer Prize. “Of all the students we’ve had in journalism, he’s one I am so impressed with because of how humble he is. He didn’t let success go to his head,” says Will Norton Jr., dean of the Meek School. “He uses his reporting ability for the betterment of his community.” Anklam has received many additional awards, including a 1981 first place from

the Education Writers Association for investigative reporting on unsafe schools. Two more awards came from that group in 1982, followed by a Roy W. Howard Public Service Award in 1983. His career with Gannett News Service and, later, USA Today, began in Washington. In 1986, he was the first USA Today reporter assigned full time to cover the U.S. House of Representatives. Starting in 1988, Anklam was tapped as an editor for the national newspaper. He had roles as night national news editor, White House editor, news/international editor, news/chief operations editor and news editor. Those roles led to his current position, where he supervises USA Today coverage at night and during the early morning hours, oversees production of the domestic editions and local inserted editions as well as the Tropics edition. He serves as backup to the Page 1 editor and directs coverage on all USA Today platforms, digital and print. AR

Fellow Pharmacist BOULDIN RECOGNIZED FOR PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENT, SERVICE Photo by Robert Jordan

he American Pharmacists Association Academy of Pharmaceutical Research and Science named Alicia Bouldin a 2015 APhA fellow. Awarded to only 15 individuals this year, the designation honors members who have demonstrated exemplary professional achievements and service to the profession. Bouldin (BA 88, BSPh 91, MS 96, PhD 99), an associate dean and professor in the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, was honored March 27-30 at the APhA Annual Meeting and Exposition in San Diego. “To have been nominated was itself a humbling occasion, for that suggests that several of my peers felt that my contributions were worthy of noting in this way,” Bouldin says. “Then to have been selected by the committee was a thrill and a bit difficult for me to grasp.” Bouldin, who serves as associate dean of outcomes assessment and learning advancement and professor in the Department of Pharmacy Administration, joined APhA as a student in the late 1980s. During graduate school, she became a member of the Academy of Pharmaceutical Research and Science, which

Alicia Bouldin (center) was honored for professional achievements and service to the pharmacy profession.

she says opened her eyes to how the organization is involved with the practice and development of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences. AR Spring 2015 13

fromthe

Circle Amazing Phenomenon UM PHYSICIST CONTRIBUTES TO STUDY OF SPINNING BLACK HOLES

global team of scientists, including a University of Mis“The equations that we solved will help predict the charsissippi physicist, provides new insight about the most acteristics of the gravitational waves that LIGO would expect energetic event in the universe: the merging of two to see from binary black hole mergers,” Kesden says. “We’re spinning, orbiting black holes into a larger black hole. looking forward to comparing our solutions to the data that The research findings by Emanuele Berti, UM associate pro- LIGO collects.” fessor of physics and astronomy, and his colleagues appear in In addition to solving existing equations, the researchers the March issue of Physical Review Letters, one of the most pres- derived equations that will allow scientists to statistically track tigious peer-reviewed academic journals in the field. The article binary black hole spin precession from the formation of black “Effective potentials and morphological transitions for binary holes to their merger far more efficiently and quickly than has black-hole spin precession” is co-authored by scientists Michael been possible. Kesden, Davide Gerosa, Richard O’Shaughnessy and Ulrich Sperhake. PRL is among several publications produced by the American Physical Society and American Institute of Physics describing selected physics research papers to a broad audience of physicists, journalists, students and the public. The paper details how the scientists, who work in the United Kingdom and the U.S., explored the influence of black hole spins on the dynamics of black hole mergers. “ The work should have significant impact upon our understanding of how black Black hole precessing model (created by Midori Kitagawa) holes are born, live and die, and also on the search for gravitational waves in the cosmos,” Berti “With these solutions, we can create computer simulations says. that follow black hole evolution over billions of years,” Kesden Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity predicts that says. “A simulation that previously would have taken years can two massive objects in a binary system should move closer and now be done in seconds. But it’s not just faster; there are things closer together as the systems emit a type of radiation called that we can learn from these simulations that we just couldn’t gravitational waves. Using gravitational waves as an observa- learn any other way.” tional tool, researchers could learn about the characteristics Berti earned his doctorate at the University of Rome in of the black holes that were emitting those waves billions of Italy. He later worked in Greece, France and the U.S. before years ago, such as their masses and mass ratios. Those data moving to UM, where he is an associate professor. He is also are important to more fully understanding the evolution and a visiting associate professor at the California Institute of nature of stars and black holes. Technology and the recipient of a highly competitive CAREER This year, a large-scale physics experiment named the Laser Award from the National Science Foundation. His research Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory aims to be the interests include theoretical astrophysics and relativity, black first to directly detect gravitational waves. LIGO is the largest holes, neutron stars, gravitational wave emission and detection, physics project funded by the National Science Foundation. and experimental tests of Einstein’s general relativity theory. AR 14 Alumni Review

New Leader, Familiar Face MISSISSIPPI NATIVE CHOSEN TO LEAD UM MEDICAL CENTER

r. LouAnn Heath Woodward (MD 91), an emer- grateful to the IHL board for accepting the selection of Dr. gency medicine physician and academic administra- Woodward.” tor who has served as second in command of the UniWoodward thanked the chancellor, provost, IHL board versity of Mississippi Medical Center for the members and former IHL commissioner Hank last five years, was named the institution’s next Bounds for the opportunity. vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of “It is my earnest desire to continue the the School of Medicine. positive momentum to advance the Medical Woodward, 51, a native of Carroll County Center as the foremost leader in Mississippi who serves as associate vice chancellor for for health care, health-sciences discovery and health affairs and vice dean of the School of health-sciences education,” Woodward says. “I Medicine, succeeds Dr. James E. Keeton (BA feel a personal responsibility to accelerate the 61, MD 65), who held the post for five years. shared vision of everyone who works, learns Keeton, 75, previously announced he would and teaches at UMMC to improve health in retire no later than June 30, 2015, depending Mississippi.” on the appointment of his successor. By tradition, the leader of the Medical Woodward’s appointment follows a Center holds the dual role of vice chancellor for national search by a committee that ultimately health affairs and dean of the medical school. narrowed the field of candidates to two finalThe vice chancellor essentially acts as CEO LouAnn Heath Woodward ists, including Dr. Stephen J. Spann, a family of the Medical Center, with responsibility for medicine physician who is chief medical officer for the Johns 10,000 employees, 3,000 students, four teaching hospitals and Hopkins Medicine-affiliated hospital in the United Arab Emir- two community hospitals, five health professions schools and ates. Jones made the final selection, which was affirmed by the the state’s largest health care research enterprise. The Medical Institutions of Higher Learning board. Center’s operating budget is $1.6 billion annually, about 11 “I’m grateful to Provost Morris Stocks for his leadership percent of it coming from the state. in the selection process while I was out with illness, to Dr. Woodward is the 10th person and first woman to serve as Patrick Smith and other members of the search committee, and institutional head in the 60-year history of UMMC in Jackson. to members of the Medical Center and broader community She and her husband, Jon, live in Madison and have four who participated in the process,” Jones says. “I’m particularly children. AR

UNIVERSITY ESTABLISHES BROAD COUNCIL FOR SUSTAINABILITY

niversity of Mississippi leaders gathered in February to discuss an action plan to advance sustainable initiatives on campus, with the long-term goal of achieving climate neutrality. The gathering was part of the university’s first ever meeting of the Broad Council for Sustainability, a group that will advise, adopt and begin implementing a climate action plan designed specifically for Ole Miss. “Higher education institutions have a significant role here,” says Ian Banner, university architect and director of sustainability and facilities planning. “What we do here matters.” The creation of the council is a result of the university’s participation in the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, or ACUPCC. UM is among 686 universities nationwide to make this commitment to climate neutrality. During the meeting, Provost Morris Stocks acknowledged the university’s unique position when addressing climatic issues, not only because of the large-scale operations taking place on campus

but also from a research and educational standpoint. “As our chancellor says, our responsibility of transforming lives extends to helping our students be good stewards of our resources,” said Stocks, who welcomed the council on behalf of Jones. “When we integrate sustainability into our educational experience, we are achieving our mission of supporting students’ development of critical and creative-thinking abilities, their sense of global responsibility and promotion of lifelong learning.” To achieve climate neutrality, the university must reach a point at which it has net zero greenhouse gas emissions. This goal is attainable by eliminating or reducing these emissions as much as possible and mitigating the remaining emissions, according to the ACUPCC. The university will begin its journey toward climate neutrality by gathering data through a greenhouse gas inventory and by assessing UM through the Association of Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System. UM groups will then move forward to develop and begin implementing the plan. AR Spring 2015 15

fromthe

Circle Photo by Robert Jordan

Robert Khayat

‘The Education of a Lifetime’ KHAYAT’S MEMOIR CHOSEN FOR COMMON READING EXPERIENCE

memoir by Robert Khayat (BAEd 61, JD 66), chancellor emeritus of the University of Mississippi, has been selected for the university’s 2015 Common Reading Experience. Each incoming freshman will receive a copy of The Education of a Lifetime with instructions to read it before the start of fall classes. Khayat will speak at the fall convocation, set for Aug. 25 at Tad Smith Coliseum. “I think students will identify with the author’s account of his first days as a freshman on an unfamiliar campus,” says Leslie Banahan (BA 76, MEd 92), assistant vice chancellor for student affairs and a co-chair on the Common Reading selection committee. Chosen from among five finalists by the Common Reading committee, Khayat’s book tells the story of growing up in Moss Point during the days of segregation and recounts his days in college at Ole Miss and Yale University. He also tells stories about his experiences as the university’s 15th chancellor and how the university grew under his direction. “Every new student has pangs of homesickness and uncertainty, and I think knowing that our former chancellor had those same experiences will be reassuring to members of the Class of 2019,” Banahan says. “The UM Common Reading 16 Alumni Review

Experience is important to our campus as we are a community of readers. Reading is at the very core of education, and sharing one book with students, faculty, staff and alumni affords us the opportunity for rich, stimulating, insightful discussions. Hopefully, students will learn how to express their opinions and respectfully listen to others’ opinions, even when they disagree. “Chancellor Emeritus Robert Khayat played a pivotal role in changing the University of Mississippi and changing the perception others had of the university. Reading The Education of a Lifetime will expose students to Chancellor Emeritus Khayat’s leadership style, the challenges he faced and overcame during his career, his disappointments and the legacy he leaves for all of us.” During Khayat’s tenure as chancellor, academic standards were raised, old buildings were renovated, and faculty salaries grew dramatically. The university was granted a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious undergraduate honor society for liberal arts. Enrollment increased by 70 percent, and the university’s budget grew from $500 million to $1.5 billion annually. For more information on the Common Reading Experience, visit http://umreads.olemiss.edu. For more information on Khayat and his book, go to http://www.robertkhayat.com. AR

See a doctor. When you’re ill, that’s the first step to getting better. But for too many Mississippians, it’s a hurdle. Over half of Mississippi counties are medically underserved. So UMMC’s Center for Telehealth merges medicine and technology to deliver vital personal healthcare to every corner of the state. Using Internet video technology, UMMC doctors diagnose and treat patients remotely. This goes beyond basic checkups. Telehealth offers 35 medical specialties, including cardiology, neurology, emergency medicine and dermatology. Instead of impossibly long drives, patients can now have direct access to care in medical facilities, businesses and schools statewide. UMMC has become a national model for telehealth services. But what really matters is the 500,000 patients we’ve helped right here at home. Learn more at ummchealth.com/telehealth.

UMMC Healthcare. Tomorrow. Every day.

His nearest medical specialist is a minute

UMMC Telehealth brings care closer to home.

drive.

Calendar Purvis Young, ‘Angels Playing Music’ (detail), Gordon W. Bailey Collection

Exhibit: ‘Our Faith Affirmed’ THROUGH AUG. 8

MAY

hrough Aug. 8 Ongoing Exhibit: “Our Faith Affirmed – Works from the Gordon W. Bailey Collection.” Open to the public. University of Mississippi Museum. Call 662-915-7073.

Ole Miss Toastmasters Meeting: Open to anyone who has the desire to improve his or her communication and leadership skills. Minor Hall, noon-1 p.m. Visit www.events. olemiss.edu.

-16 Baseball: Ole Miss vs. Texas A&M. Swayze Field, 6:30 p.m. Thursday, 6:30 p.m. Friday, 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Visit www.olemisssports.com.

Conference: “How to Develop a Small Business Plan.” Small Business Development Center, Oxford campus, 1-2:30 p.m. Call 662-9155001 or visit www.events.olemiss.edu. 18 Alumni Review

Conference: “Introduction to Exporting.” Small Business Development Center, Oxford campus, 1-2:30 p.m. Call 662-915-5001 or visit www.events.olemiss.edu. Club Season: New Orleans Ole Miss Club Tennis Tournament. Atkinson-Stern Tennis Center, New Orleans, La., time TBA. Visit www. olemissalumni.com/events or call 662915-7375.

Seventh Annual Mississippi Picnic in the Park: Atlanta. Chastain Park, 10:30 a.m. Call 662-915-7375 or visit www.olemissalumni.com/events. 36th Annual Mississippi Picnic in the Park: New York. Central Park, noon-6 p.m. Call 662-915-7375 or visit www.olemissalumni.com/events.

-21 Mississippi Pharmacists Association Convention: The UM School of Pharmacy will host a reception for alumni and friends in conjunction with the MPhA convention. Grand Sandestin in Destin, Fla. Date and time TBA. Call 662-9151878.

JUNE

Club Season: St. Louis Ole Miss Club Picnic. Clayton Shaw Park, St. Louis, Mo., noon-3 p.m. Visit www.olemissalumni.com/events or call 662-915-7375.

Performance: “Chuggington Live! The Great Rescue Adventure.” Gertrude C. Ford Center, 6:30 p.m. Call 662915-2787 or visit www.fordcenter.org.

25th Annual Mississippi on the Mall: Washington, D.C., National Mall, time TBA. Call 662915-7375 or visit www.olemissalumni. com/events.

-28 LOU Ole Miss Club Golf Tournament: Cannon Motors Two Man Scramble benefiting the LOU Ole Miss Club Scholarship Endowment. Ole Miss Golf Course, time TBA. Call 662-915-7375 or visit www.olemissalumni.com/events.

JULY

Lamar Order Dinner: Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar in Destin, Fla., 7:45 p.m. Call 662-9151878.

Law Luncheon: UM Law Alumni Luncheon at the annual meeting of the Mississippi Bar, Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa, 12:15 p.m. Call 662-915-1878.

Rebel Road Trip: Memphis Ole Miss Club. Location TBA, 5:307:30 p.m. Visit www.olemissalumni. com/events or call 662-915-7375.

Rebel Road Trip: Jackson Ole Miss Club. Location TBA, 5:307:30 p.m. Visit www.olemissalumni. com/events or call 662-915-7375. -23 Faulkner & Yoknapatawpha Conference: “Faulkner and Print Culture.” Visit www.outreach.olemiss.edu/ events/faulkner.

AUGUST

M-Club Reunion: Time and location TBA. Visit www.olemissalumni. com/events or call 662-915-7375.

-8 M-Club Summer Weekend: Various times and locations. Call 662-915-7375.

Fall classes begin.

Annual Denver SEC Picnic: Mamie D. Eisenhower Park, Denver, Colo., time TBA. Call 662915-7375 or visit www.olemissalumni. com/events. Pharmacy Reception: Pharmacy Alumni and Friends Reception at Mississippi Society of Health-System Pharmacists Annual Meeting, Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino in Biloxi, 6-7 p.m. Call 662-915-1878. For a complete and latest listing of Ole Miss sports schedules, visit www.olemisssports.com.

For more Oxford events, news and information, visit www.visitoxfordms.com or call 662-232-2477.

LOU Ole Miss Club Golf Tournament JUNE 27-28

Spring 2015 19

Sharyn Alfonsi (middle) on assignment with the U.S. men’s World Cup soccer team in Germany

Photos courtesy of ‘60 Minutes Sports’ on Showtime

20 Alumni Review

(BA 94) isn’t one to get rattled or star-struck, but hearing the voice of her childhood TV star crush outside the hair and makeup room as she prepared to guest anchor “Good Morning America” had just that effect. “I heard a voice I knew I recognized, and it was Kirk Cameron,” she says. “I loved Kirk Cameron growing up. I had rollers in my hair, and I was like, ‘Get these rollers out, I have to see Kirk Cameron!’ I was so goofy and excited to meet him.” Now a lead correspondent for CBS’ “60 Minutes Sports,” Alfonsi has enjoyed a busy journalism career, traveling the world and tackling assignments with a mixture of seriousness and humor, awe and toughness, humility and confidence. Friend and colleague Mike Solmsen, senior producer for “CBS Evening News,” was impressed with Alfonsi’s talent and wit from the first time he met her in 2003. “She’s kind of a ball to work with,” Solmsen says. “She’s not happy unless she’s getting dirty and meeting people. She’s very funny, disarming and always the first with a joke. Sharyn’s also a great writer and willing to do anything it takes to get the job done. There aren’t many reporters who are totally at ease living out of an RV, riding a tractor, covering a war in Israel, interviewing Martha Stewart, Willie Nelson or Bill Clinton. She’s at ease in all those places and with all those people.” A native of McLean, Va., Alfonsi knew from an early age she possessed a knack for stealing the show in front of a camera. “My parents have videotapes from when I was 10 or so

Alfonsi with ‘News Team 12’ co-anchor Wilson Stribling (top) and reporter Jay Nix at the 2014 White House Correspondents Dinner (bottom); on assignment for ‘60 Minutes Sports’ in Hawaii (right)

22 Alumni Review

of me and my brother doing the news,” Alfonsi says. “They’re really embarrassing, but I guess that’s when the seed was planted. As a kid, appointment viewing in our house was football and ‘60 Minutes,’ so I always watched ‘60 Minutes’ from the time I was little.” A natural athlete, Alfonsi graduated from McLean High School in 1990 with her sights set on Ole Miss’ track-and-field program. She enrolled the following fall with an interest in studying journalism. “The first time I visited Ole Miss, I knew that’s where I was going,” Alfonsi says. “I wanted to go to school in the SEC and was visiting other schools for athletics. Ole Miss was just kind of along the way, and so we stopped in and thought, ‘Hey, this is nice.’ I ran track for four years and did gymnastics through the club program as well.” A member of Delta Gamma Fraternity and a James Love scholar, Alfonsi enjoyed football games and tailgating. But perhaps the most memorable and formative time she spent at the university was in Farley Hall’s Student Media Center. “I worked at the college station at the time called ‘News Team 12,’” Alfonsi says. “I auditioned when I was a freshman and was a horrendous weather girl for a couple of years. Then they let me anchor the news, run the teleprompter and kind of do a little bit of everything.” Alfonsi is best remembered by her former co-anchor for her incredible sense of humor. “First of all, she was special,” says Wilson Stribling (BBA 94), morning news anchor and reporter at WLBT in Jackson. “When I first got to know her, we were summer school students at Ole Miss. She was a mainstay at the station already, and we got to be good friends. She was funny, bright, driven and had all of those characteristics of somebody you feel is going to be successful. She was so much fun to be around.”

Alfonsi’s experience both behind and in front of the camera at “News Team 12” laid the groundwork for a thriving journalism career that continues to evolve, but her path to “60 Minutes” was met with the typical rigors and daily grind most aspiring reporters experience. “The way it used to work is you would send out resumé tapes with a label on it that had your name and contact information to news stations,” Alfonsi says. “Most people would just put it in a pile or reject it, but some news directors would send back notes. “Some would say you have too much of a Southern accent or you really need to cut your hair – you heard it all. One person actually said I looked too equine. People are rough on you and think you’re bulletproof. They forget that there’s a person inside, but the result is you get really tough. It’s so hard at first and takes a lot of hours making no money. But you kind of see what you’re made of and if you’re into it.”

Alfonsi landed her first job out of college in 1994 at affiliate station KHBS-TV in Fort Smith, Ark., serving as a weekday reporter and weekend weather forecaster. After a brief stint in Arkansas, she spent the next several

Alfonsi with Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins defenseman

years building her resumé, working for local markets in Rhode Island, Virginia, Seattle and Boston, covering career-defining stories such as the Catholic Church sex-abuse scandal, Michael Skakel trial, Rhode Island nightclub fire and World Trade Organization riots. Soon Alfonsi got the break she had been looking for with CBS Network – laying the foundation for an extensive career in network broadcast journalism. “I worked for affiliate ‘CBS Newspath’ doing 150 live shots a day for people at all the different CBS stations,” Alfonsi says. “After ‘Newspath,’ I got hired to do the weekend ‘CBS Evening News’ as a reporter under Dan Rather. I remember the first time I sat behind the ‘CBS Evening News’ desk, which is Walter Cronkite’s desk. The music came on that plays in the beginning of the newscast, and I got chill bumps. That’s when it hit me that I was going to anchor the news. It was a great moment.” Alfonsi stayed with CBS for several years, covering numerous national stories during her time as a correspondent including the school shootings at Virginia Tech and the war in Iraq. In 2006, she reported from the Israel-Lebanon border covering the war with Hezbollah and, later, the violence in Gaza. She served as substitute anchor for the “CBS Evening News” weekend edition and appeared regularly on “CBS News Sunday Morning.” Alfonsi left CBS to join ABC News in 2008 as a New Yorkbased correspondent for “World News Tonight,” “Nightline” and “Good Morning America.” Then CBS came calling. Again.

Alfonsi with extreme athlete Matthias Giraud in Megeve, France

Photo courtesy of ‘60 Minutes Sports’ on Showtime

Spring 2015 23

“CBS was starting this ‘60 Minutes Sports’ show and asked if I wanted to come back to do it,” Alfonsi says. “I couldn’t say yes fast enough. I started doing ‘60 Minutes Sports’ in 2012, and that’s turned into kind of filling in and anchoring across the street whenever they need me.” On March 1, 2015, Alfonsi reached yet another careerdefining moment, making her debut on CBS’ “60 Minutes” with an investigative story about fraud after Hurricane Sandy. “Being on ‘60 Minutes’ was a dream that I couldn’t even say out loud, so that was pretty amazing for me,” Alfonsi says. “I got so sick the week before that I had to get a steroid shot just so I could speak. It was three days before the story was supposed to air, and I had no voice. I thought, ‘Well, God has a sense of humor.’ “That was a dream, and I loved the story because it was about fraud and corruption. We were able to give a voice to a lot of people who had been quietly and not so quietly suffering. That’s why you work late and get up early – because there are stories that need to be told.” Former co-anchor Stribling couldn’t be happier to see his friend’s career grow over the years. “It didn’t surprise me when she went on to do big TV jobs, hopscotching her way across the country,” Stribling says. “I was thrilled

when she ended up at CBS the first time around and then at ABC, and now to be on ‘60 Minutes’ is, of course, the pinnacle of journalism. It’s a thrill to see her doing that and to tell people in my newsroom when she pops up on the TV monitor that the first time I was ever on TV was right next to her.”

While Alfonsi’s assignments have led her around the world covering international news, she hasn’t forgotten the impact that small-town Oxford and Ole Miss had on her career. “There’s no way I would be where I am today without Ole Miss,” Alfonsi says. “The school gave me a platform to figure it out enough to get my first job. That campus TV station that we thought no one was watching turned out to be pretty good practice for four years. I truly believe that Ole Miss has one of the best journalism (schools) in the country. There was always plenty of opportunity.” On May 11, 2013, Alfonsi returned to Oxford to give the commencement address for the Meek School of Journalism and New Media, securing a National Public Radio nod as one of “The Best Commencement Speeches, Ever.” “When I was asked to speak, I literally thought, ‘You must be kidding,’” Alfonsi says. “It was so fun and just great to be back in Oxford. Some of the graduates I spoke to have kept in touch, and that’s really cool.” Alfonsi credits two UM professors in particular for having a hand in developing her into the journalist she is today. “Dr. Jim Pratt, who has passed away, was always a

In her first story for CBS’ ‘60 Minutes,’ Alfonsi investigates claims by Hurricane Sandy victims that insurance companies were altering engineers’ reports about the damage done to their homes to deny or lessen their compensation.

Photo courtesy of ‘60 Minutes’ on CBS

24 Alumni Review

Photo by Nathan Latil

Alfonsi delivers the 2013 commencement address for the Meek School of Journalism and New Media.

big cheerleader along with Ralph Braseth (MA 92, EdD 96), who was a journalism professor,” Alfonsi says. “The night of my ‘60 Minutes’ debut, I got an email from [Braseth] that almost made me cry. He told me he was proud of me, and out of everybody I heard from, he was the one I wanted to impress. He was great and always encouraged us to try things.”

While the demanding, ever-changing schedule that comes along with being a news reporter can be challenging, and sleepfilled nights are few and far between, Alfonsi wouldn’t have it any other way. “I love not being in an office,” Alfonsi says. “Being out and talking to people are the same things that drew me to the job from the first day. It’s a blast. I’ve gone places I never thought I would go and get access to things I never should have access to. In this job, you can ask people questions without generally offending anybody, and that’s kind of amazing.” In an industry historically dominated by men, Alfonsi knows she wouldn’t be where she is today without several successful women forging the way. The halls of “60 Minutes” have seen the likes of broadcast journalists Meredith Vieira, Diane Sawyer and Lesley Stahl, to name a few. “I have very distinct memories of watching Meredith Vieira when I was young, who was one of the few women to be on ‘60 Minutes,’” Alfonsi says. “I remember her doing an interview with [hotelier] Steve Wynn, where she asked him a question, and he flips out, pulls the mic off and walks out. I remember thinking, ‘Whoa, that’s the power of a really good question.’ I watched her and Diane Sawyer and admired them, but I didn’t have the confidence to ever think that I could do those things. But I knew I’d like to try.” AR

Alfonsi interviews one of the winningest college coaches in U.S. history, Harvard crew coach Harry Parker.

Photo courtesy of ‘60 Minutes Sports’ on Showtime

Spring 2015 25

GROWING Numerous construction projects aim to improve campus

Photos by Robert Jordan and Kevin Bain

26 Alumni Review

GAINS BAR KS

By Christina Steube

EH AL ON O

LE G RS COL E

he University of Mississippiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main campus is constantly improving and growing to accommodate the needs of its increasing student population. On the heels of a year filled with record enrollment numbers, national recognition for academic programs and excellence in athletics, the university is setting the pace for continued growth and achievements. Over the next few years, several construction projects are slated to enhance student life and transform the campus into a thriving epicenter that echoes its traditional Southern charm.

C OU LTE

R LL HA

ING

SE A

W ST

H RC

TURAL PRODUCTS / NA RE

MUSIC HA

PAR KIN G

PAVILION GE / RA Spring 2015 27

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Coulter Hall Additions and Renovations

National Center for Natural Products Research Phase II

Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College Renovation

Renovations to Coulter Hall began in 2013, and the four-story east addition includes research laboratory space and support offices. The single-story north addition added a 200-seat auditorium, lobby and food-service installation. Two existing laboratories are being renovated and will serve as teaching labs. Construction is estimated to be completed in May 2015.

The 96,000-square-foot building expansion includes a facility for clinical trials, an expanded botanical specimen repository and laboratories for expanding efforts to discover natural products. The project, funded by several federal grants, began in October 2012 and is virtually complete, pending a few minor items.

Renovations on the Honors College began in March 2014. The 15,695-square-foot addition will add classrooms, study nooks, administrative offices, a conference room and lounge area. The addition is expected to open by December 2015, with existing facilities to be renovated after the addition is complete.

28 Alumni Review

Music Hall West Wing Renovation The west wing of the music building is undergoing a complete renovation, which includes a new porch for receptions and events, new facades, new entrance, a renovation of mechanical systems in the west and south wings and minor HVAC modifications in Nutt Auditorium. Construction is expected to be finished by May 2015.

Parking Garage

The Pavilion at Ole Miss

The university broke ground in 2013 on a five-story, 829-spot parking garage next to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. With construction ongoing, parking spot reservations are available for faculty and staff on a first-come, first-served basis at a cost of $500 annually.

Construction of the much anticipated multipurpose arena is well underway and is expected to be completed for SEC basketball play at the beginning of 2016. The new arena will include seating for 9,500 fans, a student concourse, courtside seating and 1,500 premium seats.

Spring 2015 29

Residence Hall 1

Alpha Delta Pi House

Residence Halls 2 & 3

The new four-story student housing building on Northgate Drive, between Crosby Hall and Northgate Apartments, will look much like Burns Hall. The residence hall will accommodate 304 beds and should be ready for occupancy by August 2015.

Alpha Delta Pi broke ground in September 2014 on a new sorority house on Rebel Drive. The chapter returned to campus in 2013, and this is the first new sorority house built on campus since the 1970s. The 18,790-square-foot house is expected to be completed by August 2015.

Housing is steadily growing along with enrollment. At the former site of Guess Hall on Rebel Drive, the university is building two new five-story residence halls to house 624 students. Both buildings have an estimated opening date of August 2016.

30 Alumni Review

CHANGE ON THE HORIZON

Manning Center Practice Fields The Manning Center practice fields will receive minor renovations in the coming months, including new lights and touchups around the area.

Fraternity Drive/ Rebel Drive Connection The area where Rebel Drive meets Fraternity Row will soon change with a new road addition extending Rebel Drive to Fraternity Row behind Guyton Hall. The street in front of Guyton, now part of Rebel Drive, will be renamed Guyton Place. The project is expected to begin during the spring 2015 semester with a completion date of August 2015.

Storm Water Corrections Correction to the underground stormwater collection system on Hill Drive near the track facility will begin after May 2015 Commencement. Problems with the underground drainage system have created issues at the track facility, causing the entire drainage system in the area to be replaced by August 2015.

Vaught-Hemingway South End Zone An expansion of the south end zone is underway, adding 30 luxury suites and 770 club-level seats. With work expected to be finalized by the beginning of the 2015 football season, public areas will receive new paint and carpet. The west skyboxes are undergoing interior renovations to improve safety and comfort by replacing existing seats in each of the 48 suites along with new exterior sliding windows, ceilings and furniture.

Track Facility Restoration Once storm-drainage corrections near the track facility are done, the track will get a brand new surface with stands and existing infrastructure remaining. The project is expected to begin in September 2015 and be completed by March 2016.

Student Union Expansion During summer 2015, the university will begin a four-year, $50 million renovation of the Ole Miss Student Union. The renovation and expansion is set to

include a larger dining area, new student government offices and a ballroom and conference space. The expansion will increase the buildingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s size from 97,000 square feet to 157,000 square feet and will encompass the loading dock area and parking lot. The existing food court will remain open during expansion. Once that portion is completed in about two years, a new food court will open and the existing one will close. Student Union Drive will remain open during the project, though at times it may be reduced to one lane. The entire project is expected to be finished by May 2019.

University Avenue Bridge The University Avenue bridge near Old Taylor Road will undergo renovation in summer 2015 to increase its load capacity. The bridge will remain passable and open to pedestrian traffic with some lanes periodically closing to vehicular traffic throughout construction. Work is expected to be accomplished by August 2015.

Kennon Observatory Bus Stop The bus stop area near Kennon Observatory will be renovated to better handle bus transportation. With an estimated completion date of August 2015, the renovations will accommodate growth in the transit system and provide a central campus location for drop-offs and pickups.

Croft Institute Renovation Following May 2015 Commencement, the Croft Institute for International Studies will undergo exterior renovations to its brick facades. The work is expected to be completed by October 2015.

Spring 2015 31

BRIGHT FUTURE

Facilities Management Department West Addition

Johnson Commons East Renovation

Garland, Hedleston and Mayes Renovation

In efforts to keep up with a growing campus, Facilities Management (formerly known as Physical Plant) is adding space for its growing staff. A new 5,000-square-foot building will be added to the existing administration building and will include additional office and departmental space for the Department of Facilities Planning. Beginning in August 2015, the project is expected to be completed by May 2016.

The Johnson Commons East building will receive a full exterior and interior renovation with the upper floor continuing to serve as banquet and large meeting spaces. The lower floor, formerly Human Resources, will be renovated to house the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. Construction is anticipated to begin in spring 2016 and be completed by spring 2017.

Garland, Hedleston and Mayes halls, built in 1938 as menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dormitories, currently sit empty in the west-central part of campus. The neo-Georgian buildings are strong examples of their architectural style, but housing needs have changed, and their low floor-to-floor heights and tight structural bay sizes make them unsuitable for modern needs. Although not viable for housing, they remain appropriate for academic or administrative use. While the interiors have deteriorated, they remain structurally sound. The project will completely replace the mechanical, electrical, fire protection and plumbing systems and reconfigure the space to support the needs of the School of Applied Sciences.

Jackson Avenue Center Phase II Renovations Renovation of around 41,500 square feet of the 95,000-square-foot Jackson Avenue Center is set to begin in September 2015. The project will focus on the remaining area of the building that was not renovated in 2012. With an estimated completion date of May 2016, renovations will provide a new location for the University Testing Center, multipurpose rooms, office space and support spaces. New HVAC, plumbing and electrical systems, and restrooms will be provided.

Vaught-Hemingway North Addition The north end zone will look completely different by the start of the 2016 football season. Construction will begin in December 2015, with the entire section being bowled in with a brick facade. A new scoreboard, measuring 109 feet wide by 49 feet tall, will be installed, along with two smaller scoreboards, measuring 30 feet by 50 feet each, in the south end zone. The addition will increase stadium capacity by around 5,500 seats.

32 Alumni Review

South Campus Recreation Facility To accommodate a growing student body, Campus Recreation plans to build a new facility. Located near Whirlpool Trails, the South Campus Recreation Facility will involve renovating the former Whirlpool factory building to house about 100,000 square feet of recreation space unique to Ole Miss. This area will also include a transportation hub and parking services.

Gillom Center Expansion In the planning stages, this project will eventually yield an expanded Gillom Sports Center Complex.

New Science Building In 2014, Ole Miss received a $20 million lead gift from the Gertrude C. Ford Foundation for a new science building. Construction is expected to begin in early 2016 on the $100 million building along Science Row between University Avenue and All American Drive. Set to be completed by August 2018, the building will include about 200,000 square feet for research and education.

Chucky Mullins Drive Roundabout Construction will begin on a roundabout to improve traffic flow on Chucky Mullins Drive in May 2016. It is expected to be done by August 2016.

OTHER PROJECTS The University Museum is working on repairs to Rowan Oak and the Walton-Young House. Rowan Oak will be repainted in areas while undergoing exterior repairs. The Walton-Young House will also be repainted. Roofs are set to be replaced on both the National Center for Physical Acoustics and the Turner Center, and the ventilation system will be renovated in Meek Hall. All these projects are underway.

Only YOU can help us grow higher! Alumni Association membership has reached an all-time high. Plant the seeds for future growth by renewing your membership and encouraging your classmates, neighbors and friends to remain active. Membership is open to graduates and non-graduates.

olemissalumni.com/join

Ole Miss grad manages careers in both art and medicine By Tom Speed Photos by Jay Ferchaud . Kim Sessums (MD 84) was sitting in the Jackson home of Eudora Welty, putting the final touches on a bust of the famed writer. “How do you have time to be a doctor and a sculptor at the same time?” Welty asked in her pronounced Southern drawl. “Ms. Welty,” replied Sessums, “I kept your bust in my break room at my clinic.” He explained that he would work on his art between seeing patients, chipping away with every moment of free time he could garner. The exchange underscores a lifetime balancing act between pursuing a creative life that needed constant nurturing and a professional career as a physician. Sessums has engaged in artistic endeavors since a young age, and he has never quit, not even through the trying times of medical school and starting his own practice as a young doctor. Today, he’s successful as both a small-town obstetrician/gynecologist and a renowned sculptor. As an OB/GYN and artist, he might be delivering a baby one day and unveiling a new work of art the next.

34 Alumni Review

(Above) Dr. Kim Sessums poses with a plaster cast of his Eudora Welty sculpture. (Opposite page) He stands between two of his works. In the foreground is ‘Pentecost,’ featuring a human form framed by an arched structure that suggests wind or spirit. Behind him is a tribute to the parents he lost as a young boy, with elements that include a twisted ironing board and newspaper stories about his father.

He has been tapped to produce works from life for not only Eudora Welty and evangelist Billy Graham but also for military parks in Vicksburg and Shiloh. But perhaps most notably to Rebel fans, Sessums created the sculpture of legendary Ole Miss coach Johnny Vaught that sits outside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

A Gravel Road

Whether by genetic predisposition or necessity borne of tragic circumstances, Sessums grew up in a creative household. His older brother is an accomplished magazine editor and author, while his younger sister is a graphic artist and musician. As children, they would constantly devise their own entertainment, often sharing their endeavors with neighbors and family members. Sessums was only 5 years old when his father was killed in an automobile accident. Just 15 months later, his mother succumbed to cancer. The three orphans were sent to live with their maternal grandparents, on a gravel road on the outskirts of Forest. “We didn’t know we were living at the poverty level,” Sessums says. “We didn’t have a lot of opportunities for entertainment other than what we would generate for ourselves. Looking back, this wasn’t intentional. Nobody said y’all go out and be creative. But it is interesting that these three kids from this tragic family ended up being artists in their own right.” In high school, Sessums showed his creative streak, enjoying drawing and painting. His teachers picked up on it, but they warned him away from a career in the arts, suggesting instead he pursue architecture. After trying that for one semester, Sessums realized it wasn’t his path and instead accepted a basketball scholarship to attend Belhaven University in Jackson. Even then, he pursued art as a sideline, though it wasn’t part of his major field of study. He befriended the head of the art department to engage in what he called “personal study.” “He was more of an influence in the concept of composition,” Sessums says. “He didn’t teach me how to draw or paint or anything. It was more about what I was doing and what the compositions were about. It was very helpful.” To make ends meet, Sessums took a part-time job as a scrub technician in a local hospital, assisting physicians in the operating room. Sessums finds a few moments in his clinic office to resume working on a portrait commissioned by one of his colleagues. 36 Alumni Review

“I was doing well in the science classes,” he says. “My biology professor said I should consider medicine. The more I worked around the medical field, the more I thought I could do this.” In 1980, he graduated from Belhaven with a biology degree and was accepted to the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

Spare Time

Sessums’ job as a scrub tech helped to cultivate his interest in medicine, but it would be a couple of years until his experience paid off. “The first two years were all academic, so it didn’t help there,” he says. “But the third year, it came in handy. The surgical arena just felt more natural. I didn’t have that intimidation factor.” During medical school, he worked out how to fit in art. “I would work in smaller sections of time, realizing that those small sections of time would build up.” On the medical side, Sessums wanted to work closely with patients and found that obstetrics met that objective.

Sessums started from scratch with his rendition of Coach Johnny Vaught, studying photographs and using live models to see how the clothes would have looked from all angles. The statue was dedicated in 2008.

“I like the atmosphere in obstetrics, the interpersonal contact with the patients,” Sessums says. “It’s an ongoing relationship as you see the patients over and over.” He graduated medical school in 1984 before furthering his specialty training at Tulane in New Orleans for two years, then another two years at UMMC in Jackson. In 1988, he and Steve Mills (MD 84) started a private medical practice in Brookhaven. There were no practicing obstetricians in the town at the time, and the hospital was actively recruiting young talent. Meanwhile, he pursued his artistic activities in his spare time, setting up a backyard studio where he could draw and paint. By the mid-1990s, he began translating his art into three-dimensional works. “I’d been doing three-dimensional drawings on a flat plane,” Sessums says. “Then a friend of mine who is a sculptor said, ‘I think you’re really a sculptor hiding behind the drawings.’” By 1996, he completed a portrait sculpture of American artist Andrew Wyeth, using the subject as a live model rather than relying on photographs or other inspiration. Through the friendship that resulted, he created and curated a museum exhibition of Wyeth’s work that traveled throughout the South. Then he was introduced to influential people in the art and museum worlds. Soon the commissions were coming in fast, and his art career was taking off. In 1997, Sessums sculpted the bust of Welty. The following year, he was called on to do the same for evangelist Graham. Despite this success, he strived to learn more, constantly yearning to advance his craft. “I knew I was at a point where to do really big human figure pieces, I needed a little more experience with somebody who knew more about armature building, developing tissue planes and things like that,” Sessums says. Sessums applied for and was accepted to a workshop held by sculptor Richard MacDonald in Carmel, Calif. “I got out there, and there were only 12 people there,” Sessums says. “They all had their own galleries or were represented by galleries all around the country. They were all professional artists. I was just an old gynecologist who happened to get into this on the side.” He was later commissioned to put his newfound skills to work, sculpting a monument for the Vicksburg National Military Park that was dedicated in 2004 and gained national recognition. His art was progressing as fast as his profile, but he had a problem at home. As he became better known as an artist,

Photo by Robert Jordan

his patients assumed the cessation of his medical practice was imminent. It was time to rebalance. “I think my practice slowed down a good bit because I think people thought I was about to quit and just do art,” he says. “I loved art, but I loved my medical practice as well. So I had to kind of take a lower profile and make people realize I was not going out, that I was still practicing. Gradually, the practice built back up. I didn’t quit doing art. I just had to be a little more quiet about it.”

Coach Vaught

As he moved more into full human figure sculptures, Sessums had his eye on one potential subject — former Ole Miss coach Johnny Vaught. At Ole Miss games, Sessums would sit in his father-in-law’s press box suite and occasionally run into Vaught. Noticing Vaught’s advancing age, he suggested to then-Chancellor Robert Khayat (BAEd 61, JD 66) that Vaught should model for a Spring 2015 37

The mixed media art above is Sessums’ ‘Portrait of a Portrait of Eudora,’ his second portrait of Eudora Welty, which he says pays tribute to her gift of photography.

sculpture while he was still alive. But the suggestion didn’t gain much traction at the time. Meanwhile, other factions were moving toward a Vaught statue as well, including the M-Club and a group of fans led by Oxford banker Gant Boone (BBA 09). Boone, an Ole Miss junior at the time, and his roommate Brady Lance (BSES 08, MSES 10) gathered donations for a monument to Vaught. “The statue was the only thing that ever really came into the picture for us,” Boone says. “We had raised a little over $30,000 for it, and the M-Club took that and finished out the donations.” Soon the groups joined forces, and with the help of Warner Alford (BBA 60, MA 66), executive director of the Alumni Association at the time, a statue was commissioned. Ronald Bartlett, UM professor emeritus of modern languages, was tapped to be the sculptor. Bartlett had made some initial sketches and plans, but, in failing health, he bowed out of the task and chose Sessums for his replacement. Sessums started from scratch with his rendition, studying photographs and using live models to see how the clothes would have looked from all angles. “I had to get guys that were the right size to model to see how the clothes hung because you couldn’t see it from all directions,” Sessums says. “The light in the face just comes from looking at multiple images throughout that era in his life. That pose is a classic pose of his. He’s got his fedora on, his tie and a football in his hand.” The statue was dedicated in 2008 and remains a focal point for fans coming and going from the stadium. 38 Alumni Review

“[Sessums] did a great job,” says Boone, who, along with former UM sports information director Langston Rogers, was part of the group that provided the sculptor with the materials and feedback needed to begin. “He nailed it,” Rogers says. “I was very impressed with the work.” While Sessums still maintains his work as a sculptor — he’s currently working on bronze works for Shiloh National Military Park and Delta State University — his artistic curiosity continues to push him in new directions. Lately, he’s taken to creating abstract art in mixed media. “I got interested in trying to communicate narrative stories without the piece being a literal narrative piece,” he says. Sessums often uses found objects to create works that are open to interpretation. “The challenge,” he says, “is to find out ways to make good design and good art that is engaging for people who look at it, even if they don’t like abstract art, but who come up with their own ideas about what the piece is about.” Sessums continues to balance his two careers. He often takes what he calls his “ambulatory studio” with him to the hospital, so he can work on his art while waiting to see patients. He figures the balancing act will end at some point, but he’ll never quit being an artist. “I don’t think I can do medicine until the day I die,” he says. “But I’m sure I’ll be out putzing around in the studio as long as I’m here. I just love doing it.” AR

Sports

Football Awards MIKE HILTON RECEIVES 2015 CHUCKY MULLINS COURAGE AWARD

Photo by Joshua McCoy

he University of Mississippi handed out its annual spring football awards on April 11, headlined by naming senior defensive back Mike Hilton the 2015 Chucky Mullins Courage Award winner. A native of Fayetteville, Ga., Hilton became the 25th recipient in the 26-year history of the award. His name was announced at the breakfast ceremony, presented by the M-Club, prior to the Regions Bank Grove Bowl. Hilton will wear Mullins’ No. 38 jersey throughout the 2015 season. The award, sponsored by Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, honors the late Chucky Mullins, whose Ole Miss career came to an end during the 1989 Homecoming game against Vanderbilt when he was paralyzed after making a tackle. After returning to his studies at Ole Miss, Mullins died on May 6, 1991. Hilton was selected from among several veteran defensive players by Head Coach Hugh Freeze and the Rebels’ coaching staff. The award is presented annually to an Ole Miss upperclassman and defensive player who embodies the spirit of Mullins — courage, leadership, perseverance and determination. “This is the highest honor you can receive as an Ole Miss football player,” Freeze says. “We had so many deserving candidates, and it was a very difficult choice, but it’s our honor to recognize Mike Hilton as this year’s winner.” In his three-year career as a Rebel, Hilton has started at least one game at every defensive backfield position. “I’m thankful for the coaches for giving me the opportunity to do what I do, on the field and off the field,” Hilton says. “I’m trying to live up to what [Mullins] has done. I want to be the best I can in memory of him.” The Rebels’ coaching staff handed out a number of other awards during the Regions Bank Grove Bowl festivities including the: •E li Manning Award – Jordan Sims • J eff Hamm Memorial Award – C.J. Hampton • J . Richard Price Courage and Compassion Award – Fadol Brown • J ohn Howard Vaught Award of Excellence – Cody Prewitt •B irmingham Alumni Club’s annual Leadership Award – Bo Wallace •C lower-Walters Scholarship – Senquez Golson •P ark Stevens Memorial Scholarship – Tayler Polk AR Mike Hilton

40 Alumni Review

National Letter of Intent Signed CECILIA MUHATE PEÑA WILL JOIN OLE MISS FOR 2015-16 SEASON She joins rising junior Shequila Joseph (London, England) as Ole Miss players with international experience and backgrounds. AR Photo courtesy of Ole Miss Athletics

he Ole Miss women’s basketball team added international flavor to the group when Head Coach Matt Insell announced the signing of Spaniard Cecilia Muhate Peña to a National Letter of Intent during the spring signing period. Muhate Peña joins Victoria “Torri” Lewis (Olive Branch), Madinah Muhammad (Chicago, Ill.) and Jonell Williams (Palatka, Fla.) as players who will suit up for Ole Miss in 2015-16. “It’s always a great day to be an Ole Miss Rebel, and it is even better when you add a new member to Rebel Nation like Cecilia,” Insell says. “Cecilia, who goes by Ceci, is considered one of the top forwards in Europe. I am thrilled to be able to welcome a player to our program with such a high level of international experience.” Peña is a four-star international prospect from Madrid. She was a member of Spain’s under-17 national team and a member of the team that came two points shy of knocking off the USA in the gold medal game at the 2014 FIBA (Fédération Internationale de Basketball) U17 World Championships last summer. “Cecilia is a very versatile athlete who, with her size, can play either forward position in our system,” Insell says. “On top of her being a great basketball player, she is an even better student and person, and I know she will represent Rebel Nation very well.”

Cecilia Muhate Peña

DEAL FOR ROSS BJORK RUNS THROUGH 2019

n the past 12 months, Ole Miss was the only Division I university to place a team in the College World Series, a New Year’s Six bowl game and the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Such success calls for rewarding the man in charge of Ole Miss Athletics. The University of Mississippi and Athletics Director Ross Bjork agreed to a contract extension that will keep Bjork at Ole Miss through 2019. Bjork’s base salary will be $650,000 with $100,000 in academic and on-the-field performance incentives. The extension, announced by Chancellor Dan Jones (MD 75), adds a year to Bjork’s contract, reaching the four-year maximum allowed by the state of Mississippi. “I’m pleased to have a renewed commitment to Ole Miss from Ross,” Jones says. “All of us are grateful for his remarkable leadership, not only in athletics but far beyond.” Under Bjork’s direction, Ole Miss has reached new heights in athletics support, with record private donations, an increase in the athletics budget to $92 million for the 2015-16 season and recordbreaking attendance numbers in football, basketball and baseball. “When I was hired in 2012, Sonya and I quickly realized what the Ole Miss family already knew: Ole Miss and Oxford make up a

very special place, the perfect blend of academics, social life and athletics,” Bjork says. “Furthermore, we have been deeply moved by all of the support we have received from the Ole Miss family over the past three years and feel like we’ve been embraced with open arms every step of the way. Sonya and I are extremely humbled by the university’s confidence in athletics leadership by awarding a new contract, and we look forward to hitting our stride as an athletics program.” Ole Miss student-athletes and fans have experienced immediate success in competition under Bjork’s direction. For three consecutive years, the Rebel football team has made a postseason bowl appearance, the Ole Miss baseball team made its first appearance in 42 years at the College World Series in Omaha last season, and Ole Miss men’s basketball claimed the 2013 SEC Tournament Championship and has earned two NCAA Tournament appearances. Other teams to reach postseason play include soccer, men’s and women’s tennis, track and field, and women’s golf. Ole Miss pole vaulter Sam Kendricks claimed back-to-back NCAA national championships in 2013 and 2014. AR Spring 2015 41

Sports Photo by Joshua McCoy

Rebels’ Choice Awards OLE MISS ATHLETICS CELEBRATES OUTSTANDING YEAR

he Ole Miss Athletics Department celebrated one of the most successful years in school history with the fifth annual Rebels’ Choice Awards in March. Five different sports took home multiple awards, a testament to the recent renaissance in Ole Miss athletics, led by the football team, which collected five awards during the ceremony. The semiformal event took place in the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts and honored athletics achievements from the past year. The event, hosted by ESPN’s Holly Rowe, began with a red carpet for student-athletes and athletics department staff before the awards program began. “A night like tonight shows the great personality of this university and being honored for being yourself, showing great character and working hard for your team,” Ole Miss wide receiver Laquon Treadwell says. “It’s a blessing to be at this university and be a part of a night like this.” In all, 19 different honors were handed out to studentathletes. Of the awards, the Ole Miss Student-Athlete Advisory Committee selected 16, while three were selected via fan voting. The Rebels’ Choice awards were started in 2011 as a way for the Ole Miss Athletics Department to celebrate National Student-Athlete Day, which is held each April. The event honors athletic achievements from the past year.

42 Alumni Review

The complete list of Rebels’ Choice awards includes: •M en’s Rookie of the Year: Jalen Miller, Track and Field •W omen’s Rookie of the Year: Lexi Thompson, Volleyball •M en’s Community Service Outreach: Football •W omen’s Community Service Outreach: Women’s Basketball •M en’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Forrest Gamble, Golf, and Jonathan Redding, Track and Field •W omen’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Stani Schiavone, Golf •M en’s Hotty Toddy (Spirit) Award: Scott Weathersby, Baseball •W omen’s Hotty Toddy (Spirit) Award: Lauren Lindsey, Softball •M en’s Coach of the Year: Mike Bianco, Baseball •W omen’s Coach of the Year: Steven McRoberts, Volleyball •M en’s Most Valuable Rebel: Sam Kendricks, Track and Field •W omen’s Most Valuable Rebel: Tia Faleru, Basketball •M en’s Team of the Year: Baseball •W omen’s Team of the Year: Volleyball •B ennie Abram Award: John Ratliff, Football FAN VOTE •P lay of the Year: Jaylen Walton’s 91-yard touchdown run in the win over No. 4 Mississippi State •G ame of the Year: Football’s historic win over No. 1 Alabama •F an Favorites: Gracie Frizzell, Laquon Treadwell AR

FOLLOW us online olemissalumni @olemissalumni Ole Miss Alumni Association olemiss/ole-miss-alumni @olemissalumniassociation

www.olemissalumni.com

arts &

Culture touching on the reality of post-traumatic stress disorder during the Civil War, known then as “nostalgia” or “soldier’s heart.” Jeffrey Stayton (PhD 06) is an instructor of English at the University of Mississippi. He lives in Memphis, Tenn., and has written book reviews for the Missouri Review and award-winning fiction for Carve Magazine, storySouth, Lascaux Review and Burningword Literary Journal.

This Side of the River by Jeffrey Stayton, 240 pages, $24.95 (Hardcover), ISBN: 9781936946389 Southern widows’ disdain for General William Tecumseh Sherman and the Yankees during and after the Civil War is evident through the diaries and letters these women left behind, but a new roman noir looks at what might have been had these wives actually armed themselves and risen up. Award-winning short story writer Jeffrey Stayton released his first novel, This Side of the River, in February 2015, the sesquicentennial of the end of the Civil War. Told from multiple narrators, the gritty tale takes place in Georgia in summer 1865 after the Confederacy has collapsed. A contingent of young Civil War widows who have survived Sherman’s March to the Sea rally around a teenage Texas Ranger named Cat Harvey to travel to Ohio to burn down Sherman’s home. The story explores themes of trauma, revenge and redemption, while also 44 Alumni Review

My Sunshine Away b y M.O. Walsh, 320 pages, $26.95 (Hardcover), ISBN: 9780399169526 My Sunshine Away unfolds in a Baton Rouge, La., neighborhood best known for cookouts on sweltering summer afternoons, cauldrons of spicy crawfish and passionate football fandom. But in summer 1989, when 15-year-old Lindy Simpson — free spirit, track star and belle of the block — is the victim of a horrible crime late one evening near her home, it becomes apparent that this idyllic stretch of Southern suburbia has a dark side too. In My Sunshine Away, Walsh juxtaposes the enchantment of a charmed childhood with the gripping story of a violent crime, unraveling families and consuming adolescent love. M.O. Walsh (MFA 06) is a fiction writer born and raised in Baton Rouge. His work has appeared or is forthcomi n g i n T h e Ne w Yo r k Times, Oxford American, American Short Fiction, Epoch and Greensboro Review. His first book, the short story collection The Prospect of Magic, won the 2009 Tartt First Fiction Award and is now available in hardback and paperback.

Gumbo: a Savor the South Cookbook by Dale Curry, 128 pages, $18 (Cloth), ISBN: 9781469621920 Recalling childhood visits to her grandmother’s house in New Orleans, where she feasted on shrimp and okra gumbo, Dale Curry offers 50 recipes — for gumbos, jambalayas and those little something extras known as lagniappe — that will put Louisiana taste and hospitality on your table. Gumbo calls to mind the diverse culinary traditions of Louisiana that, like gumbo itself, are simmered from elements of the many cultures circulating in the state. Drawing from French, African, Caribbean, Native American, Spanish, Italian and other culinary sources, the Creole and Cajun cooking featured in Gumbo embraces the best of local shellfish, sausages, poultry and game. Recipes include classic and traditional dishes, as well as specialties offered by star chefs Bart Bell, Leah Chase, Emeril Lagasse, Donald Link and Tory McPhail. With Curry’s easy-to-follow instructions at hand, home cooks will be ready to let the good times roll at every meal. Dale Curry (BA 63) served as the New Orleans Times-Picayune food editor for 20 years and is author of New Orleans Home Cooking. She now writes about food for New Orleans Magazine. Information presented in this section is compiled from material provided by the publisher and/or author and does not necessarily represent 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.

INTRODUCING THE 2015

SHIRT

FOR SCHOLARSHIPS

Join us in our 8th year of The Shirt at Ole Miss! Show your Ole Miss pride and support Ole Miss students with a Shirt for every member of your family. One hundred percent of proceeds goes to scholarships for deserving children and grandchildren of alumni.

SUPPORT OLE MISS. BUY THE SHIRT. WEAR THE SHIRT.

BUY ONLINE: WWW.OLEMISSALUMNI.COM/THESHIRT

Now ... TWO great ways to shop for exclusive alumni gifts!

1 2

The Brandt Gift Shop at The Inn at Ole Miss

Our Alumni Shop at olemissalumni.com/shop

HOTTY TODDY!

Spring 2015 45

2015

rebel

raveler T

Stockholm Harbor, Sweden

he Ole Miss Alumni Association is offering a number of spectacular trips for 2015. 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. You also can find the most current and complete listing of trips and prices on the Ole Miss Alumni Association’s website at www. olemissalumni.com/travel. CHANGING THE TIDES OF HISTORY – CRUISING THE BALTIC SEA JUNE 4-13, 2015 Experience the cultural rebirth of the Baltic States, the magnificent imperial riches of St. Petersburg and the spectacular “White Nights” of summer on this remarkable six-country, eight-night Baltic Sea cruise. By special arrangement, enjoy enriching presentations by Lech Wałęsa, former president of Poland, and 46 Alumni Review

Sergei N. Khrushchev, Brown University professor and son of Nikita Khrushchev, former premier of the U.S.S.R. Professor Khrushchev will accompany you aboard the exclusively chartered, five-star M.S. Le Boréal. Cruise from Copenhagen, Denmark, to Stockholm, Sweden, visiting Gdańsk, Poland; Tallin, Estonia; Helsinki, Finland; and Visby, Sweden. Spend two days in St. Petersburg. Norway pre-cruise and Stockholm post-cruise options are available. — From $5,995 ODYSSEY OF ANCIENT AND GLORIOUS CIVILIZATIONS JUNE 15-23, 2015 Cruise from Venice to Athens along the stunning Dalmatian coast on this sevennight itinerary aboard the five-star small ship M.S. Le Lyrial. Visit five countries and up to eight UNESCO World Heritage sites, exploring the cultural influence of the Roman, Greek, Byzantine, Venetian and Slavic civilizations. Explore Split’s Palace of Diocletian; Dubrovnik’s 15th-century walled city;

Kotor’s medieval fortifications and architecture in Montenegro; the remarkable archaeological site of Butrint; Corfu’s Old Town; and the ancient Greek site of Delphi. Enjoy a Coastal Life Forum with local residents, a folk music performance on board and a lecture on the restoration of Dubrovnik. Venice pre-cruise and Athens post-cruise options are available. — From $3,995 CULTURAL TREASURES OF THE BLACK SEA JUNE 19-27, 2015 This unique nine-day travel program showcases the Black Sea’s most intriguing destinations and seldom-visited ports — Istanbul, Safranbolu, Amasya, Odessa and Nessebar. Cruise aboard the exclusively chartered, five-star small ship M.V. Tere Moana, relaunched in 2013 after a multimillion-dollar refurbishment. Discover three countries with more than 26 centuries of culture and history surrounding the Black Sea. Explore the magnificent landmarks of Istanbul, the

sixth-century B.C., Greek-founded town Nessebar and the architectural influence of Safranbolu, all UNESCO World Heritage sites. Descend the dramatic Potemkin Stairs in Odessa. Istanbul pre-cruise and Cappadocia post-cruise options are specially designed and exclusive for affinity travelers. — From $5,495 GREAT JOURNEY THROUGH EUROPE JULY 7-17, 2015 This extraordinary 11-day grand tour of Europe features an incredible combination of river, rail, lake and mountains including five nights aboard one of the deluxe Amadeus fleet vessels. Travel through Switzerland, France, Germany and the Netherlands, cruising the most scenic sections of the Rhine River. Spend two nights each in Zermatt and Lucerne. Ride aboard three legendary railways: the Gornergrat Bahn, for breathtaking views of the Matterhorn; the Glacier Express from Zermatt to Lucerne; and the Pilatus Railway, the world’s steepest cogwheel railway, and enjoy a scenic cruise on Lake Lucerne. This is the trip of a lifetime at an exceptional value. — From $3,995 ALASKA’S GLACIERS AND THE INSIDE PASSAGE JULY 18-25, 2015 Cruise for seven nights from Juneau, Alaska, through pristine waters of the magnificent Inside Passage to Vancouver, British Columbia, aboard the exclusively

Whale watching near Hubbard Glacier, Alaska

chartered, five-star small ship M.S. L’Austral, with spacious, 100 percent ocean-view stateroom and suite accommodations. Discover an up-close perspective of southeastern Alaska’s natural beauty aboard this small ship capable of cruising into areas inaccessible to larger vessels. See untouched coastlines, watch for whales, harbor seals, porpoises, sea lions, sea otters and eagles, and cruise alongside magnificent glaciers. Call at the historic and inviting fishing towns of Sitka, Petersburg and Ketchikan. Fairbanks/Denali National Park pre-cruise and Vancouver post-cruise options are offered. — From $3,995 PASSAGE OF LEWIS AND CLARK – COLUMBIA AND SNAKE RIVERS JULY 18-26, 2015 Experience the Pacific Northwest that captivated intrepid explorers as you cruise the Columbia and Snake rivers aboard the American Empress, the largest and most elegant riverboat west of the Mississippi. Begin with a stay in the “City of Roses,” Portland, Oregon’s hub of culture and epicurean delights, before boarding your riverboat, a veritable floating boutique hotel. Revel in the smalltown charms of the oldest city west of the Rockies, Astoria, and take in magnificent scenery in Stevenson, Washington, home to the renowned Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center. Visit the Bonneville Dam, a monument to human ingenuity,

and watch ever-glorious landscapes glide by as you sail to the Dalles — the end of the Oregon Trail. Follow the footsteps of Lewis and Clark and their legendary Shoshone guide to Sacajawea State Park, the site of the famed explorers’ 1805 campsite. Conclude your voyage in Clarkston, a quaint town nestled at the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater rivers and a gateway to Hells Canyon, North America’s deepest river gorge. — From $3,545 MAGNIFICENT GREAT LAKES AUG. 1-10, 2015 Immerse yourself in the glorious scenery and history of North America’s Great Lakes — the largest freshwater ecosystem in the world — from the plush comfort and refined elegance of the M.S. Saint Laurent. Admire towering, rugged bluffs, untouched deep-green wilderness and historic ports on a tranquil odyssey along the St. Lawrence River and all five majestic Great Lakes. Behold the thunderous power of Niagara Falls from the remarkable perspective of a Hornblower vessel. Encounter the pristine beauty and rich native heritage of Manitoulin Island, the largest freshwater island in the world. Experience the Victorian atmosphere on idyllic Mackinac Island, where horse-drawn carriages trundle past gingerbread-trimmed houses and lovely gardens. From Montreal to Chicago, this 10-day cruise reveals North America’s most treasured waterways and landscapes like you’ve never seen them before. — From $4,199 SCOTLAND AUG. 5-13, 2015 Walk in the footsteps of William Wallace, and leave your footprints along the “bonnie banks of Loch Lomond” as you journey through Scotland’s legendary landscape, forever a scenic stage for epic adventure. Discover the best of Scotland’s Celtic, Norse and Norman cultures, and enjoy British afternoon tea, festive Highland dancers, bagpipe playing and a traditional haggis ceremony. Visit the magnificent Stirling Castle and National Wallace Monument. Roam the medieval and Georgian architecture Spring 2015 47

2015 rebel

Traveler Two-night St. Petersburg pre-cruise and two-night Moscow post-cruise options are available. — From $4,995

Bar Harbor, Maine

of Edinburgh, then tour Scone Palace, where kings were crowned. Experience one of the world’s most spectacular and moving shows: the stirring performance of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo at Edinburgh Castle at nightfall. Explore St. Andrews, cruise along Loch Katrine on a restored steamer, and learn the secrets of Scotland’s whiskey artistry at its oldest distillery. This Alumni Campus Abroad program includes firstclass accommodations, an extensive meal plan, all excursions, informative educational programs and ample time for independent exploration. — From $2,995 COASTAL MAINE & NEW BRUNSWICK AUG. 26-SEPT. 2, 2015 Discover the rustic glamour of Bar Harbor, Campobello Island and St. Andrews-by-the-Sea. In Bar Harbor, Maine, visit Acadia National Park and the Abbe Museum, a Smithsonian affiliate dedicated to the culture and history of the Wabanaki nations. Board a traditional lobster boat, and learn about Maine’s lobster industry. Journey to Quoddy Head State Park, the easternmost point in the United States, then discover the history and stunning landscapes of Campobello Island, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “beloved island,” and see his 34-room cottage. Delight in 48 Alumni Review

a whale-watching cruise on the Bay of Fundy. Experience the French influences of St. Croix Island, and learn about the history of St. Andrews-by-the-Sea during a tour of its important landmarks. Enjoy first-class accommodations in Bar Harbor and St. Andrews-by-the-Sea and an exclusive experience staying in authentic turn-of-the-century cottages on Campobello Island. This program also includes excursions, educational programs to provide unique insight into the regions and an extensive meal plan featuring wine at dinner. — From $3,695 WATERWAYS OF RUSSIA – ST. PETERSBURG TO MOSCOW AUG. 27-SEPT. 6, 2015 Join us for nine nights aboard the exclusively chartered, deluxe M.S. Volga Dream, one of the premier ships cruising Russia’s waterways. 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 legendary open-air museum of Kizhi Island, the 14th-century KirilloBelozersky monastery near Goritsy, medieval Yaroslavl and 10th-century Uglich, rustic remnants of Old Russia.

CRUISING THE RIVIERAS AND ISLANDS OF FRANCE, ITALY AND SPAIN AUG. 28-SEPT. 5, 2015 Cruise for seven nights from Barcelona to Rome aboard the exclusively chartered, five-star M.V. Tere Moana, relaunched in 2013 after a multimillion-dollar refurbishment and featuring only 45 deluxe staterooms. This unique, comprehensive itinerary immerses you in the dynamic history, inimitable art and culture, and sun-drenched landscapes of the French and Italian rivieras and islands. Visit up to five UNESCO World Heritage sites, including Carcassonne. Along the enchanting Côte d’Azur, enjoy specially arranged excursions in Nice, Cannes and Monte Carlo. Visit Italy’s Cinque Terre and Florence. Explore Sardinia’s dazzling Costa Smeralda and Corsica’s fortified town of Bonifacio. Barcelona pre-cruise and Rome post-cruise options are also available. — From $5,295 OXFORD AND THE ENGLISH COUNTRYSIDE AUG. 28-SEPT. 5, 2015 Enjoy this extraordinary opportunity to travel from the university town of Cambridge to the timeless city of Canterbury through quintessential England, with four nights in the five-star landmark Macdonald Randolph Hotel and three nights in a charming Cotswold village. Local guides lead you through the legendary university town of Oxford and quaint Cotswold villages including a visit to Highclere Castle of “Downton Abbey” fame. By special arrangement, Lord Charles Spencer-Churchill hosts an exclusive tour and private lunch in Blenheim Palace. Carefully designed excursions, cultural enhancements and the exclusive Town & Country Forum capture the true essence of this storybook region. Cambridge preprogram and Canterbury post-program options are available. — From $3,995

Prime hunting land. A quiet cabin on the river. A place where you can invest in your future. Whatever your dream, we can make it happen, with a loan package customized by professionals who understand rural land and rural lending. When you ﬁnd the land, call the South’s land and farm lending experts. Call First South Farm Credit.

Financing land, farms and dreams. ﬁrstsouthland.com 800-955-1722

IMAGINEnation

M I S S I S S I P P I H I L L S N AT I O N A L H E R I TA G E A R E A

Discover the dreamers who became legends. Imagine: The people, the places, the events that helped shape our nation. From Elvis to Howlin’ Wolf, from William Faulkner to Tennessee Williams. Major Civil War battle sites. Inspiring Civil Rights landmarks. Native American heritage stretching back before recorded history. In the Mississippi Hills, dreamers became legends. Imagine your time in the Hills. Start planning your itinerary today! www.mississippihills.org or stop by

MISSISSIPPI HILLS EXHIBIT CENTER

Open M - F • 10a.m. - 4p.m. • Free Admission Renasant Center for Ideas • 398 East Main Street Tupelo, MS 38804 • (662) 844-1276

Spring 2015 49

News alumni

Welcome Aboard

2015 NEW ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD MEMBERS

he new members of the Alumni Association board of directors are involved in a wide range of careers and community organizations. One-third of the board is appointed each year by the Ole Miss Alumni Association president and serves a three-year term. TERRY CAVES (BBA 80, JD 83) is a

partner in the law firm of Caves & Caves PLLC in Laurel. Caves served as chairman of the Lamar Order and practices in the area of school law, real estate law, banking law and family law. He was the Jones County prosecuting attorney for two terms, served as president of the Council of School Attorneys and president of the Jones County Bar Association. GERALD CRUTHIRD (BA 73, JD 76) is

a Picayune attorney. He is a past president of the Rotary Club of Picayune, the Greater Picayune Chamber of Commerce and is president of the Pearl River County Bar Association. Cruthird is Picayune’s municipal court judge and is a fellow of the Mississippi Bar Foundation. CRAIG DALE (BBA 85) serves as execu-

tive director of the clinical operations department at Premier Research Group in Austin, Texas. He has spent more than 25 years in the pharmaceutical and device clinical research and development field. Dale is actively involved in the Austin chapter of the Ole Miss Alumni Association’s club program. JOSH DAVIS (BBA 99) of Abbeville

serves as vice president of external affairs for Delta Health Alliance. He previously worked for the University of Mississippi and was selected as the university’s Outstanding Staff Member in 2010. He serves on the board of directors of the Oxford Endowment for Public Education and is a past board member of the Lafayette County Literacy Council and Patricia Edwards-Aschoff Center for Victims of Domestic Violence.

50 Alumni Review

BUDDY DEARMAN (BAccy 86) is a tax

partner with the accounting firm of Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP in Memphis, Tenn. While at Ole Miss, he was a member of Kappa Alpha Order serving as rush chairman and social chairman. Dearman is active w i t h t h e Pa t t e r s o n S c h o o l o f Accountancy, serving on the school’s alumni board, and is a frequent speaker at student events. In Memphis, he is active with Carnival Memphis and Chickasaw Country Club. YVON A. FOSTER (BBA 75) is senior vice

president and compliance officer for FTB Advisors Inc., a subsidiary of First Tennessee Bank National Association headquartered in Memphis. She began her career at First Tennessee in 1976. Foster is active in civic organizations including Volunteer Mid-South, Playhouse on the Square and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. BILL FRY (BPA 80) is a managing direc-

tor of American Securities, a New York-based private equity fund. Prior to American Securities, Fry served as CEO of Oreck Corp., Bell Riddell Holdings, Bell Sports and president of the Dixie Group. After serving as a naval officer for eight years, he earned his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1990. JOHN W. GALLOWAY (BSCvE 99, MBA

01) of Gulfport works for Roy Anderson Corp. in the field of construction management. Galloway is vice president of the Mississippi Coast Yachting Association and a past board member of the Gulfport Yacht Club. He is president of the Century Club and secretary of the nonprofit Mississippi Coast Sailing Association.

ALBERT M. KOURY (BS 76, MD 82) is a

thoracic surgeon at Baptist Medical Center in Jackson. Koury completed his surgical residency and cardiothoracic fellowship at University of Mississippi Medical Center. He has been in surgical practice in Jackson for 25 years and served as director of thoracic surgery at Baptist Medical Center for the past four years. He is a fellow in the American College of Surgeons and serves as the cancer liaison physician for the Commission on Cancer at Baptist Medical Center. MATT LUSCO (BBA 79) of Birming-

LT. COL. EDWIN D. MCCAIN (BBA 92) is

commander and professor of aerospace studies at AFROTC Detachment 015 at Tuskegee University. Prior to this assignment, he was deployed to Baghdad, Iraq, where he served as section chief for the Air Force foreign military sales team in the Office of Security Cooperation. During his 22-year Air Force career, McCain commanded an Air Force squadron at Maxwell AFB, Ala., served as an executive officer at the Pentagon and as a program manager at Hanscom AFB near Boston.

ham, Ala., is chief risk officer of Regions Financial Corp. and serves on the Regions Executive Council. Prior to joining Regions, he was with Arthur Andersen and KPMG. He serves on the board of directors of the University of Mississippi Foundation and on the advisory board of the Patterson School of Accountancy, and is a member of the Vaught Society.

LINDA M. NEWELL (BAEd 77) of

Greenwood is a former communications and public relations officer. Newell was president of the District 5 Ole Miss Club. She serves on the board of the Museum of the Mississippi Delta and is a longtime supp o r t e r o f St . Ju d e C h i l d re n’s Research Hospital.

STAY. RELAX. DINE. DELTA. IT’S A VACATION FOR YOUR senses. You are invited to dive head first into the Delta experience. From upscale décor and soft cotton sheets, to relaxing massages and mouth-watering chef’s specials, we have mastered the art of laid-back luxury. The Alluvian is the perfect place to take your senses for a ride.

318 Howard Street

Greenwood, Mississippi 38930

662.453.2114

thealluvian.com

THE ALLUVIAN HOTEL • THE ALLUVIAN SPA • VIKING COOKING SCHOOL • GIARDINA’S

Spring 2015 51

News alumni

LUCY P. PRIDDY (BSCvE 02) of Vicks-

burg is a research civil engineer for the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center. Priddy is a member of the Ole Miss Engineering advisory board and received the 2013 Outstanding Young Alumni Award. She has served on the executive committee and Technical Activities Council of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies.

and the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women. Simmons serves on the Community Foundation of Greater Jackson’s board of directors.

MELINDA S. RAY (BA 81, MD 86) is a

pediatrician in Jackson, retired from Children’s Medical Group PA. She served as chief resident for the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and serves on the board of Ronald McDonald House Charities. Ray is a past board member of Operation Shoestring and the Jackson YMCA. CANDIE SIMMONS (BBA 02) is a

senior vice president and regional marketing director for Regions Financial Corp. in Jackson. She was selected as a 2013 Top 50 Leading Business Woman by Mississippi Business Journal and is active with Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. She is an active volunteer with the Diabetes Foundation of Mississippi

J. BRITT SMITH (BAccy 81) of New

Albany is a partner in the CPA firm Eaton, Babb & Smith PA. He is past president of the Union County Development Foundation, New Albany Kiwanis Club and Union County Ole Miss Club. He was the former scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 17 and serves on the executive board of the Yocona Area Council. CHARLIE WHITE (BBA 06) is the

equipment and fleet manager for Casey Industrial Inc. in Saltillo. While at Ole Miss, he participated in the Student Alumni Council, the Risk and Insurance Management Society and was a member of Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity. White is a former treasurer and past president of the Lee County Ole Miss Club.

Call me today at (601) 442.6292 319 Main Street Natchez, MS 39120 601.442.6292 • Phone 601.442.6365 • Fax

Forrest A. Johnson III, CFA, CFP® Financial Advisor

www.ameripriseadvisors.com/forrest.johnson forrest.johnson@ampf.com

801 Clay Street, Suite 1 Vicksburg, MS 39182 601.636.7111 • Phone 601.636.7711 • Fax

Financial Planning | Retirement | Investments| Insurance Ameriprise Financial cannot guarantee future ﬁnancial results. Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC. © 2014 Ameriprise Financial, Inc. All rights reserved. 52 Alumni Review

Class Notes ’40s

ELDON LEE MCCARTY (BAEd 47) of Merigold was featured in The Clarion-Ledger in celebration of the 60th anniversary of his business, McCarty Pottery.

VERNON R. KELLEY III (BBA 70, MURP 72), executive director of Three Rivers Planning and Development District in Pontotoc, was named one of North America’s top 50 economic developers for 2015.

’50s

GEORGE P. COSSAR JR. (BPA 57, LLB 60) of Charleston was elected chairman of the board of Tallahatchie County Bank.

GREG PLAYER (BA 77) was selected as adviser to the director for the National Hansen’s Disease Program in Baton Rouge, La.

DR. AL C. MCCULLY (BS 52, MedCert 52) of Tallahassee, Fla., received the 2015 I.B. Harrison, M.D. Humanitarian Award, presented to a physician who demonstrates dedication to the humanitarian values associated with the late Dr. I.B. Harrison.

JIM ROBERTS (JD 71) of Pontotoc, judge for Mississippi’s First Circuit Court District, was presented the 2014 Distinguished Jurist Award by Mississippi State University’s PreLaw Society and Department of Political Science and Public Administration.

CHARLES PICKERING SR. (BA 59, LLB 61) of Taylorsville, a retired U.S. district court judge, will lead the board of trustees of William Carey University as chairman.

CRAIG ROBINSON (BBA 72) of Russellville, Ala., joined CB&S Bank as executive vice president, chief lending officer.

’60s ’70s

DALE CURRY (BA 63) of New Orleans published his book Gumbo: a Savor the South Cookbook.

’80s

BARRY G. ALLEN (BBA 70) was named executive director of the Gheens Foundation in Louisville, Ky.

COL. GERALD PATRICK COLEMAN, USAR (Ret.) (BBA 85) of Madison was inducted into the 2014 Ole Miss Army ROTC Hall of Fame. ANGELA L. CROONER (BBA 88, JD 90) of Montgomery, Ala., was promoted to senior vice president, general counsel and secretary of the Alfa Insurance Group.

EDWARD G. FRANCIS (BBA 88) was named chief banking officer for Gulfport-based Hancock Holding Co. W. BRIGGS HOPSON III (BBA 87, JD 90) of Vicksburg was selected to lead the Mississippi Bar Association. PAUL MAXWELL (BA 85, MEd 87) was named senior communications officer for Gulfportbased Hancock Holding Co. HU MEENA (BSHPE 80), president and CEO of Mississippi-based C Spire, was honored by the Jackson chapter of the Association of Information Technology Professionals for his technology leadership and advocacy in Mississippi. He received the 2014 “Mississippian of the Year” Award. HAROLD D. MILLER III (BBA 83) accepted the position of president of the Mississippi Trucking Association in Jackson. GLEN A. MURPHY (BA 84) became a member of the Charleston, W.Va., law firm of Spilman, Thomas & Battle PLLC.

R A Y P O O LE I N S U R A N CE · R EN T ALS ,

CO N D O S , H O ME , AU T O , LIF E , ET C ·

“W e In s u r e N o r th Mi s s i s s i ppi ” RA YP O O L E . C O M

662·563·7721

RA Y @ RA YP O O L E . C O M

Spring 2015 53

News alumni

LEE TYNER (BA 87), general counsel at the University of Mississippi, was elected board chairman of the National Association of College and University Attorneys, a group of more than 4,000 higher education lawyers across the country. TIM WEEKS (BE 81, JD 84), Nashville filmmaker, produced, directed and wrote the film “The Space Shuttle: Flying for Me,” broadcast on PBS affiliate WKNO-TV.

’90s

JOEL BELL (BE 98), certified financial planner for MidSouth Financial Group, was named a Five Star Wealth Manager by Memphis magazine for the second consecutive year. DENNY BUBRIG (BA 96, MA 98) accepted the position of associate dean of students for student life at the University of Texas at Austin. MILTON D. HOBBS JR. (BAccy 97, MTax 98), attorney with the Oxford office of Harris Shelton Hanover Walsh PLLC, was selected by the Mississippi Business Journal as one of the 2014 “Leaders in Law.” MARK PRINCE (BBA 92), president of RB Tower Co. LLC in Tupelo and commercial realtor with Tommy Morgan Inc. Realtors, is running for the Mississippi House of Representatives, District 17 seat.

JASON L. WALTON (BA 96, MEd 99), headmaster at Jackson Preparatory School, was recognized for his work in helping the school roll out a comprehensive, hosted high-speed Internet solution for students and faculty and being recognized as the first academic institution in Mississippi to join C Spire’s Education Revolution initiative.

CHRISTOPHER LEE (BA 04) of Chicago accepted the position of food safety and quality specialist with Hillshire Brands.

DR. LOUANN HEATH WOODWARD (MD 91) was named vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.

JEREMY PARNELL (BA 08), former Ole Miss men’s basketball player, inked a five-year deal to play for the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars.

’00s

R. WILLIAM ANDERSON (BA 01) of Oxford was named 2015 Alumnus of the Year by Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity. MARTIN BARTLETT (BA 05) was promoted to lead public information officer for the Quality of Life and Capital Improvement Programs of the City of El Paso, Texas. JULIE L. HOWELL (BA 07, JD 10) was appointed assistant district attorney for the Third Circuit of the State of Mississippi in the Oxford office. ALEXANDRA CLARK LAYFIELD (BA 05) of Baton Rouge, La., was promoted to partner with Jones Walker LLP.

Tour de Provence

KEVIN MITCHELL (BAccy 01, MAccy 02) of Nashville was promoted to the position of senior vice president of finance for Educational Services of America.

SARAH CLINE STEVENS (BPS 06, JD 10), attorney with Dunn & Hemphill, will be the sole attorney in the firm’s Amory location.

’10s

SILAS REED IV (BBA 14), musician and founder of Oxfordbased band Silas Reed N’ Da Books, will release the band’s first record, “First of Twelve: Beginnings,” in 2015.

Faculty and Friends

MICHAEL SIMEON, an independent recording artist and producer and current Ole Miss student, won the 2014 Ole Miss Idol contest and was a contestant in the executive producer rounds of “The X Factor” and “America’s Got Talent” and in the 13th season of “American Idol.”

le Miss alumni (from left) Bruce (BS 69, MA 78, PhD 83) and Mary Betsy (BA 71, MA 72) Bellande and Frances (78) and Hume (BSME 64) Bryant, all from Oxford, enjoyed a 10-day cycling trip through the Provence region of France in 2014 while sporting their UM jerseys. The foursome was part of a cycling tour arranged through Trek Travel. AR

54 Alumni Review

THE HUB OF SOUTHERN CULTURE. It’s got Oxford written all over it.

Literary and Historical Attractions. Legendary Hospitality. Fabulous Food. Great Shopping and Fantastic Accommodations. Start planning your next visit today!

visitoxfordms.com

OLE MISS NEEDS YOU! Do you have children or grandchildren whom you would like to attend Ole Miss? If so, help us get them here! Students may sign up to join our mailing list by visiting www.olemiss.edu/vip. Select “high school student,” “transfer student,” or “international student,” and complete the interest page. We will add you to our mailing list, and you will begin receiving correspondence from Ole Miss. After completing the form, you will be redirected to a webpage designed specifically for prospective students!

The University of Mississippi is committed to the core principles of a great American university: accessibility, excellence and leadership, and service.

Spring 2015 55

News alumni

WEDDINGS Marion Warfield (BA 06) and Jake Sanders (BBA 09), Nov. 22, 2014. BIRTHS Faulkner Kay, daughter of Julianne Lofton Bailey (BA 07, JD 10) and Christopher N. Bailey (BA 07, MA 09), Nov. 12, 2014. Neill Garland, son of Mamie D. Brett (BAEd 05, MEd 07) and Joseph Robert Brett (BA 06), Jan. 16, 2015. Lucas Michael, son of Kimberly Breaux Ferguson (BA 07) and Lee Michael Ferguson (BSChE 06, MD 10), Sept. 16, 2014. Evan Randall, son of Lauren Reeder McCrory (BA 05, JD 08) and Randy Michael McCrory, Dec. 16, 2014. Seeley Harb, daughter of Ashleigh Harb Roberts and John Gabriel Roberts (BBA 03, BAccy 03), Feb. 3, 2015. John Henry, son of Nancy Virginia Stewart (BA 03, BA 04) and Jeremy Wayne Stewart (BA 04), Nov. 27, 2014. IN MEMORIAM 1930s Hazel Harrison Buck (BAEd 35) of Fairhope, Ala., March 2, 2015 Lucretia McDowell Fly (BA 36) of Bay St. Louis, Feb. 5, 2015 1940s Sam Alman III (BA 49) of Gulfport, Feb. 25, 2015 Hubert Armstrong Jr. (BBA 48) of Jackson, Feb. 25, 2015

Overton Winston Cameron Sr. (LLB 47) of Black Mountain, N.C., Jan. 15, 2015 John Oscar Dampeer Jr. (BS 47, MedCert 48) of Houma, La., March 8, 2015 Annie Kathryn Belk Deem (BA 40) of Henrico, Va., March 5, 2015 Lillian Duke Granbery (49) of Nashville, Tenn., Feb. 27, 2015 Farmer Henry Hamilton Jr. (40) of Atlanta, Ga., Jan. 25, 2015 Carl Herrin (BBA 49) of Jackson, Jan. 19, 2015 Jane Sheddan Hubbard (BA 48) of Jonesboro, Ark., Feb. 16, 2015 Henry Jackson Kornegay USAF (Ret.) (41) of Billings, Mont., Jan. 14, 2015 Clyde William Lesley (BA 49) of Holly Springs, Jan. 8, 2015 Morris Carl Lovelady (BSCvE 46) of Oxford, Feb. 2, 2015 Jesse Print Matthews Jr. (BBA 49) of Jackson, Jan. 24, 2015 Hugh Joseph McInnis Jr. (BA 49) of Jackson, Feb. 14, 2015 Marinell Todd Rector (BSC 47) of Hendersonville, N.C., Feb. 15, 2015 Jane Lewis Rogers (BA 44) of Clarksdale, Feb. 22, 2015 Julia Lewis Rowan (BAEd 44) of Atlanta, Ga., March 6, 2015 Francisco Soldevila (BSPh 47) of Clarksdale, Feb. 16, 2015 Annie Lovelady Stringer (BA 49) of Poplarville, Sept. 25, 2014 Madge Orr Stubblefield (BA 40) of Oxford, Jan. 6, 2015 Katharine McLean Taylor (BAEd 42) of Tampa, Fla., Feb. 26, 2015 John Williams Wilson Jr. (BSPh 48) of Gulfport, Aug. 1, 2014 Martha Sue Draper Wright (BA 49) of El Dorado, Ark., Feb. 18, 2015 1950s Everette Wayne Bowie (BSPh 50) of Olive Branch, Feb. 27, 2015

As a member or friend of the Ole Miss Alumni Association, you could receive exclusive savings on auto and home insurance 1 from Liberty Mutual. Along with valuable savings, you’ll enjoy access to benefits like 24-Hour Claims Assistance.

For a free quote, call 1-800-524-9400 or visit www.libertymutual.com/olemiss.

Discounts and savings are available where state laws and regulations allow, and may vary by state. To the extent permitted by law, applicants are individually underwritten; not all applicants may qualify. Auto coverage provided and underwritten by Liberty County Mutual Insurance Company, 2100 Walnut Hill Lane, Irving, TX. Home coverage provided and underwritten by Liberty Insurance Corporation, 175 Berkeley Street, Boston, MA 02116. ©2015 Liberty Mutual Insurance

56 Alumni Review

Joseph Wilson Bradley (BSPh 51) of Nashville, Tenn., March 10, 2015 Cecil Weston Burford Jr. (BSHPE 57) of Madison, Jan. 15, 2015 Betty Joan Yates Coleman (MEd 58) of Norfolk, Va., Feb. 7, 2015 Mary Cone (MA 53, PhD 70) of Houston, Texas, Feb. 22, 2015 Anna Welch Crull (BS 55) of Kerrville, Texas, Feb. 16, 2015 George William Davis Jr. (MD 55) of Nashville, Tenn., March 11, 2015 Howard Baker Dawson (BSPh 58) of Petal, March 11, 2015 Herbert Lynette Denton Jr. (BBA 51) of Tupelo, Jan. 24, 2015 Kinnie Divine (BSHPE 52) of Sharon, Jan. 1, 2015 Adelaide Ramsey Fisher (56) of West Helena, Ark., Feb. 23, 2015 James Hoover Flanagan (BSPh 55) of Pascagoula, Feb. 26, 2015 Paul Gordon Francis (BSME 58) of Wilmington, Del., Jan. 11, 2015 Patricia Welch Fullilove (BSN 54) of New Augusta, March 5, 2015 Eugene Lavert Gathright Sr. (BSME 59) of Oxford, Feb. 5, 2015 Dewey Cobb Hickman (MBEd 50) of Oxford, Jan. 11, 2015 James Monroe Ivy (56) of Olive Branch, Feb. 27, 2015 Martha Maynard Johnson (54) of Clarksdale, Jan. 21, 2015 Beverly Nowlin Keener Jr. (BA 58, LLB 60) of Pensacola, Fla., Jan. 3, 2015 James Hamilton Lear Jr. (BBA 54) of Indianola, Jan. 12, 2015 William Preston Lee (BSCvE 53) of Pleasanton, Calif., Feb. 15, 2015 William Frederick Lynch Jr. (MD 59) of Madison, Feb. 1, 2015 James Edward McCracken (MEd 52) of Clearwater, Fla., Oct. 21, 2014 Floyd Cleveland McCrory (BSPh 58) of Morton, Feb. 16, 2015 James William Miley (MBA 54, BBA 54) of Mandeville, La., Feb. 26, 2015 Alan F. Moreno (BAEd 50) of Buford, Ga., Feb. 12, 2015 Peggy Dear Oakes (BA 50) of Amory, Jan. 20, 2015 Charlsie Austin Parks (54) of New Albany, Jan. 7, 2015 James Rupert Powell (MedCert 53) of West Point, March 13, 2015 James Edward Quint (BSPh 50) of Mobile, Ala., Jan. 13, 2015 Margaret Stevenson Ray (BA 57) of Tupelo, Feb. 28, 2015 Glenna Sawyer Riley (MA 55) of Saraland, Ala., Jan. 10, 2015 Lee Hartwell Rogers (BS 57, MD 60) of Tupelo, Feb. 8, 2015 Jo Ann Ashley Rosemann (BAEd 59) of Collierville, Tenn., Jan. 20, 2015 Fred Robert Russell (BBA 57) of Vicksburg, Jan. 23, 2015 J.C. Searcy Jr. (BBA 53) of Brandon, Feb. 24, 2015 Cecil O. Sharp (MEd 59) of Batesville, Jan. 16, 2015 Sherard Rudolph Shaw (MEd 58) of Clarksdale, Jan. 14, 2015 John Hardage Skipper (BBA 59) of Memphis, Tenn., Jan. 29, 2015 Martin T. Smith (BA 57, LLB 58) of Poplarville, Feb. 26, 2015 Wilbur Allen Smith (BM 58) of Grenada, March 4, 2015 Wyatt Mabry Smith Sr. (BBA 53) of Ridgeland, Jan. 12, 2015 Patricia Iona Speed (BA 53) of Hattiesburg, Jan. 18, 2015 Wanda Bostick Stephens (BSN 58) of Belmont, Jan. 14, 2015 Charles Allen Stewart Jr. (MA 50) of Greensboro, Ga., Jan. 12, 2015 Martha McKinstry Surber (MBEd 56) of Gadsden, Ala., March 8, 2015 Dickinson Thomae (MedCert 53) of Hattiesburg, Feb. 13, 2015 Edward Rosser Wall Jr. (BA 56, MA 58, EdD 72) of Oxford, Jan. 27, 2015 Vernon Lanier Watson (BA 55, MA 57) of Peachtree City, Ga., Jan. 17, 2015 Robert Hamilton Weaver (BBA 54) of Jackson, Feb. 3, 2015 John Wayne West (57) of New Albany, Jan. 1, 2015 Gwyn Dale Whittington (LLB 54) of Houston, Texas, March 5, 2015

SEAWRIGHT & GARRARD: A Native Homecoming

Mississippi natives James Seawright and Mimi Garrard are sharing a virtual tour of his kinetic sculpture juxtaposed with her dance videos in an exhibit opening on

May 18. We are pleased to feature the work of these nationally acclaimed artists.

1608 Highway 82 Greenwood, MS 662-453-0925 museumofthemississippidelta.com Admission fee This project is funded in part by a grant from

Spring 2015 57

News alumni

Sustaining Life Membership Program

he Sustaining Life Membership program is a voluntary way for current Life Members to provide additional annual support 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. For a listing of sustaining members by year, visit www.olemissalumni.com.

Fiscal Year 2015 Members Platinum $1,000+ Mr. and Mrs. Louis K. Brandt Mr. and Mrs. David E. Brevard Mr. Adam H. Broome Mr. and Mrs. Charles C. Clark Mr. Mac Elliott Mr. and Mrs. Donald D. Felts Mr. and Mrs. Roger M. Flynt Jr. Mr. Rusty Gebhard Dr. and Mrs. James R. Haltom Mr. and Mrs. Russell T. Harris Mr. and Mrs. Stephen D. Johnston Dr. and Mrs. Ronald M. Lewis Mr. and Mrs. David O. McCormick Mrs. Rebecca C. McWilliams Mr. Matthew A. Mills Dr. and Mrs. Paul H. Moore Sr. Mr. Howard A. Putman Mr. Claude G. Rives IV Ms. Donna Ruth Roberts Mr. and Mrs. Samuel J. Sliman Mr. and Mrs. Sean A. Tuohy Mr. and Mrs. Scott Wegmann Dr. and Mrs. Lynn K. Whittington

Gold $500-$999 Mr. and Mrs. Olen S. Akers Mr. and Mrs. John W. Alford Jr. Mrs. Kloe K. Barcus Mr. and Mrs. Larry H. Bryan Ms. Angela D. Carney Mr. and Mrs. William D. Coleman Ms. Pamela J. Cox Mrs. Elisabeth B. Culbertson Mr. William M. Dalehite Jr. Mrs. Sheila W. Dossett Mrs. Georgia McKenzie Ellison Mr. and Mrs. S. Lawrence Farrington Lt. Col. Robert B. and Mrs. Kathleen F. Gann Mr. and Mrs. James W. Granbery Mr. and Mrs. William W. Gresham III Mr. Lucius M. Lamar and Mr. Kerry W. Hamilton Mr. Larry J. Hardy Dr. and Mrs. W. Briggs Hopson Jr. Mr. William H. Howard III Mrs. Myra K. Igo-Haley Mr. Rudolf G. Kittlitz Jr. Mr. Lucius M. Lamar and Mr. Kerry W. Hamilton Dr. and Mrs. George H. Leggett III Mr. Charles S. Locke Mr. Edwin H. Magruder Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Edward C. Maloney Dr. and Mrs. W.T. McLarty Mr. Mark C. Mooneyhan

58 Alumni Review

Mr. and Mrs. A. Bruce Moore Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Robert B. Nance III Dr. Shannon P. Patterson Dr. and Mrs. Daniel Quon Mr. John Douglas Self Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Curtis L. Simon Mr. and Mrs. John B. Sneed II Dr. and Mrs. John C. Stitt Mr. and Mrs. James A. Ventress Ms. Mary Virginia Watson Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. White Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Sandy Williams

Mr. Fred O. Poitevent Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Gregory B. Price Col. James Watford Rice Jr. Mr. Donald B. Samuels Mr. and Mrs. Robert Seibels III Mrs. Lisa Puckett Sinders Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey B. Strouse Dr. and Mrs. John H. Sumners Mr. and Mrs. Jon C. Turner Mr. and Mrs. Trammell P. Wells II Mrs. Jennifer Ingram Wilkinson Dr. and Mrs. Travis W. Yates

Silver $250-$499

Blue $100-$249

Mr. and Mrs. Samuel F. Alexander Dr. Antrece Lynette Baggett Mr. and Mrs. Hilary T. Barrier III Mr. and Mrs. Thomas R. Beecroft Mr. and Mrs. Homer Best Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Lucien L. Bourgeois Dr. John W. Bowlin Mrs. Marvine M. Brand Dr. C. Hal Brunt and Mrs. Bernice H. Hussey Mr. Robert W. Byrd Mr. and Mrs. Gary G. Carter Mr. and Mrs. P.N. Charbonnet III Dr. Fred G. Corley Jr. Mr. Gus L. Crittle Dr. James W. Davis Mr. Ernest R. Duff Mr. John A. Dupps Mr. and Mrs. Howard T. Ferguson Jr. Mr. and Mrs. John H. Geary Dr. and Mrs. Walter M. Gorton Mrs. Laura L. Gradolf Dr. and Mrs. Jimmy L. Hamilton Dr. and Mrs. William L. Hand Mr. and Mrs. Ray A. Hawkins Mr. and Mrs. Hardy M. Hill Mr. and Mrs. Jamie V. Holder Mr. Thomas N. Horton Mrs. Anne McCaslin House Mr. and Mrs. Charles V. Imbler Mrs. Trentice G. Imbler Mr. and Mrs. William M. James Mr. Carroll A. Kemp Jr. Mr. and Mrs. John B. Laney Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Preston H. Lee Jr. Mr. William Tucker May Mr. and Mrs. William T. Mays Jr. Mr. and Mrs. G. Terrell Morgan Dr. and Mrs. Lee D. Morris Dr. Blake D. Neal Mr. Charles L. Overby Mr. Brad Pittman

Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin F. Adams III Mr. and Mrs. Sidney P. Allen Jr. Ms. Carol T. Barnes Mrs. Lucy O. Barnett Mr. Roeland T. Bell Mr. and Mrs. Henry Beneke III Mrs. Gage M. Black Mr. Cornelius H. Block Mr. and Mrs. Kirk A. Brown Mr. Charles R. Burnett III Mrs. Bettye M. Butler Mr. Ryan M. Cain Ms. Inez O. Cameron Dr. David K. Carter Mr. and Mrs. Mark J. Chaney Sr. Mr. and Mrs. Charles L. Cook Mr. and Mrs. Mark J. Cowart Mr. James Richard Cox Jr. Ms. Sue C. Dabbs Mrs. Sarah P. Dantin Mr. C. Craig Dearman Mr. David A. Deterly Jr. Dr. and Mrs. David N. Duddleston Dr. A. Percy Durfey Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Hampton D. Dye Mr. Albert R. Easterling Jr. The Hon. and Mrs. Robert W. Elliott Sr. Mr. Joe M. Enoch Mr. and Mrs. Sam Farrington III Dr. and Mrs. Samuel E. Field Jr. Mrs. Mary Ellis Finnerty Col. and Mrs. John J. Franco Jr. Dr. Peter R. Generelly Dr. and Mrs. Barry Gerald Mr. Karl D. Gottschalk Mr. Thomas J. Grisham Mr. William F. Hagan Dr. Jack L. Hammond Mr. and Mrs. Robert S. Hancock Jr. Dr. and Mrs. Charles Harbison Mr. and Mrs. William V. Harris Jr.

ARE YOU A CARD-CARRYING OLE MISS FAN?

11 789 10 DEBIT 6 5 4 3 4351 2

Put the Ole Miss Regions Visa® CheckCard* in your wallet. All you need is a Regions checking account.

12/16

4351

ER CUSTOM FINE M

There’s never been a better time to show your school spirit. To find out how to customize your Regions CheckCard, stop by any branch to talk with an associate, call 1.800.regions or visit regions.com/gorebels.

Checking | Savings | Lending | Advice and Guidance

Official Bank of the

To learn more, stop by a branch, call 1.800.regions or visit regions.com/gorebels © 2015 Regions Bank. All deposit accounts are subject to the terms and conditions of the Regions Deposit Agreement. *Additional fees apply to collegiate CheckCards. | Regions and the Regions logo are registered trademarks of Regions Bank. The LifeGreen color is a trademark of Regions Bank.

HEDERMAN BROTHERS DIGITAL

Where quality, short runs and quick turnarounds meet! Our Digital Department has five presses including our newest addition, the Indigo press with enhanced capabilities. We offer greater efficiencies, faster processing of complex variable jobs and advanced color quality. • Variable Print

• Mailing

• Quick Turnaround

• Short Runs with High Quality Printing

• Single or Multiple Colors

• Affordable

Hederman has the print and software solutions essential to delivering excellence for your business.

Hederman Brothers, your marketing partner 500 Steed Road • Ridgeland, Mississippi 39157 601.853.7300 • 1.800.844.7301 • www.hederman.com PRINT

HB_7x4.75_OMAlumniRev_Digital.indd 1

DIRECT

DIGITAL

GREEN

CROSS MEDIA

DESIGN

12/5/14 AM59 Spring9:38 2015

News alumni

Mr. and Mrs. James H. Heidelberg Mr. and Mrs. Mike Henry Dr. and Mrs. John E. Hill Mr. Joseph M. Hinshaw III Mr. R. Huston Hollister Mrs. Jean Hobby Holmes Mr. and Mrs. Harrison B. Hood Mr. Jeffrey E. Hood Mr. James Scott Hudson Mr. and Mrs. Carson M. Hughes Mrs. Betty Haraway Jackson Mrs. Deborah T. Johnson Mr. and Mrs. Augustus R. Jones Mr. and Mrs. Ted Jones Mr. and Mrs. Harold C. Kelly Mrs. Marcia W. Kidder Dr. C. Spencer Lee Mrs. Barbera H. Liddon Mr. and Mrs. C.M. Lusco Ms. Lisa Gold Madden Mrs. Frances P. Madison Dr. Robert A. Magarian Mr. and Mrs. J.S. Mattei Dr. and Mrs. Philips R. McCarty Dr. Thomas J. McDonald Sr. Dr. and Mrs. Chris McEwan Mr. and Mrs. Prentiss C. McLaurin Jr. Dr. Fred L. McMillan Jr. and Mrs. Loni Eustace-McMillan Mrs. Georgia G. McPherson Mr. Lattimore M. Michael Mr. and Mrs. C.A. Miller III Drs. Charles E. and Judy T. Moore Jr. Dr. and Mrs. Paul H. Moore Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Markeeva A. Morgan Dr. Karl F. Morrison Ms. Deanne M. Mosley Dr. William R. Mott Mr. and Mrs. Sherman Muths Jr.

Mr. and Mrs. Max Narro Mr. and Mrs. Thomas C. Norwood Mr. and Mrs. Charles P. O’Bannon Mr. and Mrs. Wayne C. Oglesby Mrs. Ginger Olson Mr. Carl Robert Orr Ms. Melody C. Patterson Mr. and Mrs. Edward P. Peacock III Mrs. Sue Pearson Mr. James A. Peden Jr. Mrs. Jennifer Hall Posey Dr. and Mrs. William B. Profilet Jr. Mr. Floyd E. Pruden Jr. Dr. Millard W. Ramsey Mr. and Mrs. Lee W. Randall Dr. and Mrs. James W. Rayner Dr. Dale G. Read Mr. and Mrs. William M. Renovich Ms. Carol A. Reynolds Mrs. Lisa Compton Richards Dr. Robert E. Ringer Dr. and Mrs. Gerald M. Robertson Dr. Tommie L. Robinson Jr. Mr. Bernard L. Royce Mr. John M. Rylee Mr. J.H. Sasser Jr. Mr. Ben B. Sayle Mr. Eugene R. Schnierle Mr. John R. Schwalje Mr. and Mrs. R.S. Shaw Mr. Jimmie H. Short Dr. and Mrs. Thomas R. Singley Capt. Jack F. Speed Jr. Dr. and Mrs. Gordon L. Stanfield Mr. and Mrs. Phineas Stevens Mr. Leslie Stuart Sutherland Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence D. Terrell Dr. and Mrs. Ancel C. Tipton Jr. Mr. John M. Tipton

Dr. Warren A. Todd Jr. Mr. and Mrs. William C. Trotter III Drs. Jackey D. and Betty H. Turner Dr. Glen C. Warren Mrs. Susan S. Warren Mr. and Mrs. Taylor Webb Dr. Emily S. Weber Mrs. Marsha D. Williams Dr. Stirling B. Williams Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Robert W. Witty Mr. Neil B. Yarrington Capt. Ronald Wayne Zaperach

Red $1-$99 Mr. M. Lynn Adkins Ms. Sharyn Alfonsi Mr. and Mrs. Jason V. Calvasina Mr. Joe L. Durst Mr. Joseph W. Gex II Mr. and Mrs. James C. Herbert Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Edward K. Johnston Mr. and Mrs. Steven W. King Mr. and Mrs. Stephen D. Maness Mr. Marshall F. McLaughlin Mr. J. Stan Miller Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Christopher N. Mouron Mr. and Mrs. Glen A. Murphy Lt. Col. and Mrs. Monroe Neal Jr. Dr. Wanda A. Rider Mr. Richard Clayton Roland Dr. and Mrs. Dave A. Russell Mrs. Susan S. Sbarra Dr. Maria S. Scurria Mr. and Mrs. Robert G. Sloan Mr. and Mrs. Timothy B. Smith Mr. and Mrs. Robert M. Stefancik Mrs. Lillian Webb Mrs. Anne J. Wilbourne Mr. and Mrs. David A. Ziegenhorn

107 St. Andrews Road Designed by a well-known Mississippi architect, this home is conveniently located close to the University of Mississippi in the coveted country club neighborhood with lovely views and total privacy.

ANNE FAIR

Phone 662·816·7606 marchbanksrealestate.com

. . . a modern classic 60 Alumni Review

M ar c hb an ks R eal Es tate

1108 Van Buren Avenue · Oxford, MS 38655

David Jerome Williams Jr. (BA 52) of Tampa, Fla., Jan. 22, 2015 Samuel Webb Wood (BSPh 50) of Ackerman, Jan. 6, 2015 L.C. Wright (BSPh 50) of Booneville, Feb. 6, 2015 Hellon Barlow Wykle (MBEd 52) of McLean, Va., Jan. 31, 2015 1960s M. Lynn Adkins (BBA 61) of Germantown, Tenn., Feb. 24, 2015 Ernestine Holt Aune (MLS 68) of Water Valley, Feb. 13, 2015 James Bailey Baxter (BSCvE 67) of Cumming, Ga., Jan. 18, 2015 James Clifton Branton (BSPh 65) of Arkadelphia, Ark., Sept. 18, 2014 Richard Allen Brown (BSME 62) of Huntsville, Ala., Jan. 4, 2015 Sham Ken Chin (MEd 62) of New York, N.Y., Feb. 4, 2015 Rex Wilson Collins (MD 63) of Laurel, Jan. 1, 2015 Louise Babette Chittom Cooper (BM 65) of Springdale, Ark., Feb. 10, 2015 Julian Douglas Cunningham (69) of Jackson, Jan. 13, 2015 Betty Eakin Dane (MEd 62) of Germantown, Tenn., March 10, 2015 Ginger Christman Daniel (BAEd 62) of Gallatin, Tenn., March 5, 2015 William Richeson Defenbaugh (BBA 68) of Grenada, March 6, 2015 Nathan Scott Fisher (BPA 65) of Baton Rouge, La., Jan. 15, 2015 Beverly Koebel Gardner (BSN 60) of Delmar, N.Y., Jan. 20, 2015 William James Gillespie Jr. (MD 60) of Jackson, Jan. 13, 2015 David Montgomery Gray (BS 64, PhD 68) of Huntington Beach, Calif., Jan. 5, 2015 William Whaley Hall (BBA 64) of Hampton, Va., March 7, 2015

Leonora Phillips Harris (BA 69) of Memphis, Tenn., Feb. 21, 2015 Tom A. Harris (BBA 61) of Jackson, Jan. 28, 2015 Barbara Hemphill Hegwood (BBA 60) of Jackson, March 3, 2015 Maude Elizabeth Brown Herrington (MEd 61) of Broken Arrow, Okla., March 6, 2015 Conrad John Jaburg USN (Ret.) (BA 64) of Pensacola, Fla., March 4, 2015 Jesse Fuller Jones III (BBA 61) of Leavenworth, Kans., Feb. 9, 2015 William Carl Kemp (MS 69) of Paris, Tenn., Jan. 9, 2015 Edward Richard Loeber (BAEd 67) of Memphis, Tenn., Feb. 17, 2015 Harriet Nabors McCord (MEd 69) of Tupelo, Jan. 24, 2015 Earl Humphreys Moore (BBA 62) of Port Gibson, Jan. 31, 2015 Paul Baker Murphy Sr. (LLB 60) of Kosciusko, March 11, 2015 Henry Earl Outlaw (MS 64, PhD 65) of Merigold, Feb. 21, 2015 Casey Culpeper Pace (BA 69, JD 72) of Brandon, Feb. 15, 2015 Robert A. Paulsen Jr. (BBA 69) of Northfield, Ill., Nov. 3, 2014 James Acye Pittman (BSPh 66) of Batesville, Ark., Jan. 18, 2015 Jack Edward Pool (LLB 60) of Dallas, Texas, March 6, 2016 Andrew Earl Prince (BS 65) of Big Spring, Texas, Feb. 26, 2015 Kenneth Noel Reed (BA 60, MD 64) of Ridgeland, March 7, 2015 Arthur Danny Richardson (BSPh 67) of Amite, La., Feb. 28, 2015 Vivian West Seay (BSC 62) of Canton, Jan. 25, 2015 William Edward Smith (BS 62) of Webster, Texas, Jan. 1, 2015 Joseph Guilfred Sonnier (MEd 61, AMEd 66) of Sulphur, La., Jan. 11, 2015

LIMITED QUANTITIES UNLIMITED POTENTIAL Stake Your Claim on A Piece of Land in North Mississippi

Take the first step to finding yourself on your own piece of land in North Mississippi. Work or play, hunting property, recreational land, investment property, farm land and production... we have a plan for you.

Give Us A Call, Stop By Our Office, or Ask A Friend.

MSLB_.indd 1

6/2/14 9:28 AM

Spring 2015 61

News alumni

Groves Travis Stallworth Jr. (BBA 60) of Pascagoula, March 8, 2015 James George Tempfer (62) of Leitchfield, Ky., Feb. 20, 2015 Carolyn Flagg Temple (BAEd 68) of Jackson, Jan. 12, 2015 Annice Jernigan Wilford (BSC 62) of Dalton, Ga., Nov. 24, 2014 Thomas Elijah Yates III (62) of Brandon, March 1, 2015 1970s Sam Harrison Allen III (JD 73) of Knoxville, Tenn., Jan. 2, 2015 Leroy Dong Chu (BSPh 71) of Memphis, Tenn., March 13, 2015 Rose Stephens Cobb (MEd 79, PhD 87) of Iuka, March 2, 2015 Larry Vance Easterling (BA 72) of Middleton, Tenn., Feb. 19, 2015 John Lathrop Fletcher Jr. (PhD 72) of Martin, Tenn., Jan. 17, 2015 Timothy Alan Ford (BA 73, JD 77) of Jackson, Feb. 27, 2015 Thomas Henry Freeland IV (BA 77, JD 81) of Oxford, Feb. 21, 2015 Nettie Beatrice Gladney (BA 75) of Holly Springs, Jan. 6, 2015 Elbert Earl Haley Jr. (BA 73) of Brandon, Jan. 29, 2015 Donn Jurgens Hickman (MEd 71) of St. Petersburg, Fla., Feb. 23, 2015 Kenneth Wayne Hodges (BSPh 73) of Ackerman, Jan. 7, 2015 Joel Joseph Kamp (JD 70) of Fort Madison, Iowa, Dec. 5, 2014 Harriet Hubbard Karatassos (BAEd 74) of Starkville, Jan. 16, 2015 Larry Clemente Kelly (BSChE 79) of Knoxville, Tenn., Feb. 26, 2015 Sharon Fore Lucy (BSN 72) of Hattiesburg, Feb. 12, 2015

Donna Conlee Mooney (MLS 74) of Ecru, Feb. 8, 2015 Norman Stuart Nelson (74) of Oxford, Jan. 27, 2015 Carl Robert Orr (BBA 76) of New Orleans, La., March 2, 2015 Angeline Hodges Parks (BAEd 73) of Memphis, Tenn., Jan. 24, 2015 Willie Dexter Perkins Jr. (BA 76) of Iuka, Jan. 16, 2015 George Landon Phillips (JD 73) of Silt, Colo., Jan. 26, 2015 Connie Burks Richardson (BAEd 79, MBEd 83) of Carthage, Jan. 7, 2015 Robert E. Snyder (BSPh 76) of Maben, Feb. 17, 2015 John B. Vercher USN (Ret.) (BSEE 70) of Jacksonville, Fla., Feb. 2, 2015 Hoyt Wayne Webster (BAEd 71, MFA 73) of Brookhaven, Feb. 19, 2015 James Lawrence Whitaker Jr. (72) of Baldwyn, Dec. 27, 2014 Michael Paul Younger (JD 77) of Brandon, Feb. 9, 2015 1980s John William Brannon Sr. (BA 86) of Tupelo, Jan. 24, 2015 Richard Mack Edmonson Jr. (BBA 85, JD 88) of Madison, Jan. 15, 2015 John Smith Enloe Jr. (EdD 82) of Montgomery, Ala., Feb. 25, 2015 Raymond Anthony Paul Gordon (MD 82) of Jackson, Feb. 20, 2015 David Charles Henry (BBA 84, JD 87) of Jackson, Tenn., Jan. 24, 2015 Billy Ray Hicks (PhD 83) of Tuscumbia, Ala., Feb. 24, 2015 Bradley Thomas Hopper (BE 83) of Shawnee, Kans., May 15, 2014 Van Leonard Irby Jr. (BA 85) of Senatobia, Feb. 1, 2015

HERE’S YOUR LICENSE TO BRAG! Now you can sport the official University of Mississippi license plate! For an additional $50 a year — $32.50 of which returns to Ole Miss for educational enhancement — you can purchase this “license to brag” about your alma mater. When it’s time to renew your license plate, simply tell your local tax collector you want the Ole Miss affinity license plate. It’s an easy way to help your University. This particular tag is available to Mississippi drivers only. Some other states, however, offer an Ole Miss affinity license plate. Check with your local tax collector for availability.

62 Alumni Review

Grownup Getaway THE SQUARE IN OXFORD, MS 24” x 24”)

#playtime THE GROVE AT OLE MISS 30” x 24”)

Adam Trest is a watercolorist based in Laurel, Mississippi, with a background in painnng and architecture. Inspired by Mississippi’s Historical Districts, he uses the beauuful transparencies of watercolor to capture the Treasured Places hidden within our great state.

Ole Miss Alumni Association

#chowtime

Rebel Network

234-8648 Alumni Owned And OperAted

Meet alumni in your area    Catch up with old friends    Share photos    Network with alumni around the world

#gotime

visitgreenwood.com

662-453-9197 • 1-800-748-9064 #travelgreenwood This project is partially funded by

http://rebelnetwork. olemissalumni.com

News alumni

Julia Aust Lewis (MLS 83) of Jackson, Feb. 6, 2015 William Wendell Martin (JD 81) of Gulfport, Feb. 26, 2015 David Langhorne Millar (85) of Germantown, Tenn., Feb. 10, 2015 Benjamin Howard Read (BBA 82) of Dallas, Texas, Feb. 13, 2015 John William Rybak (JD 82) of Easton, Pa., Jan. 3, 2015 Mark James Schwartz (BA 87) of Haskell, N.J., Feb. 21, 2015 Artis Lee Walton Sr. (81) of Fayetteville, Ga., Jan. 18, 2015 Peter Yates Whitehead (MD 88) of Eads, Tenn., Jan. 13, 2015 Phillip Bruce Yarbrough (BBA 81) of Bruce, March 7, 2015 1990s Catherine Chrestman Alexander (BAccy 94, MBA 95) of Gulfport, Jan. 23, 2015 Brian Davis Dodge (BBA 98) of Salem, S.C., July 11, 2014 Lori Embry Fox (BA 95) of Olive Branch, Jan. 8, 2015 John Ballard Gorman (90) of Jackson, Jan. 21, 2015 Ginger McReynolds Hale (BA 97) of Senatobia, Feb. 5, 2015 Anna Davis Hill (MEd 91) of Burnsville, Feb. 20, 2015 Johnny Burnell McRaney Jr. (BBA 90) of Columbus, Jan. 6, 2015 Tamara Ables Patterson (BS 94) of Blue Springs, Feb. 27, 2015 Christine Johnson Thomas (BA 90) of Montgomery, Ala., Jan. 23, 2015 2000s Thomas Crisler Baker (01) of Oxford, Feb. 2, 2015 Conner Hudson Campassi (07) of Columbus, March 7, 2015 Sharon Collins Carter (BA 06) of Tunica, Jan. 30, 2015 Kara Dee Creel (BSPh 06, PharmD 09) of Moss Point, Jan. 22, 2015 Brent James Hanson (09) of Jackson, Tenn., Jan. 25, 2015 Justin Sanders Haynes (07) of Lambert, Jan. 10, 2015 Marshall James Walton (09) of Mobile, Ala., Feb. 13, 2015 2010s Willenham Cortez Castilla (15) of Jackson, Feb. 28, 2015

John Fenton Kottkamp (15) of Louisville, Ky., Feb. 25, 2015 Jay Ross Reader (14) of New Canaan, Conn., Feb. 19, 2015 Faculty and Friends Dorothy Brannan Buchanan of Germantown, Tenn., Feb. 22, 2015 Carol Edgerton Cooper of Falls Church, Va., Dec. 19, 2014 Billie Faye Dillard of Itta Bena, Jan. 14, 2015 Raymond Benjamin Franklin of Port Neches, Texas, Jan. 11, 2015 Robert B. Fulton of Collierville, Tenn., Feb. 18, 2015 Thomas Victor Garraway Jr. of Madison, Feb. 10, 2015 Dennis F. Gross of Memphis, Tenn., Jan. 7, 2015 Eric Wheatley Hellems Sr. of Brandon, Jan. 1, 2015 William Calvin Herring of Terry, Feb. 2, 2015 Frances Thompson Hill of West Point, Feb. 25, 2015 Douglas Charles McClurkin of Oxford, Jan. 21, 2015 Bobbye Tharpe McCormick of Bruce, Feb. 17, 2015 Billy McMullan of San Antonio, Texas, March 11, 2015 Howard Hunter Nichols of Ridgeland, Jan. 24, 2015 James Martin Smith of Thaxton, Feb. 27, 2015 Timothy Sumrall of Vicksburg, Jan. 12, 2015 Don Allen Wallace of Germantown, Tenn., March 11, 2015 Robert D. Williams of Kansas City, Mo., Feb. 28, 2015 Pam Wimbish of Brandon, Feb. 15, 2015

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 Associationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s website at www.olemissalumni.com. The Association relies on numerous sources for class notes and is unable to verify all notes with individual alumni. AR

Raye Pottery

For Everything Red and Blue Ole Miss Clothing & Gifts Lowest Prices Great Selection 1111 Jackson Ave W Next to Malco Theatre www.campusbookmart.com 64 Alumni Review

662-234-5993

MGM IN MISSISSIPPI

Whether you’re visiting the Gulf Coast or enjoying the greater Memphis region, you can experience the luxurious amenities and thrilling gaming atmosphere that only a premier MGM Resorts International® destination can provide.

20% Off Room Rates*

Exclusively for Ole Miss fans and alumni. Call and use offer code OLE MISS.

AN MGM RESORT 1.888.567.6667 • BeauRivage.com

1.888.245.7829 • GoldStrike.com

*Offer valid through June 30, 2015. Rate is per room per night based on single or double occupancy, plus tax. Resort fee applies. Must be at least 21 years of age to check in. Offers are subject to availability, blackout dates apply, and are not available to groups or persons attending meetings or conventions, or on major holidays. This offer may not be used with any other offer, package or promotion. Offer may be modified or discontinued without notice. © 2015 MGM Resorts International ®. Gambling Problem? Call 1.888.777.9696

The University of Mississippi Alumni Association P.O. Box 1848 University, MS 38677-1848 (662) 915-7375 www.olemissalumni.com

Mark C. Cleary (713) 303-8924

Markccleary@gmail.com

Blake Cannon (662) 380-7144

blake@oxfordvip.com

Alison Alger (662) 832-1697

alisonmalger@gmail.com

The Hamlet

COMING SOON! Oxford’s Newest Family Development In Town! Homes starting at $279,000 Lots starting at $79,000

Brand new construction! Come check out these private community lake lots just 5 minutes from downtown Oxford!

Ice House #201

• Viking Appliances •1 BR Plus Studio on the Square • Bamboo Floors

$379,000

4 acre park, bike/walk path to the square, close knit community association & a community swimming pool!

Ice House #204

• Viking Appliances • 2 BR/2 Bath On the Square • Bamboo Floors

$566,495

Large screened-in porches overlooking Pat Lamar Park. Designer finishes, brick mantles, ceiling beams and real pine floors. All on one level!

1225 Beanland

Mid $300k’s

• Historic Downtown • Gorgeous Wooded Backyard • Screened Porch and Large Deck

$539,000

71 CR 141

• 5 BR/4 1/2 Bath on 6.3 acres • In-ground saltwater pool • White Oak Hardwood Floors

BRAND NEW! Craftsman style, Cedar shake shingles, walking trail, near medical community off South Lamar.

121 Cypress Glenn • 3 Bed/2 Bath • Fenced in Backyard • Stand Alone Unit

$688,285

662.234.5621 1923 University Ave Oxford, MS 38655 • Each office independently owned and operated. All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed and is subject to change without notice.

$127,000