 UM’s 25th Rhodes Scholar is 2008 Honors College grad
Shadrack “Shad” Tucker White is the first University of Mississippi student to receive both Truman and Rhodes scholarships.
Named a Truman Scholar in 2007, White was one of 32 American Rhodes Scholars named in November. He is the 25th Ole Miss student to receive the prestigious scholarship, an all-expenses-paid opportunity to study two years at Oxford University in England.
A fellow of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, White graduated in May 2008 and has been working with the U.S. Department of Education and Pre-K Now, a nonprofit research and advocacy group.
Honors College Dean Douglass Sullivan-González describes White as having “perhaps the sharpest intellect in his class and ... the most effective leader we had seen in years.”
UM’s 24th Rhodes Scholar, Calvin Thigpen, was named in 1998. Since then, the university has produced five Truman, eight Goldwater and six Fulbright scholars, plus one Marshall and one Udall scholar.
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Forbes ranking places UM in top 25 public universities
When economist Richard Vedder was ranking American universities for Forbes.com, The University of Mississippi’s performance surprised him.
Working with the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, Vedder produced the inaugural ranking of 569 of the nation’s best undergraduate institutions. Ole Miss came out 23rd among the nation’s public universities.
“When it comes to undergraduate teaching [one measure in the evaluation], Ole Miss did better than the University of Virginia, Michigan, North Carolina at Chapel Hill and even UC-Berkeley,” said Vedder. “These are top-flight institutions and Ole Miss should be proud.”
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 New football coach gives Fans more than they bargained for
A cheering crowd of Rebel fans welcomed Houston Nutt as Ole Miss’ new football coach in November 2007, hoping the former Arkansas coach could transform their team into a winner within a couple of years.
They set their sights too low.
Nutt, who in his last season at Arkansas led the Razorbacks to an 8-4 season with a triple-overtime upset of then-No. 1 LSU, was about to stage a repeat performance at Ole Miss.
Nutt’s Rebels beat Florida early in the 2008 season, then defeated Auburn and throttled defending national champ LSU in Death Valley to return to the national rankings. The Rebels finished an 8-4 season with a shutout over Mississippi State and a win over Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl.
Quite a transformation for a team that didn’t win a Southeastern Conference game in 2007.
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 Long-jumper competes in Beijing Olympics
With a jump of 22 feet, 9.75 inches earning her a spot on the U.S. Olympic team, Brittney Reese could leap three Harley Davidson motorcycles lined up wheel-to-wheel. The Gulfport native, who first long-jumped for a Coke, did not medal in Beijing, but she made her coach and Ole Miss proud.
“It’s phenomenal for her to accomplish so much in just the last two years,” said track Coach Joe Walker. “She really is special. God has blessed her.”
Reese is the sixth Ole Miss track athlete to compete in the Olympics.
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UMMC staff lead Mobile Disaster Unit
In October 2008, the Mississippi State Department of Health and University of Mississippi Medical Center unveiled Mississippi Med-1, a self-contained 100-bed mobile field hospital ready to respond to disasters and emergencies.
In six to eight hours, the 53-foot-long tractor-trailer transforms into three mobile field hospital units operated by 40 health
care professionals, mostly UMMC staff. The units were purchased with $2.4 million in federal funds.
“As the only academic medical center and the only Level 1 trauma center in Mississippi, our center is pleased to meet its responsibility to the state by helping prepare for disaster,” said Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs Dan Jones. “We’re pleased to be a part of a health care community that pulls together for the good of the state.”
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 World-renowned Physician inspires UMMC’s future
The new Arthur C. Guyton Research Center dedicated at The University of Mississippi Medical Center in September 2008 will house the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Center of Excellence in Cardiovascular-Renal Research, and researchers in other fields, including cancer, obesity and metabolic diseases.
The 191,000-square-foot, eight-story building is named in memory of the legendary scientist and author of Textbook of Medical Physiology, the most widely used physiology text in the world. Cost of the building is $46 million, but total investment will reach $60 million when the top three floors are complete.
“[Guyton] is best-known for his textbook,” said UMMC Vice Chancellor Dan Jones, “but he provides a wonderful example to today’s faculty of excellence in research, teaching and mentorship. He was a giant, and his legacy inspires us to move forward to make the world a healthier and stronger place through our programs of research.”
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Industry, academics are focus for Manufacturing Center
Corporate presidents, plant managers and officials representing 16 industries and government agencies gathered in October 2008 to discuss goals for the new Center for Manufacturing Excellence on the Ole Miss campus.
Spawned by Toyota Motor Co.’s move to Mississippi, the CME will offer several undergraduate programs geared toward lean, efficient manufacturing. The center also will serve as a resource for manufacturing-related research and collaboration.
“We are on the right side of what’s going to happen in manufacturing for at least two generations, maybe longer,” said Governor Haley Barbour.
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 Chancellor signs commitment for Ole Miss
to ‘go green’
In April 2008, Ole Miss Chancellor Robert Khayat signed the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, signifying UM’s intention to reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the next five years.
The first university in the state to sign the commitment, Ole Miss joins more than 500 universities nationwide that are “going green.”
“The Ole Miss Green Initiative presents a wonderful educational opportunity for us to focus on reducing our dependence on fossil fuels,” said Larry Sparks, vice chancellor for administration and finance.
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 Landscaping staff earn award for planting 754 campus trees
Landscape Services staff received another award for preserving and enhancing the natural beauty of the 1,000-acre Oxford campus. This time, the Mississippi Urban Forest Council honored them for planting 754 trees last year, pushing the inventory to more than 6,000 trees, including a Northern catalpa with a circumference of 21 feet and the state’s largest Osage orange.
“No matter where you approach a college campus you only get one shot at a first impression,” said Landscape Services Director Jeff McManus. “We want our campus to make a statement: ‘You are at Ole Miss.’”
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 Two prisoners win freedom thanks to Innocence Project
Levon Brooks spent 18 years imprisoned at Parchman Penitentiary before an attorney called to tell him that DNA evidence had proved he was innocent. A mere three days from freedom, Brooks made a freedom list, a mental list of what he missed most.
“I couldn’t begin to tell you all of the things on that list,” Brooks said, with the grin that has seldom left his face since he was freed in March 2008. “Seeing my mom, eating fish, going fishing, seeing my friends—so many things.”
His freedom and that of another inmate is due to the National Innocence Project in New York and the Mississippi Innocence Project at the UM School of Law. The Mississippi project was created with funding from alumnus John Grisham and Columbus attorney Wilbur Colom.
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 Yellow submarine is one star of Undersea Vehicle Center
A 17-foot-long yellow submarine dubbed Eagle Ray and a boxlike submersible with cameras and a robotic arm were on display at the opening of the new 2,600-square-foot Undersea Vehicle Technology Center at the UM Field Station.
Created to design new undersea vehicles, the laboratory is a joint effort of the National Institute for Undersea Science and Technology, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Southern Mississippi.
“We now have the capability for all our engineers and operators to work side by side at the same location, which helps to create better ideas in a more efficient manner,” said NIUST Director Ray Highsmith. back to top |
