Germain McConnell , the co-director of the Mississippi Teacher Corps, successfully defended his dissertation this past week and was confirmed as Dr. Germain McConnell . Dr. McConnell will receive his Ph.D in May. “I'm kind of numb right now,” said Dr. McConnell.

“I'm still not finished with the entire process. It feels weird being called Dr. McConnell.”

Dr. McConnell served as a teacher in the Mississippi Teacher Corps from 1998 - 2000 . He taught math at Rosa Fort High School in Tunica and also coached the girls' basketball team. From 2000 - 2003 Dr. McConnell was the Program Coordinator of the Teacher Corps. From 2003 he has served as both the co-director (along with Dr. Andy Mullins ) of the Teacher Corps and as the Assistant Dean of the School of Education at the University of Mississippi .

“Dr. McConnell has done an outstanding research project for his dissertation,” said Dr. Bobbie Smothers . Dr. Smothers served as the Chair of Dr. McConnell's Dissertation Committee. Dr. McConnell's dissertation focused on the retention rate of Mississippi Teacher Corps participants in education. His research showed that roughly half of MTC participants are still involved with education in some capacity.

In addition to successfully defending his dissertation Dr. McConnell was awarded the Forrest W. Murphy Award in K-12 Leadership. In her official notice Dr. Smothers writes, “You exemplify Dr. Murphy's ideals of a dedicated public school educator who possesses a love of life and a concern with promoting equal educational opportunities for all along with superior insight.”

The Mississippi Teacher Corps is a two-year program that recruits recent college graduates to teach in critical-shortage areas in the Mississippi Delta, in exchange for a full scholarship for a master's degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of Mississippi. The program was founded in 1989 by Amy Gutman, a Harvard University graduate and Dr. Andy Mullins, current Special Assistant to the Chancellor of Ole Miss. Since 1989 more than 300 participants, reaching an estimated 60,000 students, have taught in critical-needs school districts as part of the Mississippi Teacher Corps

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