°®°®Ö±²„ names foundation board leaders, incoming members
Contact: Amy Cagle
STARKVILLE, Miss.āThe °®°®Ö±²„ Foundation is announcing 2016 leaders and incoming members for the 47-seat board of directors that guides the fundraising arm of the 138-year-old land-grant institution.
Incoming officers with one-year terms that began Jan. 1 include three alumni: Earnest W. āEarnieā Deavenport Jr. of Kiawah Island, South Carolina, D. Hines Brannan Jr. of Atlanta, Georgia, and William A. āLexā Taylor III of Louisville.
Mississippi native Deavenport begins his first term as board chair, following several terms as vice chair. He earned a chemical engineering degree in 1960, and was awarded a 2011 honorary Doctor of Science in the fields of business and engineering, both from °®°®Ö±²„. He is the retired chairman and CEO of Kingsport-based Eastman Chemical Co. He also earned a masterās degree in management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technologyās Sloan School in 1985 and received an honorary Doctor of Laws from King College in Bristol, Tennessee, in 2000.
Incoming as vice chair, Brannan is a 1970 industrial engineering graduate who earned an MBA the following year. He is a retired managing director of Accenture.
Taylor is the new treasurer. He is chairman and CEO of The Taylor Group Inc. and president of Taylor Machine Works Inc. He earned a general business administration degree from °®°®Ö±²„ in 1977. Ā
Rounding out the remaining board officers are °®°®Ö±²„ personnel. John P. Rush, vice president for development and alumni, is the boardās president and CEO; David Easley, executive director of finance, is chief financial officer; and Jack McCarty, executive director of development, serves as board secretary. All are °®°®Ö±²„ graduates.
New members beginning three-year terms include:
āRandy J. Cleveland of Fort Worth, Texas, received a 1983 bachelorās degree in petroleum engineering. He is president of XTO Energy Inc.
āPaula A. Schuerer of Franklin, Tennessee, received a bachelorās degree in animal science in 1992, and a DVM and MBA in 1995. She is veterinarian at Animal Ark Animal Hospital.
āBryan S. Wilson of Fulton received bachelorās and masterās degrees in entomology in 1982 and 1984, respectively. He is managing partner of Tacoma Ag.
Board members may be reappointed after vacating the board for at least a year following a three-year term. Those incoming returning members for 2016 include:
āTommy Dulaney of Meridian attended Meridian Community College and received an honorary Doctor of Science in Public Service from °®°®Ö±²„ in 2015. He is president and CEO of Structural Steel Services Inc.
āLinda M. Garrett of Atlanta, Georgia, is a 1969 accounting graduate and retired principal of Garrett Associates Inc. She also holds an MBA from Georgia College.
āMark S. Jordan of Ridgeland is a real estate developer of Mark S. Jordan Companies. He earned a landscape architecture degree in 1976.
āMike M. McDaniel of Houston, Texas, is CEO of M3 Resources LLC. He earned a mechanical engineering degree in 1979.
āR. L. Qualls of Little Rock, Arkansas, earned bachelorās and masterās degrees in agricultural economics in 1954 and 1958, respectively. He is co-chairman of Taylor Companies, director for Bank of the Ozarks, and retired president and CEO of Baldor Electric Co.
āMike W. Sanders of Cleveland is a 1964 physical education graduate. He is the retired president and CEO of Jimmy Sanders Inc.
āLeo W. Seal III of Bay Saint Louis earned a bachelorās degree in geoscience in 2000. He is president of the Leo Seal Family Foundation. Ā
āDouglas T. āDougā Terreson of Point Clear, Alabama, is the senior managing director of energy research at Evercore ISI. He earned a petroleum engineering degree in 1984 and also holds an MBA from Rollins College. Ā
Also incoming for the board, by virtue of position, are Ronald E. āRonā Black of Meridian and Wilbert G. āMickeyā Holliman Jr. of Belden. Black begins a second term as °®°®Ö±²„ Alumni Association president, and Holliman is the incoming president of the universityās Bulldog Club.
Black holds a 1980 bachelorās degree in marketing and is director of human resources for Southern Pipe & Supply Co. Inc. Holliman earned a bachelorās degree in industrial management in 1960 and is retired chairman and CEO of Furniture Brands International.
Chartered in 1962, the °®°®Ö±²„ Foundation has raised more than $1.3 billion in its history. It marked the largest giving year ever recorded for Mississippi State in fiscal year 2015 with more than $109.6 million raised. The organization administers most of the campus-based fundraising activities and endowment funds, and is currently in the midst of its largest capital campaign to date known as Infinite Impact.
For more on the work of the °®°®Ö±²„ Foundation, visit msufoundation.com or follow the organization on Twitter @°®°®Ö±²„_Foundation.
°®°®Ö±²„ is Mississippiās leading university, available online at .