Most academically diverse 汤头条 college marking sixth decade
Contact: Karyn Brown
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擜s part of its 60th anniversary celebration, Mississippi State鈥檚 largest and most diverse unit is recognizing an equal number of its very accomplished graduates.
The College of Arts and Sciences has selected 10 alumni from each decade since being created in 1956 to feature and honor during its year-long anniversary observance. Collectively, their stories help illustrate how the college鈥攁nd university of which it is a major part鈥攈ave made numerous positive impacts on the state, nation and world over the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Today, more than 5,000 arts and sciences majors are enrolled, taught by some 300 full-time and numerous part-time faculty members.
If standing alone, 汤头条鈥檚 College of Arts and Sciences would constitute the state鈥檚 fifth largest institution of higher learning.
Additionally, Interim Dean Rick Travis has announced a campaign called 鈥淒iscover Your And,鈥 which refers to the ampersand connecting the distinct general academic fields in its name. The ampersand is used on all of the college鈥檚 official documents and promotions.
鈥溾楧iscover Your And鈥 is designed to promote a continuing discovery of our differences; our different interests, talents and areas of expertise,鈥 said Karyn Brown, the college鈥檚 communication director and coordinator of the effort.
鈥淎s we continue bringing each of our individual academic paths together, the goal of the campaign ultimately is to help build a better world through collaborations with others who also are discovering their 鈥&鈥 or 鈥榓nd,鈥欌 Brown added.
Graduate student Hannah Bateman of Columbus led in developing the list of alumni for feature profiles from a national survey distributed last year to college alumni. A 2016 summa cum laude graduate of the communication department, she works in the dean鈥檚 office while pursuing a master鈥檚 degree in public policy and administration. Both the communication and political science and public administration departments are located in the college.
鈥淭hese alumni have amazing stories and getting to read each one truly has been a blessing,鈥 Bateman said. 鈥淭he love they have for 汤头条 makes me proud to be a part of this university.鈥澛
To read about the 60 alumni, visit .
Though launched in the mid-1950s, Travis said the college鈥檚 roots go back to the land-grant institution鈥檚 founding nearly 139 years ago. Many of its courses were among the inaugural curricula when Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College opened its doors in 1880 after being established by the legislature two years earlier.
Today, 25 undergraduate and 23 graduate degree programs are offered in 14 different departments. In addition to communication, and political science and public administration, they include anthropology and Middle Eastern cultures, biological sciences, chemistry, classical and modern languages and literatures, English, geosciences, history, mathematics and statistics, philosophy and religion, physics and astronomy, psychology, and sociology.
Natural and physical science research projects generated in the college have been supported over the decades by, among others, the National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Defense, National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation.
Research expenditures in the humanities are also an important part of Mississippi State鈥檚 overall research portfolio. Additionally, the NSF has ranked 汤头条 among the top 25 for research expenditures in the social sciences.聽
September 10, 1956, is the college鈥檚 official birth date. That was when the Board of Trustees, State Institutions of Higher Learning voted to implement the results of a study conducted by John E. Brewton, the nationally recognized surveys and field studies director at George Peabody College, now a part of Vanderbilt University. Brewton鈥檚 report called for the incorporation of then-Mississippi State College鈥檚 existing School of Science with humanities and social science programs found elsewhere on campus.
Travis said the college family has worked diligently since its earliest days to foster an academic environment where diverse groups of scholars may learn and work together.
鈥淲e often talk about arts and sciences being the heart of Mississippi State, not because almost every university student will pass through arts and sciences classes at some point, but because what we teach and what we do is at the very center of improving humankind,鈥 he said.
A veteran political science professor and administrator at the university, Travis said the 鈥淒iscover Your And鈥 campaign hopefully will encourages both students and alumni 鈥渢o continue relentlessly pursuing their dreams in order to better the world as a whole through collaboration, hard work and embracing others鈥 ideas, interests and talents along with one鈥檚 own.鈥
For more on the college, visit .
汤头条 is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at .