Contact: Joe Farris
A Gulf Coast banker and civic leader, the CEO of a major national corporation and a former dean of engineering will receive the first honorary degrees awarded by Mississippi State University.
Honorary doctorates will be awarded during commencement ceremonies on May 13 to:
--Leo W. Seal Jr., chairman and CEO of Hancock Bank in Gulfport;
--John H. Bryan Jr., chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Sara Lee Corp. and a native of West Point; and
--Harry Charles F. Simrall, dean of engineering at Mississippi State until his retirement in 1978.
"These individuals epitomize the qualities of energetic and far-sighted leadership combined with a deep commitment to service in their occupations and in their communities," said President Malcolm Portera. "They express through their lives and work the principles that The People's University stands for and hopes to inculcate in future generations of students."
Mississippi State will be awarding honorary degrees for the first time since the College Board authorized the practice a year ago. The honorees were approved by the board in March.
Seal is to receive the Doctor of Public Service degree. He has been active for 50 years in public service on a local, state, and national level, working especially for the advancement of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
He has served on the boards of the Mississippi Economic Council and Mississippi Power Co. and currently serves on the Mississippi Export Railroad Board, the Bank of Wiggins board of directors, the Gulf Coast Economic Development Council, and the Gulf Coast Community Foundation. He is past president of the Mississippi Bankers Association.
Seal began his career at Hancock Bank in 1947 while a student at Mississippi State, where he was a lineman for the football team. He received a bachelor's degree in banking and finance in 1949 after serving in the U.S. Army during World War II.
He has supported his alma mater through financial contributions and as a member of Alumni Association, the M-Club Alumni Association, and as an officer or member of the board of directors of the Mississippi State University Foundation, the Bulldog Foundation Inc., and the Bulldog Club. A native of Bay St. Louis, he is a 1942 graduate of Bay St. Louis High School.
Bryan is to receive the Doctor of Humane Letters degree. An active supporter of the arts, he is a member of the Trustees Council of the National Gallery of Art and a member of the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. He has received France's Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur, Holland's Order of Orange Nassau, and the National Humanitarian Award of the National Conference of Christians and Jews.
Bryan serves on the boards of directors of Amoco, First Chicago NBD Corp., and General Motors, and was named executive of the year in 1997 by the French-American Chamber of Commerce. He became president and a director of Sara Lee in 1974, was named chief executive officer a year later, and was elected chairman in 1976.
Bryan's father founded Bryan Foods in West Point. The company is now a subsidiary of packaged food and consumer products giant Sara Lee. John Bryan Jr. was a student at Mississippi State in 1959-60 and is an economics and business graduate of Rhodes College in Memphis.
Professor and Dean Emeritus of Engineering Simrall will receive the Doctor of Science honorary degree. He retired after 44 years with the university and a career that had nationwide impact on the engineering profession and engineering education.
Simrall graduated from Mississippi State with a degree in electrical engineering in 1934 and another in mechanical engineering a year later. After graduate work at the University of Illinois, he became a professor, department head, dean of engineering, director of the Engineering and Industrial Research Station, and director of the Engineering Extension Service.
His work as a member of the National Council of Engineering Examiners to establish standards for professional engineering registration was recognized by the Council with its Distinguished Service Award in 1971. He also was Engineer of the Year of the Mississippi Society of Professional Engineers in 1963, Mississippi State's Alumnus of the Year in 1963, and a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.
Simrall served as president of the Mississippi Society for Professional Engineers and the National Society of Professional Engineers. He helped establish the university's first computing center and supported research programs including the Raspet Flight Research Laboratory and work that led to creation of the National Science Foundation/MSU Engineering Research Center.