Contact: Sammy McDavid
R. Rodney Foil
Nearly 850 students are scheduled to graduate Aug. 6 at Mississippi State.
The graduation program begins at 10 a.m. in Humphrey Coliseum. R. Rodney Foil, the university's vice president emeritus for agriculture, forestry and veterinary medicine, will deliver the commencement address.
Foil retired last month after a 30-year MSU administrative career that included leadership of the forestry department, School (now College) of Forest Resources, Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, and, for the past 13 years, Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine.
A Bogalusa, La., native, he was a faculty member for 11 years at Louisiana State University before coming to MSU in 1969. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees from LSU and a doctorate from Duke University.
Among a long list of academic and professional honors, Foil has been recognized by the Society of American Foresters, Mississippi Seedsmen Association, MSU's veterinary college, and LSU's School of Forestry and Wildlife Management, among others.
He has held numerous leadership positions in the Society of American Foresters and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. He also has served on a variety of governmental bodies studying agriculture- and forestry-related issues.