Contact: Sammy McDavid
One of the university's better-known graduates is helping launch Mississippi State's 2001-02 Morris W.H. Collins Memorial Speaker Series.
Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck of Maben will lead the Thursday [Oct. 11] public program in the John Grisham Room of the university's Mitchell Memorial Library. Her 3 p.m. presentation will be followed by a reception at the same location.
Tuck, an Oktibbeha County native and 1985 political science graduate, is only the second woman in the state's 184-year history to serve as lieutenant governor. A former state senator, she also holds a master's degree in public policy and administration from MSU and a juris doctorate degree from the Mississippi College School of Law.
While a Mississippi State undergraduate, Tuck was a close friend and Democratic Party colleague of the man for whom the lecture series is named. Morris Collins, who died in retirement a year ago this month, was the first executive director of the university's John C. Stennis Institute of Government.
Begun last year to expand public discussion of major issues, the Collins Lectures are sponsored throughout the fall and spring semesters by the institute, the library's Congressional and Political Research Center and the student John C. Stennis-G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery Association.
For additional information, telephone (662) 325-3328.