Contact: Joe Farris
Bobby P. Martin
Northeast Mississippi banker, economic development leader and higher education supporter Bobby P. Martin will receive the honorary doctor of business degree during Mississippi State's May 11 commencement ceremony.
A 1956 MSU agronomy graduate from Ripley, Martin is chairman of the board and president of The Peoples Bank in Tippah County. The MSU Alumni Association's 1999 National Alumnus of the Year, he has amassed a long and impressive record of public service during his professional career.
He is the former president and chair of the Education Committee of the Mississippi Bankers Association and a former member and chair of the Mississippi State Board of Banking Review. He also has served as a member of the board of directors of the Northeast Mississippi Planning and Development District, president of the Tippah County Development Foundation, and vice chairman of the Commission on the Future of Northeast Mississippi.
As one of 30 members nationwide of the Rural Development Advisory Committee formed by former United States Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman, Martin helped identify problems in rural development and formulate policies to alleviate them.
"Few people have done more to advance the quality of life in North Mississippi than Bobby Martin," said MSU Interim President J. Charles Lee. "His work in banking and economic development, combined with a long record of leadership and service in civic and educational affairs, has touched the lives of thousands of Mississippians."
Martin has devoted considerable volunteer leadership to a variety of local and regional programs, including the Tippah County Fair Association, Mississippi March of Dimes, Tupelo-based CREATE Foundation, and the Yocona Area Council of Boy Scouts of America.
In addition to leading the 4-H Bank Campaign to support education, he helped raise funds for the Boy Scouts headquarters building in Tupelo and was area chairman of the Mississippi Mission Campaign of the Mississippi Baptist Convention board that raised $40 million for Mississippi College, Blue Mountain College, and William Carey College, as well as the Baptist Children's Village in Jackson.
He also is a former member of the board of trustees at Blue Mountain, a four-year Baptist-affiliated school located in Southwest Tippah County.
At his alma mater, Martin is a former president of the Mississippi State University Foundation and president of the Bulldog Club. He and his wife Barbara personally fund student scholarships and provide support for faculty development awards at the university.
As a leader in MSU's Tippah County alumni chapter, he has played a key role in the highly successful Tippah County Alumni Scholarship Program, which supports local students attending the state's largest university.
The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning approved Martin's honorary doctorate at its March meeting. Mississippi State awarded its first honorary degrees in 1999.