Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Gov. Haley Barbour and Will Carpenter, an international advocate for the prohibition of chemical and biological warfare, will deliver the commencement addresses Dec. 9 and 10 at Mississippi State.
More than 1,300 students are scheduled to receive degrees at the conclusion of the fall semester. Continuing a change that began last year to better accommodate large classes, university graduation now is split between Friday evening and Saturday morning ceremonies in Humphrey Coliseum.
Carpenter, an MSU alumnus who also will receive an honorary doctorate in science, speaks during the 7 p.m. program on the 9th. His audience will include degree candidates in the Bagley College of Engineering; graduate and doctoral programs of the College of Veterinary Medicine; College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, including its School of Human Sciences; and the colleges of Forest Resources and Education.
Barbour, who has received national recognition for leadership during the Hurricane Katrina preparation and recovery phases, will deliver the 10 a.m. address on the 10th. His audience will include those in the College of Arts and Sciences; College of Architecture, Art and Design, and College of Business and Industry, including its School of Accountancy.
Carpenter, a 1952 MSU agronomy graduate, retired in 1992 as vice president and general manager of the Monsanto Company's New Products Division. He also holds master's and doctoral degrees in plant physiology from Purdue University.
Based on the combined experiences of his education and career, the Chesterfield, Mo., resident also has become a national figure in the development of biotechnology in industry and academia.
During more than three decades with Monsanto, he held a succession of leadership positions. Following retirement, he was the 1992-94 board of directors chairman at Agridyne Technologies Inc., an agricultural biotechnology company, and an MSU executive-in-residence 1992-95.
Among other posts, he also has served as co-chair of the Science Advisory Board of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and was the Chemical Manufacturers Association representative to United States-organized negotiations in chemical warfare disarmament.
Carpenter has received several national honors, including the Hilliard Roderick Prize and Medal in Science, Arms Control and International Security and the Distinguished Achievement in Agriculture Award of Gamma Sigma Delta honor society.
Barbour, a Yazoo City native and University of Mississippi Law School graduate, was elected Mississippi's 63rd chief executive in November of 2003.
After taking office, he organized "Momentum Mississippi," a long-range economic development strategy group composed of business and community leaders. He also worked closely with the Mississippi Legislature to pass the Tort Reform Act of 2004, which the Wall Street Journal called "one of the most comprehensive legal reform bills in the nation."
Prior to becoming governor, Barbour was founder and longtime chair and chief executive officer of Barbour Griffith and Rogers, a leading Washington, D.C., lobbying firm.
Among other work in the political arena, he was a two-term chairman of the Republican National Committee. During that time, the party won control of both houses of Congress for the first time in 40 years and the number of Republican governors nearly doubled.
During the Reagan Administration, he directed the White House Office of Political Affairs for two years.