Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A Grenada native and Mississippi State researcher is making a radical career change to head a new leadership honors program at the university.
Cade Smith recently was named director for the new Sonny Montgomery Chapter of the Appalachian Leadership Honors Program. A former MSU plant and soil sciences research associate, he also now is an assistant dean in the Division of Student Affairs, where the ALHP is housed.
ALHP is the brainchild of President Robert H. "Doc" Foglesong, the retired Air Force four-star general who became the land-grant university's 18th chief executive earlier this year. The chapter is a memorial to the former MSU alumnus, longtime U.S. congressman and Foglesong mentor and friend who died in May in his hometown of Meridian.
"Our mission is to prepare the next generation of business, political and academic leaders as they enter America's work force," Smith said. "We will work to, among other things, enhance their leadership skills and instill a foundation of impeccable character."
He said students selected to participate will be designated as ALHP Fellows. The curriculum will be based around "the acronym STARS," he added.
"The letters represent seminars and speakers; teaching and training; analysis of self, peers, case studies, and lives of exceptional leaders; retreats and reflections; and service through action," he explained.
Smith said applications for the first Fellows class currently are being reviewed. Selections will be made in October and the program will begin a regular schedule in January.
A graduate of Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn., Smith also holds a master's from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and a doctorate in plant and soil sciences at MSU.
Observing that "the many challenges facing Mississippi are clear," the Grenada High School graduate said he long ago "set a personal goal to do all I could in life to contribute to the improvement and transformation of my home state.
"Aggressive, visionary leadership is, I truly believe, the single most important component in overcoming those challenges," he continued. "Our success is dependent on an unyielding desire to work collaboratively to accomplish a shared vision of a bright future for our state."
Among immediate ALHP plans is an annual leadership speaker series designed for both
Fellows and the general campus community. A one-on-one mentoring of Fellows by campus and community leaders also will be launched shortly after the first group is identified.
For additional information on the ALHP, contact Smith at 662-325-3611 or cade@saffairs.msstate.edu.
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For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.