Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Two Mississippi State alumni who have carved successful public service careers since leaving the university will address the latest group of graduates early next month.
Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck, an Oktibbeha County native, will be featured at the 7 p.m. commencement program Dec. 8, while Lee County native and former Tupelo mayor Glenn L. McCullough Jr. will head the 10 a.m. program on the 9th.
To accommodate large numbers of graduates during the fall and springs semesters--and announce the names of all receiving diplomas--the university holds two commencements at Humphrey Coliseum. More than 1,200 are scheduled to receive degrees at the conclusion of MSU's 2006 fall semester.
Students in the Bagley College of Engineering and the colleges of Veterinary Medicine; Agriculture and Life Sciences, including the School of Human Sciences; Forest Resources; and Education will gain diplomas Friday night. Degrees from the colleges of Arts and Sciences; Architecture, Art and Design; and Business and Industry, including the School of Accountancy, will be awarded Saturday morning.
Tuck, who is concluding her second and final term as the state's second-highest elected official, holds a bachelor's degree in political science and a master's in public policy and administration, both from MSU. She also is a Mississippi College School of Law graduate.
After serving a term as a member of the Mississippi Senate, Tuck later was appointed secretary of the senate, where she administered the day-to-day operations of the 52-member body.
Since first being elected lieutenant governor in 1999, she has been a leading advocate for public education, civil justice reform and health care for senior citizens, among other issues. She serves alternately as chair and vice chair of the Legislative Budget Committee, the body that determines the levels of annual funding for state agencies and other governmental bodies.
McCullough, an agricultural economics graduate of the 128-year-old land-grant institution, gave up his mayoral post in 1999 to accept appointment to the Tennessee Valley Authority's board of directors. He served as the federal corporation's chairman of the board from 2001 until his term ended last year.
Before becoming Tupelo mayor, he spent four years as head of the Mississippi office of the Appalachian Regional Commission. Prior to that, he was president, vice president and sales manager of his family's Tupelo-based steel products company.
Most recently, McCullough joined with two other well-known state figures, Nick Ardillo and Andy Taggart, to launch a Jackson-based executive counsel and development firm.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.