MSU moves ahead with vice presidential search

Contact: Maridith Geuder

STARKVILLE, Miss.--A search committee has been named, campus input is being sought and Mississippi State will move ahead with the process to name a new vice president responsible for alumni relations and fund raising.

Campus meetings with constituent groups, including staff members of the two areas and volunteer leadership, will be held Monday, said Bill Kibler, MSU vice president for student affairs and search chair.

"We've tried to put together a broad-based committee that can help us identify the strongest candidate so that we have someone in place by late spring or early summer of 2007," he said.

To more accurately reflect the position's responsibilities, it is now titled vice president for development and alumni. The previous position, held since 1999 by Dennis A. Prescott, was titled vice president for external affairs.

In January, Prescott will become vice president for development at Baylor University in his native state of Texas.

In addition to Kibler, committee members are:

--Jimmy Abraham, interim vice president and executive director of the MSU Alumni Association;

--Richard Adkerson, president of the MSU Foundation;

--Betty Black, national president of the MSU Alumni Association;

--Tim Chamblee, associate professor of poultry science;

--Linda Coats, interim department head and associate professor, curriculum and instruction;

--George Dunn, student representative;

--David Easley, chief financial officer, MSU Foundation;

--Bryce Griffis, past president, MSU Foundation;

--Bo Hemphill, director of development, MSU College of Business and Industry;

--Matthew Kimbrough, president of the Alumni Delegates, a student ambassador group;

--Kirk Schulz, dean, Bagley College of Engineering;

--Jim West, dean, College of Architecture, Art and Design; and

--Keith Winfield, past president, Alumni Association.

For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.