Contact: Maridith Geuder
Photo by: Megan Bean
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Three Mississippi State seniors are the first recipients of the university's G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery Leadership Award.
The annual $5,000 scholarships were presented Friday [April 13] by representatives of the Meridian-based Montgomery Foundation and MSU President Robert H. "Doc" Foglesong.
The recognition program was initiated by the foundation earlier this year both as a memorial to the longtime congressman and a way to honor outstanding students in the Air Force and Army Reserve Officers Training Corps, as well as the recently formed Appalachian Leadership Honors Program.
Montgomery, a 15-term U.S. representative from Meridian, was a 1944 Mississippi State graduate. He died in 2006.
Selected for the inaugural scholarships are Joshua S. Burnett of Saucier, Aaron R. Rice of Sumrall and Christopher S. Walker of Newton.
"This honor encourages leadership development and recognizes leaders with an academic scholarship," said foundation president Robert "Bob" Bailey. "These three young men have made a personal commitment to the core values of honor, respect, integrity, selfless service, personal courage, and excellence in all endeavors."
Foglesong said he is proud to have the scholarships honor a long-time friend and MSU alumnus who was a champion of military veterans' rights.
"We are pleased that our Appalachian Leadership Honors Program and Center for America's Veterans also both bear the name of one of our nation's outstanding statesmen," Foglesong added.
To be nominated for Montgomery Awards, students must meet academic qualifications, demonstrate leadership abilities and be committed to continuing personal development, among other qualifications.
Burnett, an MSU Presidential Scholar and political science major, ranked among the top 24 cadets in the nation and is in the top 7 percent of his academic class. He serves as director of operations for AFROTC's Arnold Air Society and is the training flight commander for sophomore cadets preparing to attend summer field training. This summer, he will attend a select leadership conference at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Rice, a member of MSU's Shackouls Honors College and a political science major, was one of 65 students in the nation named a 2007 Harry S. Truman Scholar, recognizing a commitment to public service. An Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran who received a Purple Heart and Combat Action Ribbon, he served as 2006-07 attorney general for the Student Association. He is an inaugural fellow in the Appalachian Leadership Honors Program and one of 13 members of the group's advisory board.
Walker is a kinesiology major who graduated, with honors, from East Mississippi Community College. A Newton native, he attended the University of Mississippi before transferring to MSU last fall. He has completed the highly competitive Leadership Development Advanced Course with an overall "excellent" grade. Walker currently serves as Battalion Cadet S-3 training officer and commander in chief of physical training.
During the ceremonies, the Montgomery Foundation also unveiled a bust of Montgomery that will be permanently housed at the MSU Libraries. The artist, Kim Sessums of Brookhaven, also has been commissioned to sculpt bronze busts of Andrew Wyeth, Billy Graham, and Eudora Welty--all of whom, like Montgomery, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
LOCAL EDITORS: Burnett is the son of James and Janet Burnett; Rice, the son of Charles and Deborah Rice; and Walker, the son of Paul Walker of Newton and Alisha Kirby of Meridian.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.