Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Officials from more than 40 state and local government agencies are participating this week [May 4-9] in Mississippi State's 2008 State Executive Development Institute.
Sponsored by the university's John C. Stennis Institute of Government, the annual professional training program focuses on public- and private-sector management, organizational development, administrative innovations, academic research, government modernization, and strategic planning, among other areas.
Members of this year's class join nearly 500 SEDI alumni from more than 70 public and private entities around the state. The 2008 participants include (by hometown):
BALDWYN--Kathy N. Michael, recreational therapist at the North Mississippi State Hospital in Tupelo.
BAY ST. LOUIS--David C. Pitalo, executive director of Hancock County Utility Authority in Waveland.
BILOXI--Tiffany E. Hart, division director for South Mississippi Regional Center.
BOLTON--Jennifer O. Wentworth, accounting director for the Mississippi State Tax Commission.
BRANDON--Wendy D. Bailey, public information director for the Mississippi Department of Mental Health; Robert A. Burt II, deputy director of the Mississippi Department of Transportation's Freight, Rails, Ports, and Waterways Division; Mark E. Gilbert, environmental administrator for the Mississippi Soil and Water Conservation Commission; Michael K. Jordan, director of MDMH's Division of Professional Development; Greg L. Nail, director of in-patient services at the Mississippi State Hospital in Whitfield; Cary C. Walt, an MDMH division director; Preston A. Ware, MSH's internal auditor; and Rita Wray, deputy executive director of the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration.
CANTON--Veronica C. Vaughn, a division director with the Mississippi Department of Mental Health.
CLINTON--Jackie H. Breland, assistant director of Hudspeth Regional Center in Whitfield; Brian E. Daniel, director of accounting and finance for the Mississippi Development Authority; and Susan D. King, visual communications manager for the Mississippi Department of Transportation's Outreach Division.
COLLINSVILLE--Lauderdale County Supervisor Roderick C. Hitt.
D'IBERVILLE--Kathryn M. Storr, human resources director of the Mississippi Department of Mental Health's Specialized Treatment Facility in Gulfport.
ELLISVILLE--David C. Welch, risk management director for the Ellisville State School.
FLORENCE--Betty H. Pinion, Capital Area Foster Grandparent Program director for the Hudspeth Regional Center in Whitfield.
HATTIESBURG--Althea L. Fisher, social work director for the Ellisville State School, and Arif Kamal, director of South Mississippi State Hospital in Purvis.
JACKSON--Ethel C. Ewing, assistant to the executive director and branch director for the Mississippi Library Commission; Joe E. Marshall, deputy director of the Mississippi Department of Transportation's Law Enforcement Division; Tonya D. Neely, manager of Mississippi Development Authority's Tourism Development Welcome Centers Bureau; Robert J. Rhoads, deputy administrator for the Public Employees' Retirement System of Mississippi; and Lt. Hilliard White, training officer for MDOT's Law Enforcement Division.
MADISON--Christina H. Jones, a division director with the Mississippi Department of Mental Health's central office; Melinda E. Rush, executive director for the Mississippi Board of Nursing; and Patrick T. "Terry" Winstead, deputy director of the Mississippi Department of Transportation's Outreach Division.
McCOMB--Pike County Supervisor Lexie Elmore.
MENDENHALL--Randolph Dampeer, a bureau director for the Mississippi State Personnel Board.
MERIDIAN--Ember H. Pitts, an adult psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner for Mississippi Department of Mental Health's East Mississippi State Hospital, and Lisa H. Shoemaker, communication director for the Office of State Auditor.
NETTLETON--Thomas W. Adams, Northern District chief investigator and chief of staff for the Mississippi Public Service Commission's Northern District .
OXFORD--Kimberly E. Sallis, director of psychology for the Mississippi Department of Mental Health's North Mississippi Regional Center.
PASS CHRISTIAN--Karen D. Pritchard, an advanced social worker with the South Mississippi Regional Center in Long Beach.
PONTOTOC--Reena Buchanan, policy and special projects director for North Mississippi Regional Center in Oxford, and D.T. "Ted" Foster, deputy executive director of the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration in Jackson.
RANDOLPH--Angela G. Denley, social services director for North Mississippi Regional Center in Oxford.
RIDGELAND--Madison County Supervisor Douglas I. Smith.
STARKVILLE--Benjamin H. Griffith, planner for the City of Starkville.
NEWS EDITORS/DRIECTORS: For additional information, contact LaNell Kellum of the Stennis Institute at 662-325-0215 or lanell@sig.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.