Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Continuing close ties with Mississippi State, a Houston, Texas, couple is providing $500,000 to the university for recruiting and retaining high-caliber business faculty members.
MSU alumnus James J. Rouse and wife Julia are endowing a management professorship in the College of Business. Earnings from the gift will support the academic position.
"We wanted to establish an endowed professorship specifically in the management department, because that was my major," said "Jim" Rouse, a 1962 industrial management graduate and retired ExxonMobil Corp. vice president.
"Endowed positions give the university an extra edge in attracting and retaining outstanding faculty, which is critical to ensuring that MSU students get the best education possible," he added.
In 2004, Rouse concluded a 42-year career with the world's largest publicly traded international oil and gas company. After graduating from MSU, he became an employee relations specialist with Humble Oil and Refining Co., which later became Exxon USA.
Following a two-year military leave to serve as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army, he rejoined the company and went on to serve in various positions in marketing, supply and transportation and government relations.
In 1996, Rouse was promoted to lead Exxon Corp.'s office in Washington, D.C. In that role, he managed the company's lobbying and foreign relations programs.
He currently is serving a third term as vice president of the MSU Foundation board of directors. He also is a member of the business college's advisory board, as well as the Bulldog Club executive committee.
Rouse said his professional experience, coupled with volunteer work on MSU advisory boards, has given him a deep appreciation for the need for a high-quality faculty. Business Dean Lynne Richardson agreed.
"Our students' experiences are dependent on great faculty teaching them," Richardson observed. "In creating this professorship, Jim and Julie Rouse are making an investment in our students and faculty."
Richardson said the Rouses long have supported key areas in the business college. These include the dean's discretionary and notable scholars funds, both of which provide faculty enhancements in one of the Southeast's oldest collegiate business programs.
Jim Rouse was born in Libertyville, Ill., and reared in Germantown, Tenn. The former Julia Ann Bennett of Laurel attended Mississippi University for Women and is a former first-grade teacher. They married in 1962 and are the parents of two daughters.
The Rouses also have been major supporters of MSU athletics. Several years ago, they funded construction of a 9,000-square-foot strength and conditioning room at the Holliman Athletic Center.
Additionally, they have donated a 1929 Ford Model-A Roadster. The maroon-and-white two-door convertible is used by the Division of Student Affairs for campus recruiting and related activities.
For more information on MSU business college fundraising efforts, contact Jack McCarty at 662-325-9580 or jmccarty@foundation.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.