Paula Deen designer, MSU alum visits campus next week

Contact: Harriet Laird

STARKVILLE, Miss.--Mississippi State graduate Brandon Branch, design director for Paula Deen Inc., will visit the university Tuesday [Nov. 29].

Branch, who began his career as a personal assistant for the Food Network television star, will teach a floral design class before signing copies of "Paula Deen's Savannah Style" in the University Florist from 10 a.m.-noon.

Co-written by Branch and Deen, the 224-page interior design book features home decorating tips with a Southern flair. To keep all aspects of the 2010 Simon & Schuster release realistic, they insisted that accompanying photographs be taken during specific seasons of the year.

"This came out of a desire for us to illustrate the beauty of Savannah, while showing America how we live in the South," Branch said of the publication, which took two years to complete.

The 2000 MSU graduate and Tylertown native grew up with a love for gardening and floral design instilled by his grandmother. Those passions led him to the Starkville land-grant institution to pursue a degree in horticulture. (For more, visit www.brandonbranch.com.)

"I had so much fun studying floral design that I didn't think of it as work or school," he said.

Jim DelPrince, a veteran plant and soil sciences professor who teaches floral design courses, recalled recently "how Brandon always made appointments to come by my office and discuss his educational goals.

"He knew what he wanted to do after graduation and really went after it."

For more information on the book signing, contact Sheri Pape of the MSU Alumni Association at 662-325-7820 or spape@advservices.msstate.edu.