Contact: Allison Matthews
Mississippi State's spring 2014 commencement speaker and head of the U.N.'s World Food Programme was named last week to Time Magazine's current list of the world's 100 Most Influential People.
Her listing in the magazine was written by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who said "As a young girl growing up in a lower-income neighborhood on the West Side of Chicago, Ertharin Cousin understood from an early age the importance of a family's ability to put food on the table."
The leader of the world's largest humanitarian organization will be MSU's speaker during May 16 and 17 graduation ceremonies at Humphrey Coliseum. She will deliver her address to nearly 2,800 degree candidates.
Emanuel went on to say, "[Cousin's] innate conscience and connection with the plight of others continues to fuel her sense of mission. Today she is responsible for bringing food to more than 100 million people around the world every year as head of the U.N.'s World Food Programme. Her goal is nothing short of eradicating global hunger in our lifetimes, creating a world where no child or adult knows the feeling of an empty stomach."
MSU President Mark E. Keenum said: "This latest recognition and honor for Ambassador Cousin is indicative of why I feel it so important for our graduates to have an opportunity to interact with her and experience her vision for addressing one of the most serious global challenges confronting this generation. This should be a memorable experience in the life of our university, as Ambassador Cousin also receives an honorary doctorate from MSU in recognition of her globally-relevant service to mankind."
To view the Time article online, visit http://time.com/#70914/ertharin-cousin-2014-time-100/. For the complete listing, visit http://time.com/time100-2014/
For more information about Mississippi State University, see www.msstate.edu.