Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.—A Mississippi State administrator is receiving national recognition for his role as the university’s faculty athletic academic counselor.
For the past decade, professor Steven C. Turner, head of the university’s agricultural economics department, has served as adviser to MSU’s president and athletic director on policy decisions relating to intercollegiate athletics. He also is responsible for evaluating the academic credentials of student-athletes.
Turner is among 12 recently named a 2015 Faculty Athletics Representative Honoree by the National Football Foundation, in partnership with Fidelity Investments, a Boston, Massachusetts-based financial services company.
The annual recognition acknowledges the critical role of faculty in supporting the interests of student-athletes, who also were recognized.
Taveze S. Calhoun, a defensive back on the Bulldog football team, is the university’s National Football Foundation-College Hall of Fame 2015 National Scholar-Athlete. The Morton native and Morton High School graduate is receiving an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class and finalist for the “Academic Heisman.”
Calhoun, a May cum laude graduate in interdisciplinary studies, is the fourth MSU player named a NFF national scholar-athlete since that program began. He currently is pursuing a master of arts in teaching degree in community college education.
Turner is being honored as part of the 2015 NFF Faculty Salutes program, said Steve Hatchell, NFF President and CEO.
“For more than a century, faculty athletics representatives have played a critical role in the overall educational experience of our country’s student-athletes,” Hatchell said. “We are proud to join Fidelity Investments in continuing to highlight their contributions and pivotal support in ensuring that our nation’s student-athletes succeed on and off the field.”
For more on MSU’s athletic academics office, visit www.hailstate.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=16800&ATCLID=204803401 and www.hailstate.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=16800&ATCLID=204803166.
MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.