Kudos – Fall 2016

Future Rural Physicians

Kaleb Barnes of Booneville and Judi Beth McMillen of Mantachie, juniors at the University of Mississippi, along with Cal Wilkerson, a senior from Woodville, have been selected to participate in the undergraduate portion of the Mississippi Rural Physicians Scholarship Program. Created in 2007, MRPSP identifies college sophomores and juniors who demonstrate the necessary commitment and academic achievement to become competent, well-trained rural primary care physicians in the state. The program offers undergraduate academic enrichment and a clinical experience in a rural setting.

Phi Kappa Phi Fellow

University of Mississippi pharmacy student Meghan Wagner has been named a 2016 fellow of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, which recognizes academic excellence in higher education. This marks the second year in a row that an Ole Miss student has won a fellowship from Phi Kappa Phi, which is the oldest honor society that recognizes all academic disciplines. The honor society honors 57 students a year from around the country with fellowships.

Robotics Volunteer

Mannie Lowe, a staff member at the University of Mississippi, is the 2016 recipient of the International Volunteer of the Year Award from FIRST, an organization that promotes an interest in STEM fields among students, with programs such as the FIRST Tech Challenge robotics competition for middle- and high-schoolers. As this year’s honoree, Lowe, a program manager at UM’s Center for Mathematics & Science Education, was selected from more than 200,000 volunteers in 80 countries worldwide for his more than 12 years of service to the organization.

Athletics Donations Climb

The Ole Miss Athletics Foundation collected $45.6 million in cash contributions, a new record, from donors in the fiscal year that ended June 30. The annual contributions break the previous high of $35.2 million in cash donations set the previous fiscal year.

Poet Laureate

Gov. Phil Bryant has named noted poet and University of Mississippi educator Beth Ann Fennelly as Mississippi’s poet laureate. The prize-winning author will spend the next four years as the official state poet while working to make poetry more accessible to Mississippians. Fennelly is director of the UM Master of Fine Arts in creative writing program, and she teaches poetry and nonfiction writing at Ole Miss. She will leave her position as director, which she’s held for six years, to fulfill her new duties.

Onward and Upward

The first-ever recipients of the four-year Everett-Williams Memorial Scholarship have graduated from the University of Mississippi, and their futures both appear bright. Logan Wilson, of Hattiesburg, earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the university in May, and Davelin Woodard, of Oxford, received a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the UM Medical Center in Jackson.

Photos by Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Olympic Champions

Former University of Mississippi great Brittney Reese (BA 11) added another shiny medal to her collection with a world-class long jump performance en route to silver at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

And Sam Kendricks (BGS 15) captured a bronze medal in the men’s pole vault.