Browsing: Education

The University of Southern Mississippi Alumni Association will induct seven of its most dedicated and distinguished alumni into its Hall of Fame.

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at The University of Southern Mississippi celebrated the opening of its new gathering space at the university’s Gulf Park campus in Long Beach today with a dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony. The event also marked OLLI’s 10th anniversary serving members along the Gulf Coast.

Two Mississippi State University senior ROTC cadets are being recognized after placing in the top 1% at this summer’s U.S. Army ROTC Advanced Camp.

Neurodegenerative diseases remain among the most complex and least understood conditions in modern medicine, with few effective treatments available for patients and families facing diagnoses such as progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), corticobasal degeneration (CBD) and frontotemporal dementias (FTDs). At The University of Southern Mississippi, Dr. Vijay Rangachari, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, has been investigating the molecular mechanisms that underlie these disorders, particularly how certain proteins misfold and aggregate in the brain to drive disease progression.

Dr. Kimberly Ward, an associate professor in The University of Southern Mississippi’s School of Speech and Hearing Sciences, has been elected to serve a three-year term as vice president for academic affairs on the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Board of Directors.

Mississippi State graduate Ginny Walker Shurlds debuts her first children’s book “Mississippi State From A to Z,” with a special signing at Starkville’s Book Mart on Main Street Friday [Sept. 5] 2–5 p.m. She’ll continue signing copies Saturday morning when the store opens at 9:30 a.m.

Southern Miss marine science professor Dr. Kristina Mojica and Ph.D. student Rachel Lancaster participated in the largest marine debris removal effort in Southeast Alaska earlier this summer. Their work supported the NOAA-funded Ocean Plastics Recovery Project, which removed an estimated 3,600 pounds of marine debris per day from the region’s shorelines aboard the R/V Steadfast.

TikTokers and social media fanatics, it’s time to continue the “Unwritten” dance challenge—this time listening to Natasha Bedingfield belt out the hit song at Bulldog Bash.

The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) has begun construction of a new oyster hatchery that aims to help alleviate the decline in oyster harvests along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The hatchery will be located at USM’s Gulf Coast Research Laboratory (GCRL) Thad Cochran Marine Aquaculture Center (TCMAC) Cedar Point campus in Ocean Springs, Miss. It will be capable of producing up to one billion eyed larvae per year for use in restoration and research, with completion expected in late summer or early fall 2026.

A comprehensive master plan has been recently completed for a new 15-acre district featuring a boutique hotel, restaurants and retail stores on the land between the MSU campus and the Cotton District, developers announced Aug. 20. It is to be named the Crossroads District.

The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) has once again been recognized as one of the most transfer-friendly universities in the nation, earning a spot on Phi Theta Kappa’s (PTK) 2025 Transfer Honor Roll. This marks the eighth consecutive year Southern Miss has received the prestigious distinction, reinforcing its reputation as a top destination for community college transfer students.

Danyell Latham watched as a crowd of Lambda Chi Alpha members celebrated the groundbreaking of her new home Thursday [Aug. 14].

Latham has worked for the university for nearly a decade and has served as a chef for the Lambda Chi fraternity house for about a year. By November, she and her sons, Robert and Kasen Kelly, will have the keys to a house built by volunteers from Mississippi State, Starkville Habitat for Humanity and the young men she sees every day at the university.

This summer, 21 staff members took time off from their usual jobs at the University of Mississippi to dive into some personal passion projects.

They all had support from the Staff Creative Residency program, launched in 2022 by the Mississippi Lab with funding from the Office of the Provost. The program offers a $500 stipend and five days of paid creative time so recipients can complete a project of their choice.

The University of Southern Mississippi’s Pride of Mississippi Marching Band and the Dixie Darlings will kick off the 2025 football season with Pride Preview, set for 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 22, at Southern Station behind the Thad Cochran Center on the Hattiesburg campus. The concert is free and open to the public.

The University of Southern Mississippi Symphony Orchestra–the oldest orchestral ensemble in Mississippi-proudly announces its 106th concert season, “American Perspectives,” exploring the vast variety of American music, from pioneering classics to bold modern voices.

The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) has been awarded a $1.9 million grant from the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) program. The initiative aims to increase retention and graduation rates for high-achieving, underprivileged students pursuing STEM degrees that require Calculus I––a course that can be challenging for many students.