The Honorable Ronnie Musgrove
Governor of Mississippi
On January
4, 2000, Ronnie Musgrove was elected Mississippi’s 62nd governor.
His term follows a distinguished career of public service. As
a two-term state senator, Musgrove chaired the education committee.
As Lieutenant Governor, he served as chairman of the National
Conference of Lieutenant Governors in 1998.
Currently, he serves as chair of the Southern Regional Education
Board, the Southern States Energy Board, and Southern Growth Policies
Board; he is also on the executive committee of the Southern Governors
Association, Democratic Governors Association and the National
Governors Association.
In July 2001, Governor Musgrove championed legislation for a
historic pay raise for Mississippi’s teachers. His plan, when
fully implemented, will raise the average teacher pay in the state
from 49th to 19th in the nation. The New York Times praised the
package, saying Mississippi had "put together the kind of package
that continues to elude New York."
The governor also is focusing on providing Mississippi’s students
with the tools necessary to compete in the 21st century economy.
He created the Task Force on Classroom Technology that will place
an Internet accessible computer in every public school classroom
by the end of 2002. Two years ago he unveiled a plan to promote
the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which provides
much needed insurance coverage to the children of working families.
Because of his leadership, an additional 52,000 Mississippi children
have access to health care, an increase of 100 times the number
covered when the governor took office.
A graduate of Northwest Mississippi Community College, The University
of Mississippi, and The University of Mississippi School of Law,
Governor Musgrove is the proud father of two children, Jordan
and Carmen Rae.
Dr. Thomas Meredith
Chancellor of the University System of Georgia
Thomas Meredith
began his tenure as chancellor of the University System of Georgia
in January 2001, overseeing 34 public colleges and universities
with more than 217,000 students, 35,000 faculty and staff, and
an annual budget of $4.5 billion. Prior to that, he had served
as chancellor of The University of Alabama System since 1997.
A native of Owensboro, Kentucky, Meredith was president and professor
of education at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green from
1988-1997. He joined that institution from The University of Mississippi,
where he served as vice chancellor for executive affairs, adjunct
professor of higher education, and executive assistant to the
chancellor.
He recently was appointed president of the National Association
of System Heads, an organization comprising the chief executive
officers of the 51 public higher education systems in the United
States; this spring he was named to the Board of Control for the
Southern Regional Education Board (SREB). Meredith s leadership
in economic development activities in the state of Alabama was
recognized recently with his induction into the Alabama Academy
of Honor.
Meredith holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in social studies from
Kentucky Wesleyan College, a Master of Arts degree in education
administration and supervision from Western Kentucky University,
and a Doctor of Education degree in administration and supervision
with an emphasis in secondary and higher education from The University
of Mississippi. He also completed the Institute for Educational
Management program at Harvard University and was a participant
in the October 2001 Higher Education Roundtable at Oxford University.
The chancellor and his wife, Susan, have two sons: Mark, a medical
student, and Matthew, a first-year law student.
Mark Musick
President of the Southern Regional Education Board
Mark Musick
heads America's first interstate compact for education, made up
of the governor of each of the 16 member states, legislators,
educators, and other citizen leaders.
Before being selected as Southern Regional Education Board president
in 1989, Musick was vice president of the board following service
on the SREB from Virginia, where he served in the governor's office
and with the State Board for Community Colleges and the Virginia
Council of Higher Education.
He has been involved in the work of the SREB for more than two
decades to improve quality in Southern schools and colleges. In
the 1981 report "The Need for Quality," SREB spelled out specific
recommendations that many Southern states adopted well before
national attention to educational improvement and the "Nation
at Risk" report emerged. In "Goals for Education: Challenge 2000,"
SREB put forward educational goals for the South in 1988 that
influenced actions in following years by Southern states.
Musick has directed technology initiatives that have earned national
recognition, including the Educational Technology Cooperative
and the Electronic Campus, America's most successful distance
learning marketplace. SREB's Distance Learning Policy Laboratory
has made the South a leader in solving policy problems that limit
the reach and success of distance learning.
He was appointed by three U.S. Secretaries of Education to chair
the Governing Board of the National Assessment of Educational
Progress that directs the program known as the "Nation's Report
Card."
Musick holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University. He also holds an honorary
Doctor of Education degree from Piedmont College in Demorest,
Georgia, and an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Mercer University
in Macon, Georgia.
Rod Barnes
Head Basketball Coach at The University of Mississippi
Rod Barnes is
creating his own legend at Ole Miss.
His most recent awards include Naismith Coach of the Year, CollegeInsider.com
National Coach of the Year, SEC Coach of the Year, and assistant
coach for the World University Games. Since 1998, the Rebels have
posted four straight winning seasons, four straight postseason
bids, an SEC West title and SEC title game appearance, first NCAA
tourney victory, and first NCAA "Sweet 16" appearance.
A former player for the Rebels, Barnes returned to Ole Miss in
1993 as an assistant coach. Since then, he has helped build a
basketball program that has captured the imagination of Rebel
fans and placed Ole Miss on the map as a basketball power.
Barnes says he has been an underdog all his life. Whether playing
basketball in junior high, high school, or college, people told
him he wouldn't get a chance to play because he was too little,
not quick enough, or couldn't shoot well enough. So he just tried
to prove them wrong.
In high school, he was a three-time All-State performer and an
All-South and All-District pick. At Ole Miss, he was the first
Rebel to record 500 points, 100 rebounds, and 100 assists in a
single season.
But most important to Barnes is producing young men who will
lead productive lives in whatever they choose after their basketball
playing days. That's because he believes the success of his first
four seasons is due to players who first work at being good people,
then on being better students, and lastly on being better basketball
players.
