Governor Phil Bryant issued the following press release:
Governor Bryant Appoints Four to IHL Board
JACKSON—Gov. Phil Bryant today announced four appointees to the
Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning. The appointees are Thomas Duff of Hattiesburg, Glenn McCullough Jr. of Tupelo, Dr. Alfred McNair Jr. of Gautier
and Eddie “Chip” Morgan Jr. of Leland.
Appointees must be confirmed by the Mississippi Senate. Each appointee will serve a nine-year term beginning May 9, 2015.
“Mississippi’s
public universities serve a vital function in our state. They educate
students, pioneer research, serve as catalysts for economic development
and are
anchors in their communities,” Gov. Phil Bryant said. “These appointees
bring a wealth of experience and perspective to the table, and I know
they will help ensure the success of our higher education system.”
Chip Morgan will represent the 1st Supreme Court District and will succeed Bob Owens. Thomas Duff and Dr. Alfred McNair will represent the 2nd
Supreme Court District. Duff will succeed Robin Robinson, and McNair
will succeed Ed Blakeslee. Glenn McCullough Jr. will represent the 3rd Supreme Court District and will succeed Aubrey Patterson.
About the Appointees
Thomas Duff
Businessman
Thomas Duff is a native of Columbia, Miss. He and his brother Jim Duff
co-own and operate Duff Capital Investors, which is comprised of eight
businesses
employing 8,400 people. Seven of the eight companies are headquartered
in Mississippi and employ 4,300 people. The Duff companies include
Southern Tire Mart, KLLM Transport Services, Frozen Food Express, T.K.
Stanley Oilfield Services, Forest Products Transports,
T.L. Wallace Construction, Pine Belt Ford and Pine Belt Chevrolet. Duff
holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the
University of Southern Mississippi.
“I’m
very honored to receive this appointment by Governor Bryant to serve on
the IHL Board of Trustees, and I look forward to working closely with
each of our public
universities to reach our shared goal of advancing our state together,”
Duff said. “Mississippi’s public universities are incredibly
important to the current and future success of our state, as they are
providing the research and instruction necessary
to bring about the jobs of tomorrow.”
Dr. Alfred McNair
Dr.
Alfred McNair is a gastroenterologist and owner of Digestive Health
Center, PA in Ocean Springs, Miss. He is the president and founder of
Mississippi Coast Physicians,
LLC, of Mississippi Center for Autism and Related Developmental
Disabilities and of Savannah Pines, LLC. Dr. McNair is chief of medical
staff at Biloxi Regional Medical Center. He served as a member of the
Mississippi State Board of Health from 2002-2005 and
as vice chairman of the Board of Health from 2006-2009. He graduated
summa cum laude from Tougaloo College with a bachelor’s degree in
chemistry. Dr. McNair attended medical school at Columbia University,
completed his medical residency at Columbia Presbyterian
Medical Center in New York and completed gastroenterology fellowships
at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center and Stanford University.
"A healthy Mississippi is an educated Mississippi,”
Dr. McNair said. “Our manifest destiny as a state is intertwined
with our ability to offer affordable, accessible and academically
challenging higher educational opportunities to our citizens."
Glenn McCullough Jr.
Glenn
McCullough Jr. is former chairman of Tennessee Valley Authority. He was
named to TVA board in 1999 by President Bill Clinton and was named
chairman of the board
by President George W. Bush. Under his leadership, TVA achieved record
performance in power generation, environmental improvement and community
and economic development. McCullough was elected mayor of Tupelo in
1997 and served until his appointment to TVA.
He also served as director of the Appalachian Regional Commission from
1993-1997 by appointment from Gov. Kirk Fordice. He holds a bachelor’s
degree in agricultural economics from Mississippi State University.
“I
am thankful to Governor Bryant for this opportunity and look forward to
serving with my fellow board members to advance Mississippi through our
public universities,” McCullough said.
Chip Morgan
Chip
Morgan has served as executive vice president of Delta Council since
1982. In this role he has developed strategies and input from Delta
Council on national
farm policy, state four-lane highway legislation, flood control and the
Delta Health Alliance. During Morgan’s tenure, Delta Council has
expanded its role to include improvement of access to health care,
funding for higher education, promotion of adult literacy,
confrontation of critical teacher shortages in the Delta and
development of a higher education curriculum to train high school
administrators in the Delta. Morgan holds a bachelor’s degree in public
administration from the University of Mississippi.
19 comments:
And remind me why we even have an IHL commissioner that makes more than most CEOs, plus this board full of IHL heavies. And 9 chancellors. All to oversee institutions with a captive market and with little competition except with each other.
You hit the bull's eye 11:54. If one of our fearless leaders wants to cut government waste and redundancy, IHL is the place to start.
11:54: you are absolutely correct, but it's the system and the system ain't gonna change. Just reach a little deeper in your pocket. With that said, this looks like four good picks.
For many years I've heard moanings about Southern Miss not being represented in matters of import. Then we got a gubnor who was graduated there. Now we get a heavyweight millionaire (Duff) on this board who has deep roots and gifting strategies at USM, not the least of which is furnishing a refrigerated transport trailer and tractor to haul football equipment to and from games.
Having said that, I agree with the prior posters in wondering (again) what the hell the purpose of this board is.
One of the duties of this board (in fact the only one that comes immediately to mind) is an obligation to make rulings when one institution attempts to encroach on another in the placement of facilities and programs. I seem to recall that this board totally punted (read ignored) that responsibility when Jackson State, under cloak of darkness and silence, moved into Madison where there is already an existing institution of higher learning.
was the IHL added to the state constitution?
IHL most dysfunctional tax supported organization in the state.
Pretty stiff completion (sorry Steve Holland, barber board) but IHL is an ego driven money pit.
2:46
Millionaire would be somewhat of an under statement on Mr Duff's wealth.
I don't recall the trailer furnished to USM athletics as being refrigerated, but the t&t is ticked out to the max.
Now that Patterson is off the IHL board will universities continue to bank with Bancorp South?
2:59: I don't care what you 'recall'. KLLM is the nations largest refrigerated transport carrier and all of their trailers are refrigerated.
And it's 'tricked out', not 'ticked out'.
7:36
http://atlantamafia.com/CUSA_Transports.htm
scroll down to USM on above site ..do you see a reefer on this trailer?
Maybe all of KLLM trailers are reefers, but not the USM transport
Looks mighty tricked-out to me. I think the larger point is, unless the tractor/trailer furnishing is discontinued, there might be a major conflict here.
Should the guv be appointing a major contributor (that's major times five) to the IHL board?
Will there now be changes in Oxford and separation of UMMC from U of M?
Bryant has stepped up the definition of chrony. Or are we simply regressing to the days when boards and commissions were payoff seats with some level of power and prestige?
So let me see if I can understand all of everyone's logic here. Appoint a USM supporter and that breaks all rules of fair play and logic and verges on being illegal, but appoint big time MSU of UM supporter and that is responsible government. So IHL can bank with a big donor, but just can use a transporter provided by a donor. Makes sense to me.
IHL does NOT bank with BancorpSouth. I cannot speak to ALL; but a majority of the individual institutins do not bank with BancorpSouth. People complaining out & whining out of ignorance. So what's new......?
IHL does not buy tires from Southern Tire Mart .... so there we go all is well.
A USM alumni is very rich and donates to his alma mater.
Gov has to make appointments to IHL board.
Gov campaigned on fact that USM felt they had been overlooked in previous appointments.
Gov appoints a USM alumni that happened to be rich and happened to support his alma mater.
And idiots here think there is a 'conflict of interest'?
Same concept could apply to many previous IHL appointees. Many have graduated from Mississippi Universities. Many are rich, and have donated to their alma mater and possibly others.
IHL board members receive very minimum 'pay' for service ($40/day of meetings or there abouts). Frankly, I would rather have successful individuals on this board than individuals that have not succeeded in their professions/businesses.
Go to another post to bitch - this is one time that Phil has actually done a good job with these four individual appointees.
I notice the obligatory black, but, are any of them democrats?
http://www.sos.ms.gov/Education-Publications/Documents/Downloads/Mississippi_Constitution.pdf
This is the link to the current IHL Board provision in the Constitution. It was recently amended (2003) to shorten the terms, and fix terms so that four positions expire every three years.
The Board was originally created to insulate the colleges and universities from political influence, particularly from the Governor - a/k/a Bilbo. The idea that Board members have a conflict of interest because they attended or graduated from one of the IHL schools is kind of naive. Who are you going to put on the Board, Milsaps, Tougaloo or MC graduates?
If we can't consolidate like most states have done, then it's past time to cut loose some of these institutions and let them be private.
It's insane for MS, which has a smaller and poorer population than large cities to support so damn many " Institutes of Higher Learning" and so many community and junior colleges.
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