MSSTATE - Key Persons

Dr. Mark Everett Keenum became Mississippi State's 19th president January 5, 2009, following a distinguished public service career. During his tenure, Dr. Keenum has guided Mississippi State to unprecedented heights with an unwavering focus on students - preparing them for success in a rapidly changing world and instilling in them the timeless values of integrity, hard work, and respect. The university has experienced record enrollment growth - reaching a new all-time high in Fall 2021 with 23,086 students. The university is ranked as Mississippi's Best Value College with graduates earning the highest average starting salary in the state, as well as mid-career salary. The Chronicle of Higher Education has designated Mississippi State as a "Great College To Work For" for the past eight years after receiving top ratings from employees on workforce practices and policies. The Phi Beta Kappa Society, the nation's oldest and most prestigious academic honor society, granted Mississippi State a chapter in 2018 after a rigorous, multi-year review. Only 10 percent of U.S. colleges and universities shelter Phi Beta Kappa chapters. The campus has expanded and improved on Dr. Keenum's watch. Mississippi State has completed or initiated capital improvements of $1.1 billion since 2009. Chief among these projects has been the $68 million expansion of Dudy Noble Field/Polk-DeMent Stadium, home to one of the most storied college baseball programs in America and the 2021 NCAA National Champions. The Dudy Noble Field project also included construction of the new Left Field Lofts, all of which opened in February 2019. The Mill at MSU - a $40 million, state-of-the-art conference and meeting complex - has sparked a revitalization of a main community-campus connector roadway. The Old Main Academic Center, a $41 million classroom building and multi-level parking garage, opened in August 2017. A $10 million expansion of Mitchell Memorial Library to house the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library and the Frank and Virginia Williams Collection of Lincolniana celebrated its official opening in 2017. A $60 million project featuring two residence halls and Nusz Hall, which houses the G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery Center for America's Veterans, opened in 2016. In August 2019, the university and its partner, Greystar (formerly EdR Collegiate Housing), celebrated the grand opening of the innovative $67 million College View development. The first-of-its-kind project for any Mississippi university combines student housing with a mix of retail, commercial, and restaurant space. A $16.5 million Animal & Dairy Sciences Building opened in Fall 2019, and a $12.5 million Poultry Science Building opened in Fall 2020. The $34 million Rula Engineering and Science Complex on the university's famed "Engineering Row" opened in Summer 2021. A new $21 million Music Building opened in Fall 2022. The university is also moving forward in 2023 with construction of a new $45 million advanced supercomputing data center that will be built in the Thad Cochran Research, Technology and Economic Development Park, and a new $65 million building for the Department of Kinesiology and the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Clinic, to name just a few examples. A transformational renovation of Humphrey Coliseum is nearing completion for Fall 2023. Additionally, the university recently worked with Sasaki, a leading interdisciplinary architecture, planning, landscape, and design firm, to update the campus master plan to address future growth and development. Fundraising has reached all-time record levels in recent years. Since July 2010, the university has raised more than $1 billion in private support, and Infinite Impact - The Campaign for Mississippi State University achieved its historic goal well ahead of schedule in June 2020. The monumental support of 72,747 generous contributors enabled the university to reach this historic peak of philanthropy and exceed a $1 billion milestone previously never achieved by an educational institution in the state of Mississippi. Priority goals for Infinite Impact secured $247.4 million in scholarship support, including 75 percent growth in new endowed scholarships. Throughout his tenure, Dr. Keenum has been instrumental in expanding the MSU Promise Program, which provides need-based scholarship assistance to Mississippi students whose families have limited financial means. The number of endowed faculty chairs and professorships has also grown significantly. In Fiscal Year 2023, the MSU Foundation secured nearly $260 million in private gifts. This total is a record for both MSU and for any institution in Mississippi. It includes a $100 million gift for student scholarships from an MSU alumnus. Alumni giving reached over 19% during FY23, well above the national average of 8%. Dr. Keenum has served as president of the Southeastern Conference. During his two-year term, he led the SEC Executive Committee, and he continues to serve on the SEC's Content Committee that oversees programming of the highly successful ESPN-SEC Network. In 2018, he was named chairman of the College Football Playoff's (CFP) Board of Managers. The CFP determines the national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. In 2018, he was elected to serve a six-year term on the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, which is the second-oldest state department of archives and history in the country. A comprehensive historical agency founded in 1902, MDAH collects, preserves, and provides access to the archival resources of the state; administers museums and historic sites, including the new Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum; and oversees statewide programs for historic preservation, government records management, and publications. Dr. Keenum travels frequently to Washington, D.C., meeting with Congressional leaders and federal agency heads to pursue research opportunities and broaden the university's influence on the national level. He has also worked closely with state leaders in Jackson in support of higher education in Mississippi. A Carnegie Foundation R1-Very High Research Activity Doctoral University, Mississippi State plays an integral role in economic development locally, statewide, and across the region. Its impact is further felt nationally and internationally through unique collaborative partnerships with peer institutions, business and industry, government agencies, and leading non-governmental organizations. Dr. Keenum leads these efforts because he understands the positive impact the nation's major research universities can have in the diverse communities they serve. Mississippi State is ranked by the National Science Foundation as a "Top 100" research institution, and its annual research and development expenditures have exceeded $300 million. MSU R&D expenditures consistently account for more than half of all expenditures in the state. This research activity is playing an ever-increasing role in Mississippi's overall economic development efforts. Dr. Keenum is immediate past chairman and former member of the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development (BIFAD). BIFAD was created in 1975 under Title XII (Famine Prevention and Freedom from Hunger) of the Foreign Assistance Act. Its mission is to draw on higher education's scientific knowledge and expertise in global food security and world hunger to advise U.S. international assistance efforts in order to feed the world's growing population that is projected to reach up to 10 billion people by the year 2050. Dr. Mark Everett Keenum became Mississippi State's 19th president Jan. 5, 2009, following a distinguished public service career.