Campaign Background

State of the Future Mississippi State University launched State of the Future: The Mississippi State Campaign in October 2004 by announcing it was at the halfway mark, raising more than $200 million in private gifts toward a $400 million goal.

The “silent“ phase of the comprehensive campaign began July 1, 2001, as a volunteer steering committee began to seek large, leadership-level gifts.

The State of the Future theme was selected because it conveyed to the campus community, as well as to alumni and friends of the institution, the progress Mississippi State hopes to achieve through the effort. Sacky Holdiness, a Meridian grandmother and then-doctoral student in counselor education, was the winner of the university-wide theme contest.

State of the Future goals center around four key areas -- endowed scholarships and fellowships, endowed faculty positions, new and renovated facilities, and campus enhancements. Annual gifts are also counted in the campaign, which will conclude in December 2008.

Campaign Steering Committee

  • Richard C. Adkerson, Campaign Steering Committee Chair
    President and CEO of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.
    New Orleans, La.
  • Hunter W. Henry Jr., Campaign Vice Chair
    Retired President of Dow Chemical USA
    San Marcos, Texas
  • James K. Ashford, Campaign Chair Emeritus
    President and CEO of Tenneco Inc. and CASE International Retired President
    Highlands, N.C.
  • James W. Bagley
    Chairman and CEO of Lam Research Corp.
    Trophy Club, Texas
  • Fred E. Carl Jr.
    President and CEO of Viking Range Corp. and Viking Capital Ventures
    Greenwood
  • Albert C. Clark
    President of C.C. Clark Inc.
    Starkville
  • William N. Clark Jr.
    Retired Major League Baseball Player
    Metairie, La.
  • Hassell H. Franklin
    President of Franklin Corp.
    Houston
  • W. G. "Mickey" Holliman
    Chairman and CEO of Furniture Brands International
    Belden
  • Bobby P. Martin
    President and Chairman of the Peoples Bank
    Ripley
  • E. B. Martin Jr.
    Vice Chairman of the TeleCorp PCS Board of Directors
    Jackson
  • C. W. "Tex" Ritter Jr.
    President and CEO of The Attala Company
    Kosciusko
  • Leo W. Seal Jr.
    President of Hancock Holding Co.
    Gulfport
  • Bobby S. Shackouls
    Retired President, Chairman and CEO of Burlington Resources Inc.
    Houston, Texas
  • James F. "Bud" Thompson Jr.
    President, The Thompson Group
    Meridian