Retired Mississippi State Vice President for Student Affairs Roy H. Ruby was elected 2017-18 president of the MSU Association of Retired Faculty at the organization’s summer meeting on July 18.
Joining Ruby in ARF leadership positions for the coming year are Vice President Marty Wiseman, retired director of the Stennis Institute of Government; Secretary Margo Swain, retired professor of social work; Treasurer Joe Street, retired MSU Extension Service associate director; and Past President Lawrence Croft, retired professor of physics.
Retired professor of plant pathology Vernon Ammon was named to a five-year term on the ARF board of directors, joining previously serving board members Elizabeth Hawkins, Albert Allen, Gloria Reeves and Jimmy Abraham.
MSU President Mark Keenum presented an annual update on university progress, predicting a fall enrollment of up to 22,000, including a freshman class of about 3,500 with an average ACT score of about 25.
Keenum also noted that $350 million in construction is currently underway on campus, including a $41 million Academic Center housing classrooms, labs, auditoriums and underground parking opening in August.
Also being completed this fall are an $18.7 million federally-funded South Entrance Road, a four-mile stretch along the east side of campus linking Blackjack Road and Poorhouse Road; a $10 million addition to Mitchell Memorial Library that will house the U. S. Grant Presidential Library; and an $8.2 million Meat Science Lab on Blackjack Road.
Ruby said the fall meeting of ARF will feature a program on the future of the Public Employees Retirement System, with the date, place and speakers to be announced.
Membership in ARF is open to retired faculty and professional staff of Mississippi State. For more information about the organization and its programs and services, visit the newly updated website at http://lib.msstate.edu/arf.
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