Mississippi State University graduate and Oasis Petroleum co-founder Thomas B. “Tommy” Nusz will deliver spring commencement addresses at Humphrey Coliseum.
Nusz, who leads the Texas-based company, is the keynote speaker for the 7 p.m. May 8 and 10 a.m. May 9 ceremonies.
The May 8 program involves the university’s agricultural, life and human sciences colleges; the Bagley College of Engineering and Swalm School of Chemical Engineering; and its forest resources and veterinary medicine programs.
Graduates of the colleges of architecture, art and design, and MSU’s business and accounting schools are featured in the next day’s event.
About 2,600 students are candidates for degrees.
The university will honor two others — the 2002 recipient of the National Alumnus of the Year award, Charles W. “Tex” Ritter, and Meridian businessman Tommy E. Dulaney — with honorary doctorates in public service for lifetime achievements and continued support of the university.
Nusz, who is a 1982 petroleum engineering graduate, serves as Oasis’ president, CEO and chairman of the board. He helped launch the company in 2007.
Ritter, who graduated in 1956, previously served as president and CEO of Attala Mills, a Kosciusko flour and pet food manufacturer. He also served as the president of the MSU Foundation and Alumni Foundation.
Dulaney founded Meridian’s Structural Steel Services Inc., which employs more than 300 people. He has served as a Meridian Community College trustee for more than 30 years and is a member of the MSU-Meridian Dean’s Advisory Council and the MSU Foundation’s board of directors.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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