Alumni Fellows 2014
The MSU Alumni Association will welcome the 2014 class of Alumni Fellows on-campus Oct. 30-Nov. 1, 2014. The group will be honored in conjunction with the MSU vs. Arkansas football game.
Alumni Fellows - 2014
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences - Mr. Bryan S. Wilson
Mr. Bryan S. Wilson
Bryan S. Wilson has been selected as Alumni Fellow for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences for 2014.
A Mississippi native, Wilson was born in Tupelo and raised in Fulton. He earned two entomology degrees from MSU--a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in 1982 and 1984, respectively.
Since graduation, Wilson has worked in numerous positions with companies including Wilson Ag Service, BASF Corp., and United Agri Products. He is currently managing partner of Tacoma Ag LLC, the company he founded in 2009. Tacoma Ag LLC is a producer of generic crop chemicals for sale and use across the United States.
Throughout his career, Wilson has continued to draw from the connections he made during his years at Mississippi State. He says that MSU provided knowledge and skills that have helped him become successful in his career. He also says that the greatest value of his MSU degree is that it helped him build lifelong friendships and contacts.
Wilson is involved with several organizations including the CREATE Foundation, Itawamba FIRST Foundation, Itawamba County Development Council, and CropLife America. He is also a member of the MSU Bulldog Club board of directors.
When Wilson was asked about his fondest memory of Mississippi State, he recalled the MSU vs. Alabama game on Nov. 1, 1980, in Jackson. MSU beat Alabama six to three, breaking Bear Bryant’s 200 winning game streak.
Wilson lives with his wife Cindy, also a MSU graduate, in Fulton. The couple met on campus and their daughter, Laine, is currently an MSU freshman.
College of Architecture, Art and Design
Mrs. Melodi E. Terhune
Melodi E. Terhune has been selected as Alumni Fellow for the College of Architecture, Art and Design for 2014.
Equipped with a broad range of skills, Terhune is a Senior Certified Interior Designer with 14 years of experience in architectural and interior design. She currently is an associate with Clark Nexsen in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and is a LEED Accredited Professional.
Born in Morganton, North Carolina, Terhune was raised in Melbourne, Florida, to parents who were natives of Mississippi. She graduated from Mississippi State in 2004 with a Bachelor of Science in human sciences with a concentration in interior design.
Terhune says she is extremely gratified that she took the extra step to attain a minor in fine arts.
“The additional photography and art classes I took challenged me creatively and as a person. They expanded the way I look at things and dared me to view the world around me in a more creative and sometimes unconventional way.”
Approaching projects in a detailed and problem-solving manner is something she has always done, and she brings these skills to organizations she serves. Currently, she is a member of the interior design advisory boards of Mississippi State University and Tidewater Community College in Norfolk, Virginia, and is past president of the Virginia Chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers.
Terhune believes that the professors at Mississippi State truly helped aid in the success she achieved in her career.
“I am a successful designer today because of the personal interest they took in my development,” she said. “They consistently went above and beyond what was required to be certain their students had the knowledge and skills necessary to be successful in our careers.”
Terhune currently resides in Chesapeake, Virginia.
College of Arts and Sciences
Dr. M. Diane Roberts
Dr. M. Diane Roberts has been selected as Alumni Fellow for the College of Arts and Sciences for 2014.
Roberts received two zoology degrees from MSU -- a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science, earned in 1963 and 1964, respectively. She went on to receive a Doctor of Science from University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston, Texas.
Roberts was raised in Selmer, Tennessee, after her family moved there from her hometown of Laurel, Mississippi when she was a child.
During her time at MSU, Roberts was involved with the student senate, selected as Miss Mississippi State, and was a part of various honorary societies.
Attending MSU during a time of integration, Roberts recalls when the 1963 men’s basketball team defied the Governor of Mississippi by playing in the NCAA tournament.
“I was on campus at the time, and I was so proud of MSU for finally taking the right step,” said Roberts.
Roberts has carried her love and passion for MSU and zoology throughout her life. She has worked at various universities including Indiana University East, Wichita State University, University of Alabama in Huntsville, and South Texas Junior College. At the time of her retirement, Roberts was vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at Indiana University East in Richmond, Indiana.
Following along the lines of her major, one of Roberts’s fondest memories at MSU is when she attended a lecture given by James Watson and Francis Crick, the discoverers of the helical nature of DNA.
Some of her other memories include conversations with faculty and fellow students regarding subject matters, as well as coffee at the campus grill and Sunday lunch at the cafeteria.
Roberts resides in Louisville, Kentucky.
College of Business
Mr. Boyce S. Adams Sr.
Boyce Adams Sr. has been selected as Alumni Fellow for the College of Business for 2014.
A Mississippi native, Adams was born in Macon and his family soon moved to Gulfport where he was raised.
After graduating from MSU in 1980 with a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing, Adams relocated to Columbus. There he co-founded BankTEL Systems in 1992 with the idea in mind to develop software that uses automation to increase efficiencies and reduce costs for financial institutions. He currently serves as its president and CEO.
Growing to over 1,400 financial institutions in all 50 states as well as several foreign countries, BankTEL recently made the Inc. 5000 list and has been recognized as one of the fastest growing private companies in Mississippi. BankTel has offices in Columbus and Tupelo, as well as Austin, Texas.
Mississippi State prepared Adams to work in various aspects of business, from marketing and management, to accounting. His last two years as an MSU student were spent taking 15 hours per semester in addition to working full time.
He says that his fondest memory of MSU is the entire span of his college career, but especially his first and last semesters.
Adams has been generous with his time for various businesses and civic groups, currently serving as a member of the MSU College of Business Advisory Board with a special interest in the MSU Entrepreneurship Center. He is also chairman of the Old Waverly Jr. Golf Foundation.
Adams currently lives with his wife Donna in Columbus, Mississippi. The couple has three children, Boyce Jr., Jennifer Rose and Mark.
College of Education
Dr. Larry L. Box
Dr. Larry Box has been selected as Alumni Fellow for the College of Education for 2014.
Box has enjoyed a long history with Mississippi State. Box lived in Starkville for many summers due to his father’s job as a visiting school instructor. Starkville became his permanent residence when he was in high school after his father accepted a full-time teaching position in MSU’s College of Education.
He holds three education degrees from Mississippi State--a 1966 Bachelor of Science, a 1968 Master of Education and a 1985 Doctor of Education.
“Mississippi State has always been a major part of my life and if required to select a fondest memory, it would be that Mississippi State has always been there,” said Box. “My life would be completely different without the influence of MSU.”
Now retired, Box served as the Starkville School District’s Superintendent of Schools from 1991-2002. His professional experience also includes serving as Assistant Superintendent for the Starkville School District, principal of Henderson Junior High School, and principal of Sudduth Elementary School. He began his career as a math teacher.
Box credits his many achievements to his time spent at Mississippi State.
“My classes were a good mix of practical applications and theory,” he said. “Most classes, particularly at the graduate level, were built around a ‘hands-on’ approach to learning and the learning process.”
Box still resides in Starkville with his wife Florence, who is a retired school librarian. Their son Warren is a human resource administrator in California.
James Worth Bagley College of Engineering
Mr. Robert D. "Rob" Hunter
Robert D. “Rob” Hunter has been selected as Alumni Fellow for the James Worth Bagley College of Engineering for 2014. He is a 1973 MSU graduate who earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering.
Hunter has long been associated with MSU, as his parents Bob and Dean were both graduates of the class of 1951. As an MSU student, Hunter served as president of the Stephen D. Lee Honors program for two years and credits that as one of his major accomplishments while on campus. He also states that his greatest accomplishment “may have been passing Thermodynamics on the first try!”
He is a 1973 MSU graduate who earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering.
After graduating first in his class, Hunter received his Doctor of Law degree from Cornell University. In 1976, he moved to Birmingham, Alabama, to defend manufacturers in product liability litigation around the country. During this time, he worked at the law firm of Lange, Simpson, Robinson & Somerville.
Hunter spent 23 years at Lange Simpson before accepting a position of general counsel for Altec Inc., and its subsidiaries. He is currently Altec’s senior vice president, general counsel and secretary. Altec Inc. is a global provider of products and services for the electric utility, telecommunications and contractor industries. Among his many accolades is having been named to the inaugural Corporate 100, a list of the top 100 in-house counsel in the United States, in 2013. Under his leadership, the 2014 Altec legal team was named best in the United States in technology by Legal 500.
The impact Mississippi State has had on Hunter’s life is easily recognizable and he appreciates the time he spent at the institution.
“The memory that haunts me comes from walking across the quad late at night, sensing the quiet beauty of the campus and taking pride in being part of the long Maroon line who received an MSU education and experiences that would benefit them for life,” Hunter states. “To this day I still feel that when I walk across the quad.”
In addition to his successful defenses of manufacturers in trials around the country, Hunter’s career in private practice has been marked by numerous other achievements, one being representing five of the last six governors of Alabama.
Hunter serves on the advisory boards of the Mississippi State University Bagley College of Engineering and the University of Alabama at Birmingham Center for Palliative Care. He was named a Distinguished Fellow by MSU’s Bagley College in 2008.
Hunter and his wife Carol live in Birmingham, Alabama. They have three children, Debbie McGillicuddy, Kadee and Robert.
College of Forest Resources
Dr. World L.-S. Nieh
Dr. World L.-S. Nieh has been selected as Alumni Fellow for the College of Forest Resources for 2014.
Nieh earned his Doctor of Philosophy in Forest Products from MSU in 1990. Earlier he earned a Bachelor of Science from National Chung-Hsing University in Taiwan and a Master of Science from Virginia Tech.
Nieh worked as a postdoctoral research assistant at the Mississippi Forest Products Laboratory from 1990-1991, where he studied wood adhesives from natural polymers.
Although Nieh says his greatest accomplishment at MSU was completing his Ph.D. dissertation research and receiving his Ph.D. degree, he also says that he made friends with students from all over the world and students in other academic departments.
Nieh says that his time spent at MSU greatly helped him prepare for the successes he has achieved.
His experience includes working as a director of Amino Resin Development with Southeastern Adhesives Co. in Lenoir, North Carolina, and a senior development chemist with Georgia-Pacific Resins Inc. in Decatur, Georgia. He has also been a translator, translating products from English to Mandarin Chinese for various clients, including CNN, UPS, Georgia-Pacific, Searle, and Molex.
“It has given me the professional knowledge, skills and geographical connection to be successful in my field of work,” he stated. “Working in forest products requires knowledge in multiple science fields, from forestry, to basic sciences, to engineering, to systems knowledge, to finance and marketing.”
Nieh’s most recent work includes representing a $20 million National Research Program as Forest Products Program Lead through the U.S. Forest Service in Washington, D.C.
“Learning to work with and seek support from diversified groups of people and disciplines is one of the greatest takeaways from Mississippi State,” he added.
Nieh and his wife Meng live with their son Alexander in Oak Hill, Virginia.
College of Veterinary Medicine
Dr. Wanda L. West
Dr. Wanda L. West has been selected as Alumni Fellow for the College of Veterinary Medicine for 2014.
West is a 1988 MSU graduate with a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree. She also holds a Bachelor of Science in biology from Tougaloo College and a Doctor of Philosophy in pharmacology from the Temple University School of Medicine.
West recalls that the CVM program at MSU was very demanding and that her studies required total dedication and commitment, but she also says that she and her friends made time to have fun, attending faculty and staff parties as well as sporting events.
“I participated on the CVM’s intramural flag football team, knowing absolutely nothing about football!” West recalls. “I had to be told when to go in and come out of the game as a defensive player.”
West was also on the intramural basketball and softball teams; two sports she admits to feeling more comfortable playing.
Her time spent at MSU helped prepare her for the successes she’s achieved by teaching her to be strong, resilient and confident.
West uses her skills in numerous areas, volunteering at various animal shelters providing free veterinary medical and surgical services, instructing karate for children and adults, and tutoring middle and high school students at Enon Baptist Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
In addition to her many publications, West enjoys karate, riding motorcycles, traveling, and watching MSU sporting events on television.
“The friendships and bonds established with my fellow classmates and professors are just as strong now as they were when I was a student,” she added. “These collegial and professional relationships are endearing, and I will cherish and respect them for a lifetime.”
West resides in Churchville, Pennsylvania. She is currently a veterinary research fellow and attending veterinarian at Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. in Princeton, New Jersey.
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