OXFORD, Miss. – Outstanding students from all disciplines and the top teacher on campus are to be recognized Thursday (April 3) at the University of Mississippi’s 65th annual Honors Day Convocation.
The convocation begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Ford Center for the Performing Arts. Forty-six students are to be awarded Marcus Elvis Taylor Memorial Medals for academic excellence and one faculty member is to be recognized as the campuswide Elsie M. Hood Outstanding Teacher of the Year.
At separate ceremonies, new members are to be inducted into the university’s top two student honor societies. Phi Kappa Phi has scheduled a ceremony Thursday at 3 p.m. in the Ford Center. Phi Beta Kappa holds its ceremony Friday (April 4) at 2 p.m. in the Paul B. Johnson Commons Ballroom.
Honors Day convocation guest speaker is David Willson, UM’s band director and 2007 Hood Award recipient. A reception immediately following the ceremony takes place in the Ford Center’s orchestra level lobby.
The Taylor Medals, established in 1904, are the university’s highest academic award and recognize no more than 1 percent of the student body each year. The Hood Award was first given in 1966 and allows faculty, staff, students and alumni to nominate a deserving professor for superior classroom teaching.
Phi Kappa Phi recognizes outstanding scholarship in all academic disciplines. University Attorney Lee Tyner is the keynote speaker for that ceremony, where 120 students will be inducted.
Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious liberal arts honor society, is inducting 70 students this year. The keynote speaker for the Phi Beta Kappa induction is Howard Lenhoff, professor emeritus at the University of California-Irvine.
For more information or assistance related to a disability, contact the Provost’s Office at 662-915-5974.