Mary Winn Pilkington

Mississippi State University forms part of a cohesive town-university community with the growing agricultural-commercial-industrial town of Starkville. Located in the eastern part of north-central Mississippi, it is 125 miles northeast of Jackson and 23 miles west of Columbus; it is served by Highways 82,12 and 25 and by feeder air service through the Golden Triangle Regional Airport 14 miles east. Away from urban complexities, the community enjoys many intellectual, cultural, and recreational advantages: the MSU-Starkville Civic Symphony and Chorus; the Starkville Community Theater; the University Lyceum series, bringing professional musical, dramatic, and artistic groups and performers to the campus; art exhibits, plays, and recitals by local and visiting artists; public radio and public television programs through Mississippi Public Broadcasting performances by popular musical groups of regional and national celebrity; frequent intercollegiate athletic events in modern facilities; and a variety of recreational opportunities on playing fields and courts, in neighboring forests, fields, and lakes, and along the nearby Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. Mississippi State University is a comprehensive, doctoral-degree-granting university offering to a diverse and capable student body a wide range of opportunities and challenges for learning and growth; to the world of knowledge, vigorous and expanding contributions in research, discovery, and application; and to the State and its people in every region, a variety of expert services. Mississippi State University is designated as a Doctoral/Extensive institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. It is representative of the American Land-Grant tradition and distinctive in its own character and spirit, born of its Mississippi heritage and the vision and loyal perseverance of those who have labored in its development. Mississippi State University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award baccalaureate, masters, specialist, and doctorate degrees.