One clear indicator of academic excellence at Southern Miss is our ability to prepare students for national scholarship awards. Our most recent success story is Jessica Shackleford, a junior chemistry major who was selected as an alternate to the USA Today's 2008 All-USA Academic Team. (Only 80 students in the country were selected to the team or named alternates.)
This isn't Jessica's first taste of national recognition. Last year she was selected as an undergraduate recipient of a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for 2007-08, a prestigious national scholarship program for future sciences, mathematicians and engineers.
Congratulations are certainly in order for Jessica and her mentor, chemistry professor Doug Masterson. Two of our very student-oriented deans played important roles as well. Honors Dean, Dave Davies, and Science & Technology Dean, Rex Gandy, wrote recommendation letters and endorsement letters for Jessica which entailed interviewing Jessica and writing multiple drafts until the letters met every detail of the stringent requirements. All this was conducted under the watchful and exacting eye of Peggy Varnado, our office for national scholarships and fellowships.
It really does take a village...