Coast Businessman Tabbed as Guest Speaker for Southern Miss Graduation Ceremonies

HATTIESBURG/LONG BEACH, Miss.  - George A. Schloegel, chairman of the board of Gulfport-based Hancock Holding Company, will be the commencement speaker for University of Southern Mississippi spring graduation ceremonies in Hattiesburg and Biloxi, May 9 and 10.

Approximately 1,508 students will be candidates for graduation on the Hattiesburg campus in two ceremonies May 9 in Reed Green Coliseum. The Colleges of Business, Science and Technology, and Education and Psychology will participate in a 1:30 p.m. ceremony, while the Colleges of Arts and Letters and Health will participate in a 6:30 p.m. ceremony.

Graduation exercises for approximately 212 students at Southern Miss Gulf Coast are slated for 10 a.m., Saturday, May 10 in the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi.

Under Schloegel's leadership, Hancock Holding Company has grown into a dominant force with $6.4 billion in assets and a geographic presence that extends along the Gulf Coast from Tallahassee, Fla., to Baton Rouge, La. A recognized voice for strategic economic growth and educational opportunity, Schloegel has amassed an extensive resumé of personal and professional achievement since the 1960s.

Schloegel received his Bachelor of Science degree from Louisiana State University in New Orleans, now the University of New Orleans and attended senior management tracts at Harvard Business School, Columbia University and Northwestern University. He is a faculty member of the Mississippi School of Banking at the University of Mississippi and is a faculty member, trustee and past president of the Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University.

He also served as the president of the Mississippi Bankers Association from June 1997 to June 1998 and is on the board of directors of Mississippi Power. He was the founder of the Harrison County Strategic Planning Commission, known as Coast 21, and serves as chairman of Mississippi's Workforce Investment Board.

A founding father of Leadership Mississippi and Leadership Gulf Coast, Schloegel was selected as one of South Mississippi's inaugural Top Ten Community Leaders in 2002. In early 2004, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour selected Schloegel as chair of his transition team.

Schloegel also was an instrumental business leader in the effort to add freshman and sophomore courses at Southern Miss Gulf Coast. The new Southern Miss Gulf Coast campus location at Cross Creek is 150 acres of donated property by the Hancock Holding Company and W.C. Fore along the I-10 corridor in Harrison County.

Mr. Schloegel is married to the former Peggy Harry of Gulfport. They have four children and 10 grandchildren.

All Southern Miss graduation ceremonies are open to the public with seating on a first-come, first-served basis.

Hattiesburg guests unable to physically negotiate the steps in Reed Green Coliseum should enter through the Fourth Street North entrance for assistance. All guests and candidates for graduation with physical disabilities may contact the Office of Disability Studies at 601.266.5024 for assistance.

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