Local students awarded national scholarships
April 29, 2009
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Four Mississippi State students will face the next school year with a little less financial worry weighing them down. Each has earned a $2,000 scholarship from the world’s largest engineering honor society.
The Tau Beta Pi scholarships were each funded by different benefactors as part of the organization’s scholarship program. The award recognizes students who are in their final year of engineering study. Each recipient obtained recommendation letters and achieved academic success while maintaining extracurricular contributions and demonstrating promise towards advancing the engineering profession.
Among this year’s recipients were Bagley College of Engineering representatives Cole Glass, Zachary Jordan, Carl Morris, and McNeill Williford.
Glass, a native of Rock Hill, S.C., is a junior majoring in civil engineering. He currently serves as vice president of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and is an active member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. As an MSU Road Runner, he introduces high school students to the university. He spends his summers as an intern at an engineering firm in his hometown where he gains practical experience in the field of engineering. He is the son of Tim and Lisa Glass.
Jordan is a senior double majoring in computer engineering and philosophy. A native of Muscle Shoals, Ala., he received a presidential scholarship upon coming to MSU. He currently serves as a student assistant for Dr. J.W. Bruce gaining experience with ongoing research projects. He also competes on the intercollegiate Quiz Bowl team and helped found the Sound Society, which strives to connect student musicians and help find an outlet for their talents. He is the son of Thomas W. and Barbara Jordan.
Morris is one of eight recipients of the national Alph Pi Mu scholarship, making this the second nationally competitive scholarship he has received in recent months. A senior in industrial engineering, he serves as president of Mississippi State’s chapter of the Institute of Industrial Engineers and recording secretary for Tau Beta Pi. He also finds time to participate in the MSU fencing club and several musical groups, while conducting research with Dr. Mingzhou Jin. A native of Caledonia, Miss., he is the son of Thomas and Tereisa Morris.
A senior in industrial engineering, Williford has held numerous leadership positions with the University Honors Council including a recently completed term as the group’s chair. In the coming academic year, he will serve as president of the university’s chapters of both the IIE and Alphi Pi Mu, major specific honor society. Since coming to State, he has retained an academic scholarship while maintaining active membership in the Entrepreneurship Club and Phi Kappa Phi along with his other leadership activities. A native of Madison, Miss., he is the son of Elizabeth Williford.
Tau Beta Pi was founded in 1885 at Lehigh University. With its current headquarters at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, the organization has more than 230 collegiate chapters and 505,000 members.