For university president leadership is easy as ‘Pi’
October 30, 2007
Having reflected the ideals and values of Tau Beta Pi throughout his career, Mississippi State University President Robert H. “Doc” Foglesong has earned the national honor society’s highest professional honor. The group, which rates as the world’s largest professional engineering organization, recently honored him as the 2007 Distinguished Alumnus.
The award was established to honor alumni who demonstrate the organization’s values throughout their career. As part of the honor, Tau Beta Pi will award a scholarship in Foglesong’s name to a deserving student member, which is simply another way in which Foglesong reaches out to future engineers and leaders.
As president of Mississippi State, Foglesong strives to establish the university as a leader in education. A chemical engineer at heart, he holds an honorary faculty position with the Bagley College of Engineering’s Dave C. Swalm School of Chemical Engineering. He received his bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees in the field from the University of West Virginia.
An established leader in the military after 34 years of Air Force service, Foglesong strives to help students find and reach their own leadership potential. He is the founder, president and executive director of the Appalachian Leadership and Education Foundation, which seeks to identify, mentor and support the next generation of leaders.
As Mississippi State’s president he has taken an active role in helping the university reach out to an international audience and expand MSU students’ horizons by helping them experience other cultures. As part of a global leadership program developed by Foglesong, he and an interdisciplinary group of students recently visited South Korea allowing students to gain some of the same cultural enrichment he received while serving military positions in 19 countries.