Life-long learner helps pave the way for future scholars
July 5, 2012
In a perfect world, Virginia Carron would be a professional student—always learning, always expanding her horizons. But as a wife and mother of three, a life of late night study sessions and large tuition payments simply isn’t practical. Instead, she’s found a career that indulges her intellectual curiosity while providing the thing that most undergraduates long for—a paycheck.
A 1989 Mississippi State biological engineering graduate, Carron has turned her love of math and science into a career as an intellectual property attorney, which puts her at the cutting edge of today’s newest technological advances.
“My practice gives me the ability to remain a student forever and that’s probably my favorite thing about my career,” Carron explained. “I continue to use my engineering skill because every time I have a new case, I have to learn the science that is involved with that invention.”
A partner at the Atlanta-based Finnegan law firm, Carron’s clients include computer hardware and software companies, an international chemical and mineral corporation, and the world’s largest manufacturer of hand-made cigars.
Not long after joining the firm, her success caught the attention of her alma mater and provided an avenue for her to become a mentor to current MSU students. Despite her busy schedule, Carron regularly speaks to freshman biological engineering classes and works with the college’s entrepreneurship program. She was the first woman appointed to the dean’s advisory council, a position she has held for more that five years.
“It’s a constant balancing act between my career, my family and everything outside of that, but I think it is really important to give back to the school that gave me so much,” Carron said. “I’ve made it a priority, and as long as I feel that I continue to add something to the council and the students I get to interact with, then this is something I am willing to carve out the time to do.”
Her husband Brent Eiland, a 1989 industrial engineering graduate, has also become involved with the college as a mentor within his former department and the entrepreneurship center.
Together, the couple recently established a StatePride Scholarship through the university Foundation. This unique program provides dollar-for-dollar matching, which essentially doubles the impact of the donation, allowing Carron to ensure that her family’s generosity and dedication will help new generations of dedicated learners can have the same opportunities she had.
“It’s been important to us to support the university in different ways,” Carron said. “We felt the opportunity with the StatePride Scholarships was a fantastic one and we hope our contribution will help the college continue to attract the best and brightest students from around the country.”