Mississippi State University's College of Architecture, Art and Design is hosting a reception celebrating the retirement of William L. Giles Distinguished Professor of Art Brent Funderburk. Refreshments will be served. A North Carolina native, Funderburk is retiring this May after nearly 36 years at MSU. Over the decades, he has been honored by the university with the John Grisham Faculty Excellence, Burlington Northern Teaching Excellence and Ralph E. Powe Research Excellence awards. He also is a 2016 Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award recipient. A fine arts graduate of East Carolina University, Funderburk also has served as the art department’s fine-arts thesis coordinator. Courses he has taught include painting survey, watercolor, watermedia, senior thesis and advanced studio.