Contact: Allison Matthews

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Twenty-four Mississippi State seniors and May graduates are recent inductees of the university’s prestigious Society of Scholars in the Arts and Sciences.

The honor organization recognizes top university students each semester from all majors who have demonstrated the highest standard of academic excellence, and who also possess a broad and rigorous exposure to courses in the arts, sciences and humanities.

Those selected from the rigorous screening process must have demonstrated a sound foundation in languages, mathematics, science, oral and written communication, humanities and social sciences.

In addition to Mississippi, the 2018 spring scholars’ class represents the states of Alabama, Arkansas, California, Tennessee, Texas, as well as India. They include (by hometown):

BRANDON—Megan E. DeLisle, a May summa cum laude graduate with degrees in political science and mathematics; Lily A. Hebert, an English and psychology double major; and Samuel Douglas Ozier, a May summa cum laude chemical engineering graduate.

COLLINSVILLE—Benjamin Derek Pace, a May summa cum laude biological sciences/pre-dental graduate.

DUMAS—Anna Catherine Fryar – a May summa cum laude biological sciences/pre-medicine graduate.

DYERSBURG, Tennessee—Anne Larrah Johnson, a biochemistry/pre-dental major.

ENTERPRISE—Madison M. Smith, a May summa cum laude microbiology graduate.

FLOWER MOUND, Texas—Madison Anne Rice, a May summa cum laude microbiology graduate.

FRANKLIN, Tennessee—Kali M. Hicks, a communication/public relations and foreign language/Spanish double major.

FRIENDSWOOD, Texas—Olivia C. Williams, a chemical engineering major.

HATTIESBURG—Keirston M. Murphy, a May summa cum laude graduate with degrees in criminology and communication/theatre.

KILN—Katherine E. Grafe, a May summa cum laude graduate with degrees in secondary education/mathematics education and mathematics.

LAUREL—Ryan A. Shoemake, a computer engineering major.

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas—Caroline Danielle Coussens, a biological sciences/pre-veterinary major.

LOS ANGELES, California—Gentry Isabella Burkes, an English and history double major.

LOUISVILLE—Ashley H. Luke, a May summa cum laude secondary education/mathematics education graduate.

MADISON—Jessica Lynn Milner, a May summa cum laude microbiology graduate.

MADISON, Alabama—Michael J. Sieja, a May summa cum laude computer science graduate.

MEMPHIS, Tennessee—Kathleen M. Riley, a May summa cum laude chemistry graduate.

OLIVE BRANCH—Steven M. Weirich, a May summa cum laude economics graduate.

STARKVILLE—Anagha Gopakumar, a native of India and a May summa cum laude biological sciences/pre-medicine graduate.

STURGIS—Rebekah Joy Bisson, a philosophy/religion and English double major.

TRUSSVILLE, Alabama—Jordyn N. Polito, a May summa cum laude chemical engineering graduate.

TUPELO—R. Sumner Fortenberry, a May summa cum laude political science graduate.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.