Ripley banker to head Mississippi State foundation

A banking executive and longtime Mississippi State supporter is the newly elected president of the Mississippi State University Foundation.

Bobby P. Martin, chairman of the board and president of The Peoples Bank in Ripley, was elected during the foundation's fall meeting on campus. He succeeds Albert C. Clark of Starkville, president of C.C. Clark Inc.

Other foundation officers elected during the meeting include vice president--Leo W. Seal Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Hancock Bank, Gulfport; treasurer--S. Bryce Griffis, president of Sturgis Timber Co., Starkville.

"We are making great strides at Mississippi State in fund raising, and I want to continue the success the foundation has had through the leadership of Albert Clark," Martin said. "The biggest goal is to complete the university's major gifts campaign in the next two years.

"The campaign has put us in a position to do great things at Mississippi State, and the money raised will serve as a catalyst for the future success of the university."

Mississippi State currently is involved in its first-ever major gifts effort with a goal to raise $110 million to support university priorities. To date, more than $96 million has been donated or pledged to The Campaign for Mississippi State: To Serve Mississippi . . . and Beyond, a five-year effort scheduled to end in June 1997.

Martin, who received his bachelor's degree in agronomy in 1956, leads the foundation that has helped raise more than $120 million for the university since its incorporation in 1963.

Martin said funds received go to support student scholarships and fellowships; endow faculty chairs and professorships; and purchase new classroom and laboratory equipment and technologies and library books and journals. Funds also support the university's endowment and construction and renovation of buildings and facilities.

"The university relies now more than ever on gifts from private individuals and corporations and foundations to help complete its important work," Martin said. "This is especially true of our endowment, which ensures long-term growth of the university and support for crucial programs well into the next century."

The Walnut native is a member of the Eugene Butler Fellows, one of the university's premier donor clubs.