MSU alumni among 'Top 40 under 40'

Nine Mississippi State graduates are among an elite list of young business professionals recently honored by Sunburst Bank and the Mississippi Business Journal as recipients of the prestigious "Top 40 Under 40" award.

The honorees are selected on the basis of leadership qualities and business savvy, as well as aggressive dedication to economic progress and community improvement.

This is the third year the awards have been presented.

Mississippi State alumni in the group include:

• Mark Bounds of Madison, a 1978 banking and finance graduate, president of Madison Realty Group;
• William A. Brock Jr. of Greenville, a 1979 agricultural economics and marketing major, owner of Thompson Brock Realtors;
• Charles W. Farrior of Gautier, a 1982 banking and finance graduate, corporate administrative contracting officer for the U.S. Navy;
• Jerald A. Flowers of Winona, a 1985 forestry major, owner of Flowers' Accounting Service;
• Dan M. Gibson of Crystal Springs, a 1987 business administration graduate, insurance agent with Copiah County Insurance Agency;
• Susan M. Griffin of Houston, a 1991 horticulture graduate, executive director of the Chickasaw Development Foundation;
• John W. Hatmaker of Columbus, a 1979 chemical engineering and 1985 business administration graduate, plant manager of Kerr-McGee Chemical in Hamilton;
• William C. Randle Jr. of Jackson, a 1982 dairy science graduate, owner of the Real Estate Book and a property developer; and
• Teresa Taylor of Louisville, who attended Mississippi State, vice president of Taylor Sudden Service and Taylor Environmental Products and director of W.A. Taylor Galleries.