Kiplinger Foundation honors alumnus with $250,000 gift

(Left to right) Knight Kiplinger, Rear Adm. (Ret.) James Mayo, Austin Kiplinger, and former President Donald Zacharias during the Kiplingers' visit to campus last fall.

When the editor in chief of the nation's first personal finance publication spoke last fall at Mississippi State, he delivered more than just words of advice.

Knight A. Kiplinger of Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine announced a $250,000 gift from the Kiplinger Foundation.

The contribution supports the James O. Mayo Fund for Excellence in Business Education in the College of Business and Industry. Mayo, a 1941 Mississippi State business graduate and the college's first student body president, is retired vice chairman of the Kiplinger Washington Editors Inc.

The Mayo Fund will provide support for faculty professional development within the business college.

Mayo, a retired rear admiral living in McLean, Va., served three decades in the U.S. Navy, as commander of an aircraft carrier, chief of staff of the 65,000-person Naval Air Force Atlantic, and defense and naval attach‚ to Moscow. After retiring from the Navy in 1975, the Clarke County native joined close friend and fellow Navy pilot Austin Kiplinger, then editor in chief of The Kiplinger Washington Editors Inc.

Now retired from publishing, Mayo serves on the college's Senior Executive Advisory Board.