Contact: Allison Matthews

STARKVILLE, Miss.--A top New York Times bestselling author who is passionate about promoting reading and literacy is helping future teachers pursing degrees at Mississippi State University.

The James Patterson Teacher Education Scholarships are being established by a gift from the author's foundation to fund eight separate $6,000 scholarships for College of Education students at MSU next year.

"This very generous gift for teacher education scholarships exemplifies the values and commitment of James Patterson and his wife Susan Solie Patterson to quality education," said MSU President Mark E. Keenum. "The Pattersons have become a tremendous force for good in higher education and I'm very pleased to have Mississippi State affiliated with the work of their foundation."

Patterson, best-known for his crime novels, including the Alex Cross, Women's Murder Club and Michael Bennett series, also has written several popular book series for young adults. He holds the Guinness record for the most No. 1 New York Times bestsellers of any author and was the first to achieve 10 million ebook sales.

As a writer who is eager to share his enthusiasm for books with younger generations, Patterson and his wife have made it a priority to support others who impact literacy education. Patterson said future teachers can influence children by helping them become lifelong readers.

Scholarship criteria state that recipients must "understand the importance of promoting literacy and have the motivation and intent to instill in their students an enduring and lasting love of reading."

The MSU scholarships will be awarded to full-time freshmen undergraduate students and/or, in the case of graduate programs, first-year graduate students in the College of Education. Eligible students will be elementary and secondary education majors who have a 3.0 grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) and express an interest in English language arts. All scholarships will be awarded without regard to age, gender, race, creed, religion, national origin, physical handicap, or other protected class.

MSU is Mississippi's flagship research university, available online at www.msstate.edu, facebook.com/msstate, instagram.com/msstate and twitter.com/msstate.