Contact: Amy Cagle

STARKVILLE, Miss.--A number of students from throughout Mississippi, as well as from Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and as far as Cameroon and Italy, are ambassadors of the Mississippi State University Foundation for 2015.

The student service organization serves as a liaison between students, MSU employees, alumni and friends of the university, as well as local community members. Annually, the group assists with service projects and activities to create and promote an awareness of philanthropy at MSU and in the community.

In particular, the ambassadors host Donor Appreciation Day on campus to educate the general student body on how critical gifts are to the university, as well as involve their peers by asking them to write appreciation postcards to donors. One of the group's most recent service projects was "Bulldogs on the Move" in which members spent the afternoon with local children with special needs.

Leading the 2015 Ambassador executive council are President Thomas G. Sherman of Greenville; Vice President Caroline Martin of Meridian; Secretary Allison N. Stennis of Ocean Springs; and Treasurer Olivia C. Sanguinetti of Hattiesburg.

Sherman is a senior marketing and supply chain management major who receives the Dr. Marian Huttenstine Freshman Scholarship; Martin, a junior biological sciences major; Stennis, a senior biochemistry major who receives the Compass Scholarship; and Sanguinetti, a junior communication major who receives the Dr. Marian Huttenstine Freshman Scholarship and the Southeast Mississippi Alumni Chapter Scholarship.

Other members include (by hometown):

BILOXI--Sophomore Mackenzie L. Miller, a biological sciences major, and freshman Haleigh Smith, a biological sciences major.

BROOKHAVEN--Junior Ellen Doty, a chemistry major who receives the Dave C. Swalm Brookhaven Scholarship; sophomore Lindsey E. Winborne, a chemistry major who receives the Dave C. Swalm Brookhaven Scholarship and the Lincoln County Alumni Chapter Scholarship; and senior Terah E. Winborne, a chemistry major who receives the Dave C. Swalm -- Brookhaven Scholarship, the Donald Zacharias Scholarship and the Ian Chen Endowed Scholarship in Chemistry.

DOUALA, Cameroon--Junior Kevin Igor, a chemical engineering major who receives the Compass Scholarship.

CLEVELAND--Junior Abbey Bufkin, an agribusiness major who receives the Farmer's Grain Terminal Scholarship and the Melio Sandroni Loyalty Scholarship; and sophomore Elaine Vyles, a biological engineering major.

COLDWATER--Sophomore Erica D. Austein, a marketing major.

COLUMBUS--Sophomore Dylan S. Tribolet, a biomedical engineering major.

CORDOVA, Tenn.--Junior Taylor E. Pegg, a kinesiology major who receives the L.Q. Patton Memorial Scholarship in Food Science.

CRYSTAL SPRINGS--Senior Stephanie G. Cunningham, a marketing and supply chain management major who receives the Morgan Clark Loyalty Scholarship.

FRANKLIN, Tenn.--Sophomore Maria Hensley, a political science major.

GREENWOOD--Sophomore Jay Jackson, a biomedical engineer major.

HUNSTVILLE, Ala.--Sophomore Heather M. Daniel, a liberal arts major, and junior Chase Williams, a marketing and finance major who receives the Word Guild Taylor Backstrom Memorial Loyalty Scholarship.

JACKSON--Senior Jasmine T. Bogard, a communication/journalism major, and senior Shelby B. Hedgepeth, a kinesiology major.

KILLEN, Ala.--Graduate Student Savana N. Alexander, a sports administration major.

LAKE--Freshman Abby G. Hollingsworth, a liberal arts major.

LELAND--Junior Jacob M. Reifers, a kinesiology major.

MADISON--Junior Kelley LeFleur, a criminology major.

MENDENHALL--Junior Mary Frances Broadhead, a communication/political science major.

MOSS POINT--Senior Haley N. Bodden, a biological sciences major.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn.--Sophomore Lauren M. Greene, a liberal arts major.

NEW ALBANY--Senior Roderick C. Erby, a business information systems/information technology systems major who receives the C-Spire Scholarship in Management and Information Systems.

OCEAN SPRINGS--Sophomore Samantha A. Grunwald, a biological sciences major, and senior Garrett W. Somers, a biological sciences major.

PENSACOLA, Florida--Junior Caitlyn A. Fournier, a communication/public relations major who receives the Northwest Florida Alumni Chapter Scholarship.

RIDGELAND--Junior Elizabeth Shapley, an interior design major.

SUNFLOWER--Senior Madison T. McCaskill, a microbiology major who receives the Robert G. Barnett Foundation Scholarship and the Brumfield-Swayze Endowed Scholarship.

SUWANEE, Ga.--Senior Sarah Ashley Jolly, a history/anthropology major.

TUPELO--Senior Allyson N. Parker, a biological sciences major who receives the William and Sherry Berry Loyalty Scholarship.

TREVISO, Italy--Senior Feifei Zeng, an international business major who receives the Compass Scholarship and the Montgomery Leadership Scholarship.

For more on the work of the Foundation Ambassadors student group, contact Erica Way, marketing manager for the MSU Foundation, at 662-325-7000 or visit www.msufoundation.com.

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