Contact: Carl Smith
STARKVILLE, Miss.—Approximately 3,500 Mississippi State spring graduates will conclude a major chapter in their educational journeys this month during commencement ceremonies scheduled May 13-16 in Starkville and Meridian.
During the May 16 Starkville campus ceremonies, MSU President Mark E. Keenum will award Richard H. Puckett Sr., chairman and chief executive officer of the Flowood-based Puckett Machinery Company, and Anthony Wilson, CEO of Mississippi Power in Gulfport, honorary Doctor of Public Service degrees.
Puckett, a 1977 College of Business graduate and its Alumnus of the Year in 2009, is the chairman and former CEO of Puckett Machinery Company, a Caterpillar dealer for Central and South Mississippi. Puckett has served on the board of Trustmark National Bank since 1995 and as independent lead director since 2020. He has supported Mississippi State in various capacities, including as a member of the College of Business Executive Advisory Board, MSU Foundation and West Side Fund Board.
Wilson is chairman and CEO of Mississippi Power, which provides clean, safe, reliable and affordable electricity to southeast Mississippi. He has worked more than 40 years for Mississippi Power and the Southern Company system, starting in 1984 as an engineering cooperative education student in Biloxi. He recently concluded a three-year term as chair of the Mississippi State University Foundation after previously serving for three years as vice chair. He is currently on the Bagley College of Engineering Advisory Council and was honored as the Alumnus of the Year in 2023.
Keenum will serve as the commencement featured speaker for all MSU ceremonies and will award bachelor’s, master’s, educational specialist and doctoral degrees. All ceremonies can be watched remotely via the MSU TV Center’s livestream at www.mstv.msstate.edu, on the MSTV app and on the university’s main Facebook page.
Starkville graduates can invite up to eight guests, and Meridian graduates can have up to four. Tickets are required for the May 15 and 16 Humphrey Coliseum events, and instructions for claiming them have been emailed to graduates.
Humphrey Coliseum guest seating is general admission, and guests should plan for security screenings upon entry. Attendees may leave when their graduate leaves the stage by exiting through the main coliseum entrances. Graduates are asked to arrive at least 30 minutes prior to the ceremony and enter the Mize Pavilion through the coliseum’s western doors.
The DVM ceremony does not require tickets, while the doctoral graduation and hooding ceremony is by invitation only.
For more information, including complete logistics for visitors attending commencement, visit www.registrar.msstate.edu/students/graduation.
MSU’s spring 2025 graduation schedule is as follows:
Tuesday, May 13:
—11:30 a.m.: Starkville campus, Humphrey Coliseum: Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.
—4 p.m.: Doctoral Graduation and Hooding Ceremony, Bettersworth Auditorium, Lee Hall, Starkville (Invitation only).
Wednesday, May 14:
—11 a.m.: MSU-Meridian, MSU Riley Center.
Thursday, May 15:
—1:30 p.m. (doors open at noon): Starkville campus, Humphrey Coliseum: College of Arts and Sciences.
—6:30 p.m. (doors open at 5 p.m.): Starkville Campus, Humphrey Coliseum: ACCESS, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, College of Education.
Friday, May 16:
—9:30 a.m. (doors open at 8 a.m.): Starkville Campus, Humphrey Coliseum: College of Architecture, Art and Design, College of Business.
—3:30 p.m. (doors open at 2 p.m.): Starkville Campus, Humphrey Coliseum: Academic Affairs, Bagley College of Engineering, College of Forest Resources, College of Professional and Continuing Studies, College of Veterinary Medicine.
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