100 Outstanding Alumni!
In honor of our centennial anniversary we want to honor 100 Outstanding Alumni!
1. Dr. Ronald Greeley completed both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at Mississippi State in 1962 and 1963. He went on to receive a PhD from University of Missouri. He worked as a paleontologist for Standard Oil Company of California as well as at NASA’s Ames Research Center. He began a career as a professor at Arizona State University in 1977, and became chair of their Department of Geology in 1986. Greeley was an internationally recognized planetary geologist who contributed to a number of lunar and planetary studies and missions including nearly all space probe missions flown since the Apollo Moon landings. He was the director of the NASA-ASU Regional Planetary Image Facility and principal investigator of the Planetary Aeolian Laboratory at NASA-Ames Research Center. Dr. Greeley passed away in October, 2011.
2. James Spann received the certificate in Broadcast Meteorology from the MSU in 1993. Spann is the Chief Meteorologist for ABC 33/40 in Birmingham, Alabama where he has been since 1996. Before that, he worked for WFSA in Montgomery and KDFW in Dallas. He is also the host of the netcast WeatherBrains. Spann received the Broadcaster of the Year award from the National Weather Association in 2012 and the Award for Broadcast Meteorology from the American Meteorological Society in 2013. Both the NWA and AMS awards recognize a broadcast meteorologist who has made a significant contribution communicating weather information to the public. He also holds the AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist designation. He has also been elected to the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Silver Circle in 2013. This award recognizes media professionals who have been in media at least 25 years and have made a significant contribution to television industry. Spann has also consistently given back to Mississippi State over the years by speaking at many events such as our Broadcast Meteorology Program workshop and Severe Weather Symposium.
3. Henry “Peyton” Noland received his degree in 1949. He was the first student to graduate with an emphasis in geography. Noland’s first professional job was with the Department of Interior, Geography Division, Direct Office of the Secretary as a Geographer. He served in World War II and the Korean War and was commissioned navy lieutenant junior grade as an intelligence specialist. He retired from the USNR as a Lt. Commander in 1967. He also worked in the civilian intelligence field from 1954 through 1991. Mr. Noland was a member of Gamma Theta Upsilon, international geography honor society, and reconnected with the department’s Mu Eta chapter shortly after it was chartered. He passed away in January, 2015.
4. John Gallagher received his Master’s degree in 2000 in the Teachers in Geosciences concentration. Having taught high school science since 1989, Gallagher was named Washington State (high school) Science Teacher of the Year in 2009, an award based on teaching, community outreach and community service. His outreach has included hosting star parties on Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic Peninsula since 1996. Gallagher has received the 2017 Olympic ESD Regional Teacher of the Year, Port Angeles Education Foundation Distinguished Service Award in 2012, the Port Angeles High School Teacher of the Year in 2002, the Idaho State Regional Science Teacher of the Year in 1995 and was a finalist for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching in 2011. Mr. Gallagher was a member of the Mars Pathfinder education team, a JPL Galileo and Solar System Ambassador and a FEMA Seismic Sleuths Workshop Instructor.
5. Alex Wallace received his Master’s degree in Geosciences/Broadcast Meteorology in 2006, after earning his Bachelor’s degree in broadcast news from the University of Georgia. Wallace returned to Georgia to work at the Weather Channel in 2006 and has been an on-camera meteorologist ever since. Wallace was recognized by the University of Georgia in 2012 with the John E. Drewry Award for Young Alumni Achievement.
6. Adam Murrah graduated from Mississippi State with a BS in Operational Meteorology in 2004. He is also United States Marine Corp veteran who served from 1999 to 2005, including a deployment in Iraq from 2004-2005. After that deployment he returned to us for his Master's in Environmental Geoscience, with an emphasis in GIS Technology, graduating in 2007. His master's work done at Week's Bay was funded by a grant from the Week's Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve System. After graduation, in June of 2007, he started worked as a GIS Specialist for Applied GeoTechnologies at the Stennis Space Center, supporting NASA. In 2012 he was hired by NASA directly as an Environmental Specialist and is responsible for environmental media throughout the Stennis Space Center area. He and is wife Sara Murrah, a fellow MSU Alumni and 4 year starter of the MSU Soccer team, live in Bay Saint Louis with their daughter Lynn.
7. Frederic Mellen graduated in 1934. In the late 1930s Mellen served as statewide supervisor of the WPA and supervised Mississippi Geological Survey’s mineral surveys. During this time, he mapped the Tinsley Dome, which was drilled as the first oil field in Mississippi. He had an active career in geology, including three years as state geologist as well as owner of consulting firm, Mellen Geological Associates, Inc.. In 1976, he received the Outstanding Mississippian Aware from the governor for his outstanding geological achievements. Mellen established the Frederic F. Mellen Scholarship in Geology to help a deserving student pay for summer field camp. Mellen passed away in November, 1989. Photo credit Mississippi Office of Geology.
8. Rob Mayeda received the Broadcast Meterology Program certificate in 2007 and finished his master’s in Geosciences in the Teachers in Geosciences concentration in 2009. Mayeda works as a meteorologist for NBC Bay Area where he provides weather coverage as well as weather related news special reports. One such report, “On Thin Ice,” a report about climate change received the American Meteorological Society’s Excellence in Science Reporting Award in 2012. He has also received Emmys for on camera talent as a weather actor from the Northern California National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Outside of work, Mayeda is a lecturer for Cal State East Bay's Earth & Environmental Sciences Department and is active in raising awareness about lupus for the Lupus Foundation of Northern California. He has also worked at KESQ in Palm Desert, KSBY in San Luis Obispo, KIRO in Seattle and KCRA in Sacramento.
9. Ken Graham received his Master’s degree in Geosciences from Mississippi State in 1994. After spending two-years with WCBI-TV in Columbus, MS while working on his master’s, Graham started working for the National Weather Service in 1994. His assignments took him to New Orleans, Fort Worth, TX, Silver Spring, MD, and Birmingham, AL. While in Birmingham, he initiated an instant messaging system with local television stations, an idea that was adopted by the National Weather Service for use throughout the country. Since 2008, he has been the Meteorologist in Charge at the New Orleans forecast office. According to an article in the Washington Post, Graham was the supervisor of two command centers that provided weather forecast information during the response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster. His team issued over 4000 forecasts to assist with operations during the response. His other honors include the President’s Award of the Louisiana Emergency Preparedness Association, and the National Weather Association’s Operational Meteorology Award, both in 2010.
10. Kendra Kent received her Master’s degree in Geosciences/Broadcast Meteorology in 2006, after earning her Bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biology from Tulane University. Kendra has worked at Fox Carolina, where she is Chief Meteorologist, and has been since 2008. Prior to that, she was a weekend meteorologist at KFSM-TV in Fort Smith, AR. Some of Kendra’s honors include winning best Weathercast from the Associated Press in 2009, being a current nominee for Weathercaster of the Year, Division 1 (North and South Carolina), and being nominated for an Emmy by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 2011. She also holds seals of approval from the American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association.
We also want you to help us make this list! Nominate your favorite Alumni!
