THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI FOUNDATION

HATTIESBURG – The University of Southern Mississippi Foundation executive committee and new members of the board of directors took their posts July 1. The USM Foundation operates under the direction of a 39-member board of directors, who are all volunteers. Thirteen new board members are elected to a three-year term, and terms vary for executive committee members. The USM Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation that serves as a fiduciary of private funds donated to Southern Miss.

            The executive committee members include

            Robert Toy McLaughlin, a certified financial planner of Birmingham, Ala., is president of Inverness Asset Management in Birmingham.

A native of Clarksdale, McLaughlin is a 1962 Southern Miss graduate, who received a Bachelor of Science in business administration. He is also a graduate of the Endowment Institute of Harvard Business School and has completed advanced courses in asset allocation, estate planning, business continuation and retirement planning. He is also a licensed securities principal and has been involved in the financial services profession for more than 25 years.

McLaughlin has served in many leadership capacities at Southern Miss, including the Business Advisory Council for the College of Business.

Dr. James H. Thompson Sr. ’58, vice president

James Thompson Sr., chairman, president and CEO of Healthmark Corp., serves a second term as vice president of the board of directors. He will also serve as chair of the board’s Current Giving Committee.

An owner and manager of health care facilities, Thompson graduated from Southern Miss in 1958 with a Bachelor of Science in business administration with a major in marketing. He also has earned a master’s degree in hospital administration and a doctorate of philosophy in health facilities management.

Thompson’s past involvements in the health care field have been in ownership, development, consulting and management of health care facilities. A recipient of many honors and awards for leadership ability and management accomplishments, Thompson is a Life Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives and a Fellow in the Royal Society of Health (England). 

             Thompson is married to the former Mary Margaret Boone, a Hattiesburg native, who is a 1960 secretarial science graduate of Southern Miss. They reside in Milton, Fla., and are the parents of three children and four grandchildren.

Edna Rice Perkins ’52, secretary

            Edna Perkins of Lafayette, La., is a 1952 music education graduate of Southern Miss. Perkins and husband Dave own Specs Unlimited, a word processing/architectural consulting firm. While she operates a word processing, secretarial and legal service, her husband is a consulting architect.

In 1999 she established the Edna and Dave Perkins Endowed Scholarship in Strings at and the Edna and Dave Perkins Endowed Fund for Music Faculty Enhancement at The Foundation. She is also a past member of the Partners for the Arts at Southern Miss. Since 1963, Perkins has been a member of Sigma Alpha Iota, an International Music Fraternity for Women, where she has served as past president, secretary and board member. She has also served on the board and executive committee of the Acadiana Symphony Association and was a board member of the Acadiana Symphony Foundation.

            They are the parents of two sons -- Layne, who lives in Birmingham, Ala., and Scott, an architect in Atlanta -- and two grandchildren.

E. Kelton Morris ’60, treasurer

            Kelton Morris, a retired executive vice president of the First Tennessee Bank in Memphis, earned a Bachelor of Science in business administration in 1960.

While at Southern Miss, he was a member of many organizations, including the Student Government Social Committee, Scabbard & Blade, Senior ROTC, and Yellow Jackets. He was also a cheerleader, held several positions in Kappa Sigma and was named Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities. Morris is currently a member of the Business Advisory Council of the College of Business at Southern Miss. He will preside as chairman of the board’s Finance and Audit Committee.

            Morris and his wife Barbara reside in Memphis. They are the parents of two children.

Ralph T. Simmons ’54, investment committee chair

            Ralph Simmons, former vice president of Sunbeam, earned a Bachelor of Science in personnel management at Southern Miss. Simmons has received several service awards from the Alumni Association, where he served as president from 1974-75 and was named to the association’s Hall of Fame in 1987.

A former board member, Simmons has established the Linnie Cockrell and Colby D. Simmons Endowed Scholarship, the Ralph T. Simmons Jones County Endowment and the Linnie Cockrell Simmons Jasper County Scholarship at The Foundation. He is an active community member and has been affiliated with the Jones/Smith County Cancer Society, the Jones County Baptist Association, the Mississippi Heart Association, the Salvation Army board and Kiwanis International.

Simmons is a member of the First Baptist Church of Laurel, where he serves as deacon. He teaches a sanctuary Bible class, which is broadcast on the radio and television.

Lamar A. Reynolds ’66, policies, planning and bylaws

            Lamar Reynolds of Hattiesburg retired from St. Paul Companies in Jackson and The Reciprocal Group based in Richmond, Va. He is a 1966 graduate of Southern Miss with a Bachelor of Arts in history and German.

While at Southern Miss, Reynolds was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha, a dean’s and president’s list student and named Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities. An avid Golden Eagle football supporter, he has served as president of Jackson’s Big Gold Club and Eagle Club’s district director. He is also a member of the Honor Club and received an Outstanding Service Award from the Southern Miss Alumni Association in 1989 and also a Continuous Outstanding Service Award. He was conducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame in 1994. Reynolds served as past secretary, vice president and president of the Jackson Claim Managers Council.

            Reynolds and his wife Janet live in Hattiesburg.

Dr. Beverly Ann Dale ’68, member at large

            Beverly Ann Dale is a retired director of business development of Roche Molecular Systems Inc. at Pleasanton, Calif. In 1968 she obtained a Bachelor of Science from Southern Miss in microbiology.

While at Southern Miss, Dale was active in various campus organizations, including Delta Delta Delta, the Women’s Affairs Board, Alpha Lambda Delta, Druid Society, Phi Delta Rho, Pi Tau Chi, Phi Kappa Phi, Presidential Advisory Council, the Drawl and a Top Twenty Beauty. A dean’s and president’s list scholar, Dale was also named Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities.

Dale and her husband Randy Hamilton reside in Los Altos, Calif. She is the daughter of Margaret Dale of Hattiesburg and the late John H. Dale.

Honorable James H.C. Thomas Jr., ’61, Planned Giving chair

            The Honorable James Thomas, chancery judge of the 10th Chancery Court District of Mississippi, was a 1961 graduate of Southern Miss with a Bachelor of Science in history, earning a juris doctorate in 1964 from Tulane University School of Law. He was a practicing attorney in Hattiesburg for several years prior to becoming a chancery judge in 1994.

            An Honor Club member with The USM Foundation, Thomas is also a member of the Eagle Club and Kappa Sigma fraternity. He also serves on the executive board of Pine Burr Area Council, Boy Scouts of America and a member of the Hattiesburg Lions Club.

            He and his wife Betty, also a Southern Miss graduate, reside in Hattiesburg. They are the parents of four children; Son James Thomas III and daughter Susan Guy are Southern Miss graduates.

Melanie Hunsberger, immediate past president

            Melanie Hunsberger of Tupelo ended her leadership as president of the Foundation in 2004. A graduate of Millsaps College in Jackson, Hunsberger grew up in Greenwood and Columbus. She has formerly worked as an advertising representative for the Clarion-Ledger and Florida Today/USA Today, Gannett newspapers. A former Hattiesburg resident, she received an award from the mayor of Hattiesburg for her volunteer work in the community. She also served as president of the Hattiesburg Zoological Society.

Hunsberger’s daughter Blythe graduated from Southern Miss in 2003.     

New appointments to the board include

Raymond Thomas “Tommy” Arnold, ’57

            Vicksburg native Tommy Arnold is chairman of Virginia Homes Manufacturing Corp. in Boydton, Va. He is a 1957 graduate of Southern Miss, where he received a Bachelor of Science in marketing management.

While at Southern Miss, he served as both senior and junior class president, elections commissioner with the College Union Board, president of Inter-Fraternity Council, pledge trainer with Kappa Sigma fraternity, secretary for Delta Sigma Pi and was a member of the Yellow Jackets and Omicron Delta Kappa. He was also named Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges.

            Arnold and his wife Janice reside in South Hill, Va.

Garland “Buddy” Braswell, ’61

            Buddy Braswell works as an independent sales contractor in Point Clear, Ala. He received a Bachelor of Science in marketing management from Southern Miss in 1961. He is a member of the Eagle Club and Kappa Alpha fraternity.

            Braswell and his wife Kay, also a Southern Miss graduate, are members of The USM Foundation Honor Club. They established the Buddy and Kay Honeycutt Braswell Scholarship to be awarded annually to a student majoring in accounting or marketing from Baldwin County, Ala.

            The Braswells reside in Point Clear, Ala.