Maroon MEMO: Employee News (Mississippi State University)

Farm supervisor Blake Garrard plants wheat earlier this month at Mississippi State's Rodney Foil Plant Science Research Center in Starkville. PHOTO: Kat Lawrence | MSU Ag Communications

MSU Libraries to host 'Home for the Holidays'
Mississippi State University Libraries will host "Home for the Holidays," a Christmas gala, on Sunday from 2-5 p.m. at Mitchell Memorial Library. Former Mississippi State University First Lady Tommie Zacharias will begin the festivities with the lighting of the tree. Featured attractions include live holiday music, crafts for children and unique exhibits selected from the Library's Special Collections. Patrons can enjoy visiting with several authors and artists. Quilters, basket weavers, yarn crafters and a carver will demonstrate their arts.

Wilkie leads off Conerly Forum lectures Monday
Mississippi State's political science and public administration department is announcing the first guest for a new public lecture series at the university. The Lamar Conerly Governance Forum debuts Monday with an address by author and former reporter Curtis Wilkie, now a member of the University of Mississippi journalism faculty. Free and open to all, "Mississippi: A Writer's Dream" begins at 2 p.m. in the Swalm Chemical Engineering Building's fourth-floor suite.

Cooke, Rupp to play museum, galleries fundraiser
From insects to ancient artifacts, Mississippi State has more than a dozen museums and galleries across its campus. A group of university faculty and staff is working to promote the many treasures on campus by hosting a fundraiser above Restaurant Tyler in downtown Starkville on Wednesday from 5-8 p.m. Bill Cooke and Jeffrey Rupp will provide the musical entertainment. Money raised at the event will go towards printing materials to promote the museums and galleries.

University hosting PERS seminar this week
Human Resources Management at Mississippi State is hosting a Public Employees’ Retirement System of Mississippi pre-retirement, full-day seminar on Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., at Bost Extension Center on the Starkville campus. The seminar offers general information on a range of topics, including estate planning, the Mississippi Deferred Compensation Plan and Trust, Social Security benefits, and PERS benefits and options. Pre-registration is required

MSU Foundation's 2015 calendar sale underway
The 2015 Mississippi State hanging wall calendar is now available from the MSU Foundation. This window to MSU features a sleek, modern design, with 13 beautiful campus scenes. Featuring images by the university's own award-winning photographers, it's truly a one-of-a-kind treasure.

International working group grant program open
The International Institute is requesting proposals from faculty and research and Extension staff interested in creating interdisciplinary, cross-college international working groups at Mississippi State. The main goal of this competitive program is to encourage interdisciplinary international research. A secondary goal of the program is to expand and catalyze established international partnerships.

Give thanks and volunteer this month
The Maroon Volunteer Center at Mississippi State details a number of volunteer opportunities for the campus community in its newsletter this week. Faculty, staff and students are encouraged to make a difference by volunteering this fall.

Policy reminders from University Health Services
University Health Services at Mississippi State reminds the campus community of several important policies for its patients to keep in mind when seeking treatment, parking, refilling a prescription online, and privacy.

This Week in Mississippi State Sports, 11/17/14
Men's Basketball hosts Mississippi Valley State on Monday at 7 p.m. and Utah State at noon on Saturday... Volleyball is on the road to Athens on Friday for a 5 p.m. match against Georgia and then hosts Kentucky in the Newell-Grissom Building on Sunday at 1 p.m.... Football hosts Vanderbilt at Davis Wade Stadium at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.

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Anderson named humanities teacher of year
An associate professor of English is Mississippi State's 2014 Humanities Teacher of the Year. The selection of Thomas P. "Tommy" Anderson recently was announced by the university's College of Arts and Sciences, along with the Mississippi Humanities Council. As part of the honor, Anderson will present the college's annual humanities lecture Monday afternoon.

Swiderski to chair national research board
The Morris Animal Foundation has named Dr. Cyprianna Swiderski, associate professor in the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine, chair of its Large Animal Scientific Advisory Board. Swiderski, an equine internist who studies airway disease in horses, credits Morris Animal Foundation with the early support of her research that helped to give it credibility.

University-led partnership wins innovation honor
A Mississippi State-led partnership has been honored with statewide recognition for its work to create jobs, strengthen communities and foster innovation among entrepreneurs and manufacturers. Innovate Mississippi presented MSU’s Rural Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Program with the John I. Rucker Community Innovation Leadership Award earlier this month at its 15th-annual Conference on Innovation luncheon in Jackson.

Funderburk to give illustrated talk for MMA exhibition
A veteran Mississippi State art professor and administrator will present an illustrated lecture Tuesday at the Mississippi Museum of Art in downtown Jackson. Free and open to the public, Brent Funderburk's 6 p.m. presentation, "Infinite Simplicity: Readings from Robert Henri's 'The Art Spirit,'" is taking place in conjunction with the museum's "Spanish Sojourns: Robert Henri and the Spirit of Spain" exhibition on display through Jan. 4.