Contact: Zack Plair and Sasha Steinberg

STARKVILLE, Miss.—The G.V. “Sonny” Montgomery Foundation is recognizing a group of Mississippi State students for exceptional leadership, service and academic prowess.

Four of the students are this year’s recipients of G.V. “Sonny” Montgomery Foundation Leadership Awards. Each of them is receiving a $3,000 scholarship for the 2016-17 academic year. They include:

—Matthew C. Crabtree of Saltillo, a senior finance major and member of the university’s Army ROTC program.

—Breauna D. Gardner of Columbus, a senior kinesiology/clinical exercise physiology major and graduating member of the Montgomery Leadership Program class.

—Kyle C. Johnson of the G.V. “Sonny” Montgomery Center for America’s Veterans, a second-year veterinary medicine doctoral student.

—Cherry Murray of Tupelo, a senior business information systems major and member of the university’s Air Force ROTC program.

The four remaining students each are receiving $3,000 G.V. “Sonny” Montgomery Foundation Academic Scholarships for the upcoming academic year. They include:

—Eric W. Henry of East Spring Lake, North Carolina, a junior aerospace engineering major and member of the university’s Air Force ROTC program.

—Kaitlyn N. Junkin of Grenada, a senior animal and dairy science major and graduating member of the Montgomery Leadership Program class.

—Caleb C. Law of Glenwood Springs, Colorado, a senior criminology major and member of the university’s Army ROTC program.

—Ryan J. Thomas of the G.V. “Sonny” Montgomery Center for America’s Veterans, an elementary, middle and secondary education administration doctoral student. He graduated this spring with a master’s in counselor education/student affairs from MSU.

Additionally, the Montgomery Foundation recently recognized senior mechanical engineering major Morgan K. Green of Olive Branch with a $250 scholarship for Best Montgomery Leadership Program Capstone Project of the Year. Titled “Project ENspire,” Green’s self-devised, one-day program brought engineering concepts to life by engaging fourth and fifth grade girls in fun and competitive hands-on activities.

Also at a recent end-of-the-semester ceremony, individual members of this spring’s MLP graduating class each received a medallion to commemorate their participation in the three-semester program. For more, visit www.mlp.msstate.edu.

Montgomery Foundation awards are among several campus memorials to the late alumnus and former longtime U.S. 3rd District representative from Meridian recognized nationally for his continuing congressional efforts on behalf of the military and its service veterans.

Established in 1878 and organized originally along the lines of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, MSU today is nationally rated among the country’s most veteran-friendly institutions of higher learning.

For more on the Montgomery Center for America’s Veterans at MSU, visit www.veterans.msstate.edu.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.