Contact: Sasha Steinberg

Sixteen students at Mississippi State recently were inducted into the campus chapter of the prestigious Mortar Board National College Senior Honor Society.

In addition to Mississippi, this year’s inductees represent Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas.

Founded in 1918, Columbus, Ohio-based Mortar Board is considered the nation’s premier honor society for college seniors. Students selected for membership must be in the top 35 percent of their junior class and demonstrate a commitment to scholarship, leadership and service. For more, visit http://www.mortarboard.org.

Peter Ryan, MSU associate provost for academic affairs and professor of reproductive physiology, said this year’s Mortar Board inductees are “very special individuals who are all high achievers committed to giving back.”

“These students are some of the best in every respect, and MSU is very proud of them, their accomplishments and contributions to society,” Ryan said. “This recognition will help attract other accomplished students to consider MSU as an institution where they can not only receive an excellent education in their field of interest, but also excel in leadership and extracurricular experiential activities.”

The 2017-18 Mortar Board National College Senior Honor Society class includes (by hometown):

BLUE MOUNTAIN—Audrey Abigail Jackson, a junior architecture major.

BRYANT, Arkansas—Spencer I. Callicott, a junior computer engineering major.

CARUTHERSVILLE, Missouri—Anne Marie Currie, a junior biochemistry/pre-dental major.

CLINTON—Nia Ashley Sims, a junior political science major.

COURTLAND—Carla D. Brown, a junior biochemistry/pre-medicine major.

CUMMING, Georgia—Heather Nicole Williams, a junior biochemistry/forensic sciences major.

FRANKLIN, Tennessee—Hannah L. Berny, a junior agribusiness/policy and law major.

GULFPORT—Tahir M. Khan, a junior architecture major.

HOOKS, Texas—James Harmon Duke, a senior landscape architecture major.

HOOVER, Alabama—Emily Kristian Abernathy, a junior accounting major.

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama—Gwyneth Morgan Jones, a junior wildlife, fisheries and aquaculture/wildlife veterinary medicine major.

LAUDERDALE—Sarah K. Avera, a junior biological engineering/biomedical engineering major.

LAUREL—Anna Claire Smith, a junior psychology major.

MADISON, Alabama—Jacqueline Margot Monnet, a senior accounting major.

OLIVE BRANCH—Hallie Jo Earwood, a junior chemical engineering major.

STARKVILLE—Murry C. Rodgers, a junior landscape architecture major.

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