Contact: Dylan McKee

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State University Libraries is hosting a program featuring a former special assistant to the President of the United States and deputy director of advance for event coordination.

Free to all, Craig Ray’s presentation “Presidential Advance, NYC 9/11” takes place Wednesday [April 4] at 6 p.m. in the third-floor John Grisham Room at Mitchell Memorial Library.

A University of Mississippi business administration bachelor’s graduate, Ray will discuss his experience working in senior-level positions for three U.S. presidents and two state governors. He will give an insider’s account of planning, organizing and executing presidential events around the globe as part of a Presidential Advance Team, including his experience with the 2001 terrorist attack that transformed America. A reception follows his presentation.

Ray currently serves as director of Visit Mississippi, the tourism division of the Mississippi Development Authority. In this role, he works with various organizations and programs to promote Mississippi’s tourism appeal by highlighting the state’s culture, history and recreational activities.

In addition to his work promoting tourism, Ray has worked in collaboration with the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles, California, to promote a “Mississippi Night.” He has one daughter, Emma Claire.

“Few people have experienced the perspective of history which Craig Ray has,” said Sarah McCullough, MSU Libraries’ coordinator of cultural heritage projects. “It is a perspective unique to those who have served on Presidential Advance Teams. We are fortunate to have the opportunity to hear him at the MSU library.”

For more on MSU Libraries, visit http://lib.msstate.edu.

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