Mississippi’s 1862 Land-Grant Institution: Mississippi State University
https://www.msstate.edu @msstate
Founded in 1878 as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of the State of Mississippi. In 1932, the state legislature renamed the university as Mississippi State College. In 1958, the school was renamed again as Mississippi State University in recognition of its academic development and addition of graduate programs.
President: Mark E. Keenum became the president of Mississippi State University in 2009. President Keenum is a native of Mississippi, and is an alum of Mississippi State, having graduated with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics. He also began his career at MSU as a faculty member with the Extension Service and the Department of Agricultural Economics.
Mississippi’s 1890 Land-Grant Institution: Alcorn State University
https://www.alcorn.edu @AlcornStateU
Founded on the site of the former Oakland College, a school for white students established by the Presbyterian Church that had closed during the American Civil War. When the college failed to reopen, its property was sold to the state of Mississippi. In 1871, the school was reopened as Alcorn University, the nation’s first land-grant college for black students in the country. In 1878, the school was renamed Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College. In 1974, the school was renamed again as Alcorn State University.
President: Donzell Lee was appointed interim president of Alcorn State University in 2018 following the appointment of Alfred Rankins Jr. as the state of Mississippi’s commissioner of higher education. Dr. Lee previously served as the Provost & Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at Alcorn State, where he also served as a faculty member and department chair. Dr. Lee’s land-grant credentials also includes a doctoral degree in music from the land-grant institution of Louisiana State University.
