Judy and Bobby Shackould Honors College

Information - [ Honors College History ]

Honors at MSU has a proud history spanning thirty years. You are a part of a legacy of intellectual excellence, and your involvement in our College is the reason that we are one of the best Honors Colleges in America. We hope that the following fact time-line will foster your sense of pride in The Shackouls Honors College.

Year Event
1967 Initial experiments were conducted with team-taught courses in English literature and calculus; plans were made for an official honors program.
1968 Stephen D. Lee Honors Program was established in the College of Arts and Sciences with Dr. John Tilley as Director.
1968-1981 Departmental courses were gradually added, notably in political science, history, English, and foreign languages. Dr. Tilley guided the program during those years, and he was a leader in Mississippi State University's role as a founding member of the Southern Regional Honors Conference in 1971.
1981 Under Dean Edward McGlone, the Honors Program was given a university-wide emphasis and renamed the "University Honors Program" under the directorship of Dr. Carmen McClendon.
1981-1983 The Program was expanded to include courses meeting core-curriculum requirements for all degrees.
1983-84 Dr. Steve Shaeffer served as Director of UHP.
1984 Dr. Jack H. White was named Director of the UHP and Assistant Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. The UHP, housed in Bowen Hall, numbered fewer than 200 students and twenty-five courses.
1989 Enrollment approached 800 by the time the UHP moved to the Honors House at 45 Magruder Street, a facility furnished and equipped by Mr. and Mrs. Fred P. Burke.
1993 The Giles Distinguished Professors were named as the faculty advisory of the UHP.
1997 Participation in UHP grew to reach over 1,000 students through more than fifty departmental and UHP courses.
1998 The UHP Celebrated its 30th Aninversary.
1999 The annual Jack H. White Literary Competition for Mississippi high school students was begun by the Honors Council.
2004 Dr. Nancy McCarley was named director of the Shackouls Honors College.
2006 A $10 million gift from Judy and Bobby Shackouls establishes the Shackouls Honors College. Offices and classrooms move to Griffis Hall.