USM to inaugurate new prez

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The University of Southern Mississippi is getting set to inaugurate the institution’s 11th president. At 3 p.m. (today, Oct. 5), Dr. Joseph S. Paul will be inaugurated during the Investiture Ceremony at the Bennett Auditorium on USM’s Hattiesburg campus. The ceremony will be open to the public. (WDAM 10/05/23) LIVE: USM inaugurates Paul as university’s 11th president (wdam.com)

NSF grant for high-res mass spectroneter

STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State University faculty and research students have been awarded a $540,737 grant from the National Science Foundation for a high-resolution mass spectrometer to strengthen capabilities at the land-grant university and state. 

A high-resolution mass spectrometer is a critical tool for the characterization of new chemicals that researchers in the chemistry department make for applications, ranging from improving fuels to more efficiently building pharmaceutical drugs. 

It is also excellent for characterizing biological and environmental samples, including the detection of contaminants in water samples, according to Amanda Patrick, the grant’s principal investigator and an assistant professor of chemistry. 

Patrick said 12 research groups on campus have been identified as users of the new instrument for projects relevant to the production of cleaner fuels, transitioning chemical reactions to more sustainable “green” solvents like water or ethanol, and improving chemistry relevant to pharmaceutical manufacturing, among other applications.

Co-PIs on the grant include chemistry faculty members Xin Cui, Joe Emerson, Vicky Montiel-Palma and Sean Stokes. (MSU 10/05/23) https://www.chemistry.msstate.edu/people/faculty/amanda-patrick/. 

MUW name change recommendations by November

A task force of Mississippi University for Women (MUW) faculty, staff, current students, alumni and Foundation members is considering a shortlist of name change options for the school. Plans to announce one or two recommendations will come by November. From there, the legislature must approve the new name. If approved, the new name would take effect July 2024. (The Dispatch 10/05/23) MUW name change could come in July - The Dispatch (cdispatch.com)