Letters from the Chancellor

Dear Ole Miss Community,

As part of our state faces historic flooding and mandatory evacuations, we recognize that many in our university community and their families in the capital city and surrounding areas have been impacted. We want to let our students, faculty, staff and alumni know that our thoughts and prayers are with all those who are affected. The safety and well-being of the members of the Ole Miss family are of utmost importance and concern to us.

Please know we are here in this time of need. I know all Ole Miss Rebels everywhere will display an overwhelming outpouring of love and support because it is a hallmark of the Ole Miss family to come together when people need support the most.

As always, the university stands by ready to help in any way we can. Our thoughts will continue to be with you in the days to come.

Sincerely,

Glenn F. Boyce

Chancellor

As we wrap up 2019, we’re excited to celebrate significant successes that defined this year for the University of Mississippi. We created new knowledge, deepened our collective impact, enhanced our community of caring and strengthened the connections across our university community. From our classrooms and playing fields to our laboratories and libraries, here are a few of the points of pride that made 2019 a year to remember.

At our core, our mission is to educate students. That’s why I’m most proud of these accomplishments — we reached an all-time high first-year retention rate of 86.8 percent, which means our students are persisting, and we conferred a record number of 5,340 degrees, which means our students are graduating and prepared to build successful lives.

Our graduates are the best in the state at finding employment and keeping it, according to data from the U.S. Department of Education compiled in a ranking from Zippia. After 10 years, 91.42 percent of Ole Miss graduates remain employed. That’s not only the best percentage of all Mississippi universities, but Ole Miss is one of only three “Power Five” universities to tout its state’s highest graduate employment rate.

UM is proud to continue an illustrious track record of producing top-notch scholars. Two students of note this year are Arielle Hudson of Tunica, who became the university’s 27th student to win the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship, and Addison Roush of Oxford, who became the 14th Ole Miss student to receive a coveted Goldwater Scholarship.

The university’s annual economic impact totals $2.9 billion and enables 43,121 jobs across the state. To put it another way, one out of every 37 jobs in Mississippi is supported by the activities of UM and its students. And, we produce a great return on investment for Mississippi taxpayers by generating $4.40 in state tax revenue and public sector savings for every $1 in state funds that supports the university.

We take pride in offering a great value to our students and our home state. Ole Miss ranked No. 39 on the list of Best Value Schools among public universities in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report. For the ninth year in a row, USNWR ranked the university among the top 100 public universities across the nation, making UM the highest-ranked university in Mississippi.

Annie Cafer, UM sociology professor, was named an Andrew Carnegie Fellow. She’s the first Ole Miss faculty member – and the first faculty member from any Mississippi university – to receive the fellowship, which comes with a $200,000 grant for her work in the field of community resilience.

Year in and year out, our scholars create new knowledge that benefits the state, region and world, including technology to accelerate the process of removing land mines around the world and new forensic tools for law enforcement to trace 3D-printed firearms using chemical fingerprints. We also performed the state’s first pediatric haploidentical bone marrow transplant as a curative option for sickle cell disease and earned our fourth patent for a product that will treat poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac.

U.S. News and World Report ranked the UMMC Cancer Center and Research Institute’s patient programs among the top 10 percent of cancer centers in the nation, which reflects the dedication and expertise of our faculty and staff to offer top-notch cancer care and to improve procedures and technology continually for Mississippians.

Our physical campus grew and received major upgrades in 2019 with the opening of the expanded Ole Miss Student Union, the renovated Garland, Hedleston and Mayes complex that is now home to our School of Applied Sciences, the dedication of the new South Campus Rec Center and the William Magee Center for Wellness Education. These enhancements all play a pivotal role in our effort to serve students, faculty and staff with state-of-the-art facilities that build on our legacy as home to the country’s most beautiful and inviting campus.

In his first year at Ole Miss, men’s head basketball coach Kermit Davis earned SEC Coach of the Year honors. We welcomed a familiar face to lead Ole Miss Athletics with the naming of Keith Carter as athletics director, and we can’t wait for next fall after feeling the excitement and national attention generated by hiring Lane Kiffin as the Rebels’ 39th head football coach.

This year, we marked major anniversaries of several significant university programs, including a half century of our federally funded marijuana growing contract and the 30th anniversaries of the Mississippi Teacher Corps, the Encyclopedia of Southern Culture and the Institute for Child Nutrition.

For the 11th consecutive year, UM was one of the best colleges in the nation to work for, according to a new survey published by The Chronicle of Higher Education. UM made the Honor Roll listing and was recognized in eight categories this year, including job satisfaction and work-life balance, among others.

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Each one of you should take great pride in your impact on this university through your academic achievements, research endeavors, dedicated work ethic, generous alumni support and all of your passion and pride that strengthen the work of the University of Mississippi. I’m grateful for the Ole Miss family.

Be sure to check out our Year in Photos video below. Best wishes for a joyful holiday and a happy and healthy 2020. HottyToddy!

Glenn F. Boyce

Chancellor

Dear members of the University of Mississippi community,

The Thanksgiving holiday calls us to reflect on all that we’re grateful for – family, friends and the many blessings in our lives. This Thanksgiving, I’m especially grateful to serve this incredible community at a place that means so much to me and my family. Before we unplug to spend time with family and friends for the holiday, I’d like to share a couple of thoughts on why I am so excited about our future.

Over the last six weeks, I’ve focused my attention on getting up to speed on the affairs of the university. During this period, I’ve enjoyed conversations with many of the amazing young men and women who lead our student groups. I’ve heard and seen the tremendous work performed by many members of our faculty, staff and administration, including meeting individually with the deans of the colleges and schools, as well as our leadership at UMMC. I’ve visited many regions of the state to hear from prospective students, alumni and friends of the university. While these meetings and conversations will continue, the common thread I see woven through these interactions is a deep commitment to inspiring lives of leadership and purpose through the work of our university. Ole Miss offers amazing opportunities designed to inspire the next generation of leaders and drive Mississippi’s future.

In this holiday season, I give thanks for the culture of caring that permeates this university community. I was recently inspired by Arielle Hudson, an English education major who was selected this past Saturday for a Rhodes Scholarship and who has demonstrated a commitment to caring for others.

Arielle plans to return to Mississippi to teach after completing her studies in Oxford, England. “You have to be resilient and know you have a purpose,” Arielle said. “For me, my purpose is that I want to serve other people. That’s what pushes me to keep going.” The type of commitment that Arielle has to serving others runs deep through our university community, and it is a purpose that inspires me to lead our university to new heights.

Finally, I want to extend my deepest thanks to you – the people who make the University of Mississippi a special place to call home. Thank you for what you do each and every day for this university, our community and the state of Mississippi. My experiences over the last six weeks reaffirmed for me how this university – and this charming town of Oxford – offer a dynamic environment that brings passion and excitement to every endeavor. In this community, our students learn how to approach life and learning with zeal, preparing them to make a difference in the world. For that, we can all truly be grateful.

On behalf of my wife Emily and the entire Boyce family, I wish you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving. Hotty Toddy!

Glenn F. Boyce

Chancellor

To members of the University of Mississippi community,

As my first week on the job winds down, I want to reach out to you to state what a distinct honor and privilege it is to serve as the 18^th chancellor of the University of Mississippi. While you’ve heard a lot about me in the last few days and weeks, I’d like to share a few observations with you directly — about who I am, ambitions for our university, what I’ve been doing and what I’ll do moving forward.Read More

Dear Alumni and Friends,

As we look forward to a new academic year at Ole Miss and to welcoming the newest members of the Ole Miss family with the Class of 2023, it’s a good time to catch up on developments around campus and on recent achievements. Read More

Dear Students,

Welcome to the start of the 172^nd academic year at the University of Mississippi, including a special welcome to those embarking on the college experience – the Class of 2023. Thank you all for choosing Ole Miss to pursue your higher education.Read More