Graduate Scholarships
The Biology Department is proud to offer the scholarships listed below, which allows us to assist graduate students seeking a degree in Biology. The funds for these scholarships are possible through generous gifts and honor the individuals listed under each scholarship. There is no application for any of these awards and eligible students are identified based on the criteria listed beneath each fund. The amount of each scholarship varies from year to year, but will generally range from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars.
Wayne Alexander Graduate Student Stipend Fund
This scholarship is to support either M.S. or Ph.D. students and is based on academic excellence.
Dr. R. Wayne Alexander, a native of Memphis, graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1962. He received his M.S. degree from Emory University in 1967 and his Ph.D. from Emory in 1968. He was Chair of the Department of Medicine of Emory University School of Medicine and Emory University Hospital from 1999-2013. Dr. Alexander is internationally known for his research in vascular biology, hypertension and atherosclerosis.
Steve and Mary Ann Cockerham Liberal Arts Graduate Student Stipend Support Endowment
This scholarship is to support either M.S. or Ph.D. students and is based on academic excellence.
Mary Ann was an instructor at USM in Marketing and Finance in 1998, Assistant Dean of the College of Business Administration in 1995, retiring in the early 2000’s. Steve, a native of Gunnison, MS, and graduate of UM 1969, was a successful oral surgeon in Hattiesburg, MS, for many years.
McRight Biology and Speech Pathology Endowment
This scholarship is to support first year graduate students, either M.S. or Ph.D., and is based on academic excellence.
Johnny and Renee McRight from Greenville, MS, created the McRight Biology and Speech Pathology Endowment as a way of recognizing the role that education played in their professional careers in agricultural research, testing and product development and speech pathology (respectively) and noted UM professors who mentored them. Johnny McRight completed a BS in Biology and Chemistry in 1973 and a Masters of Combined Sciences in Biology in 1975. “Thanks to my studies under Dr. Bailey Ward, a plant physiologist at UM, my interest and understanding of plant nutrition really flourished,” stated McRight, who started McRight Services (now Delta Ag). Renee, a native of Jackson, earned her undergraduate degree in education (1973) and graduate degree in communicative disorders (1975) from UM and formed a private practice to help adults and children with speech disorders.
The Doctors Wong-Bridges Biology Scholarship Endowment
The recipient must be a student performing molecular or cellular research with preference given to graduate students, followed by undergraduate juniors and then seniors. Selection will be based on academic excellence.
Dr. Jennifer Wong, a native of Jackson, MS, received her bachelors in biology in 1995 from UM and her MD, PhD in physiology in 2000 from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Benjamin Bridges of Boise, Idaho, graduated with honors from the University of Tennessee College of Medicine in 2001 and is currently a Medical Oncology Specialist in Boise, ID, where Dr. Wong practices.
