“It is a wonderful thing when someone as special as Judge Prather can be honored,” Dr. Claudia A. Limbert, president, said. “Judge Prather has been such a positive part of MUW from her days as a student here to being our interim president. She has placed her hand on The W, and it is richer for it.”

Prather served as interim president of The W from August 2001 to June 2002. This is the second time in the history of the university that an alumna has served in this capacity.

“It was my privilege to serve as interim president of MUW and have an opportunity to return to my alma mater a small token of appreciation for that which I owed to it for the superior education and advancement opportunities afforded to me as a graduate,” Prather said. “The opportunity to serve was my reward, but to be granted an honorary doctorate additionally is indeed an overwhelming honor.

“I thank both Dr. Limbert to have proposed this gesture and the IHL Board for granting the request. I am humbled by and appreciative of your actions.”

The honorary doctorate is The W’s highest honor and must receive approval by the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning. The presentation will be made during the first of two commencement exercises on May 10 at 10 a.m. in Rent Auditorium of Whitfield Hall. The second commencement ceremony will be held at 2 p.m.

In addition to a bachelor’s degree in social studies from The W in 1953, Prather also received a juris doctorate from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1955. She began her career in private practice from 1955 to 1971.

She was appointed West Point Municipal Court judge in 1965 and was appointed by Gov. John Bell Williams as 14th District Chancery judge in 1972, making her the first woman in Mississippi history to hold a chancellorship. She was elected without opposition in 1974 and re-elected to full terms in 1975 and 1982.

Prather made history again in 1982 when she was appointed by Gov. William Winter as the first female Mississippi Supreme Court justice. She was elected to serve the remainder of that term in 1984 and re-elected in 1992. She became presiding justice in January 1993, and she became the first female chief justice in January 1998. She retired from the Court in January 2001.

She is a member of the Mississippi State Bar Association, Mississippi Bar Foundation, Conference of Mississippi Judges, American Inns of Court, American Bar Association and American Judicature Society. She attended National Judicial College in Reno, Nev.

Among her many honors include receiving The W’s Medal of Excellence in 1990 and an Alumni Achievement Award in 1993. She also was awarded a Judicial Excellence Award for the advancement of the quality and efficiency of justice in Mississippi at the Mississippi Bar Association’s annual convention in 2001.