FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 26, 2009
Contact: Macaulay Knight
662.329.7119
mknight@pa.muw.edu

Student, faculty member to be recognized by HEADWAE program

COLUMBUS, Miss. – Mississippi University for Women faculty member Bryan Hilliard and student Dana Louise Derrick will be recognized today as nominees for the 22nd Higher Education Appreciation Day/Working for Academic Excellence (HEADWAE) program. Hilliard and Derrick are among 72 nominees from 36 institutions to be honored.

The program will take place at the Marriott Hotel in Jackson, featuring master of ceremonies and HEADWAE chair, Lt.  Gov. Phil Bryant. The guest speaker for the event is Aubrey Patterson, chairman and CEO of BancorpSouth and member of the Mississippi Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning.

Hilliard is an assistant professor of philosophy at MUW and was most recently named the 2008 MUW Faculty Member of the Year and the Mississippi Humanities Council Humanities Teacher of the Year. He received his doctoral degree in philosophy and master’s degree in philosophy and medical ethics from the University of Tennessee. He received his bachelor’s degree in philosophy and history from Elon College.

Derrick is a senior mathematics and biology double major. She is president of Kappa Mu Epsilon and W-Reps, membership chair of the Mortar Board Senior Honor Society, a member of the Ina E. Gordy Honors College, Tri-Beta Biological Honor Society and
Phi Kappa Phi. She also actively supports various philanthropic causes including breast cancer awareness, multiple sclerosis research, the National Heart Association, Habitat for Humanity and Locks of Love. A native of Vicksburg, she is the daughter of Donna McGregor and David Derrick.

HEADWAE was established in 1988 to honor individual achievement and the contributions of Mississippi public and private institutions of higher learning. For more information about HEADWAE visit, http://www.mississippi.edu/headwae/.