From left to right, Dr. Clyde Muse, Hinds Community College president, Dr. David Durham, Kay Jones, Joanne Cooper, and Jackie Granberry, vice president for advancement and student success, gather before Durham, Jones and Cooper are recognized with emeritus status at the Jan. 7 spring 2014 opening convocation.
Hinds Community College recognized retirees Dr. David Durham of Clinton, Kay Jones of Jackson and Joanne Cooper of Pelahatchie, who were granted emeritus status by the college Board of Trustees, at the Jan. 7 spring 2014 opening convocation.
To date, Hinds has recognized 27 retirees with emeritus status. Emeritus status is an honor granted to retired faculty members and non-teaching professionals who have served Hinds Community College with distinction. They must have a minimum of 30 years of service to education with a minimum of 15 years of distinguished service at Hinds Community College. Nominees are approved by the Hinds Community College Board of Trustees.
Dr. David Durham, dean emeritus, came to work at Hinds in 1970 as a physics instructor and division chair. In 1972, he became chairman of the science division and in 1973 he was named chairman of the mathematics and science division. He continued to teach physics until 1982 when he was named academic dean. He served in that position until 1996 when he was named dean of information technology.
After retiring in 2004, Durham returned to Hinds as an administrative assistant to the vice president of administrative services. However, Durham’s service to the college extended beyond his job descriptions. He has served on the scholarship committee, developed a format for evaluation of employees, guided the implementation of Colleague, the college’s administrative software, and written hundreds of customs reports, among many other achievements. Durham has been named a Hinds Hero, 3E Award Recipient, and Distinguished Non-Teaching Professional. He also serves as an adjunct at Mississippi College teaching physics.
Kay Jones, professor emeritus of nursing, began her career at Hinds in 1974 serving as an instructor of associate degree nursing. Her areas of expertise were pediatric nursing and community nursing. She was nominated as Outstanding Educator of the Year for the Mississippi Organization of Associate Degree Nursing and was selected as Outstanding Instructor of the Year for Hinds.
While an instructor, she was involved in many committees and served as a Phi Theta Kappa advisor. She has been active in a number of professional and community organizations including Delta Kappa Gamma, Mississippi Organization for Associate Degree Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau, Wells Memorial United Methodist Church, Stewpot Community Services, Meals on Wheels, Grace Place, Girls Scouts, and has served as the coordinator for Bailey Avenue Health Education Foundation. In addition, she has made a number of presentations including “New Faculty in AD Nursing” funded by the SREB Kellogg Foundation Grant.
JoAnn Cooper, professor emeritus of information systems technology, came to work at Hinds in 1982 as an information systems instructor. In addition to teaching in a traditional setting, she also worked as a recruiter and taught business and industry through Eagle Ridge Conference Center. In 1995, she moved to the private sector where she worked with clients across the Southeast. She returned to Hinds in 1998 and has taught, supervised, and scheduled information system technology classes for online, traditional and hybrid courses. She also served as district coordinator for information system technology.
At Hinds, Cooper was a recipient of the 3E Award and the Life Star Award, selected as a commencement speaker, named Outstanding and Distinguished Career and Technical Instructor, selected as the HEADWAE instructor and named a Hinds Hero. She also boasts a number of professional affiliations and honors. Cooper is currently serving as an adjunct instructor for the Rankin Campus.