Businessman Ed Trehern Awarded Honorary Doctorate

Ed Trehern

A former Mississippi College football captain, Ed Trehern achieved success for decades off the field in the business world.

Trehern will return to his alma mater in early May to receive an honorary doctor of business administration degree at spring commencement on the Clinton campus.

Awarded one of MC’s highest honors, the Pascagoula native will be recognized for his distinguished business career, along with his exemplary leadership as a trustee at the Christian university.

A 1969 MC graduate, Trehern served as an executive with the Delta Health Group, a longterm care company operating in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. In recent years, Trehern’s business enterprises included the development of condominium complexes in Gulf Shores, Alabama, an RV resort in Orange Beach, Alabama and hotels along the Gulf Coast.

The Ed Trehern Management Education Center at Self Hall, home of the School of Business, is named for the former MC Choctaws defensive standout. The facility was a key component in Self Hall’s makeover beginning in 2007.

A modernized Ed Trehern Lecture Hall in the building along College Street is the site to welcome prominent campus speakers. The list includes former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and retired physician Dr. Ben Carson. They visited Mississippi College to keynote the university’s spring scholarship dinners generating more than $2 million for students.

School of Business Dean Marcelo Eduardo applauds the immense contributions of Trehern, who remains a faithful MC supporter. “The School of Business is very grateful for his generosity and the support he and his family have given to our students and our programs,” Eduardo said. “He is most deserving of this (latest) recognition.”

For more than 15 years, Trehern headed acquisition, development, and corporate and facility debt with Delta Health Group. The company expanded with revenues in excess of $350 million and more than 6,000 employees.

After receiving his MC degree, Trehern served as a coach and teacher before going into business as an executive for 14 years at First Federal Savings & Loan.

Other honors have come his way before. The Gulf Coast native was selected the 2007 MC School of Business Alumnus of the Year.

Trehern’s parents were a major influence on his commitment to hard work, church and prayer. A scholarship at the School of Business is named in their honor. The Walter and Louise Trehern Endowed Scholarship serves as a wonderful tribute to his parents.

Family and community service remain foremost on his agenda. Trehern and his wife, Jan, are the parents of two daughters, Kourtni and Kimily.

Another extraordinary Mississippian will be the recipient of an honorary doctor of business administration degree at commencement ceremonies on May 7. Leland Speed, a member of the MC Board of Trustees for 42 years, a philanthropist, and city developer, will join Trehern at the A.E. Wood Coliseum to receive a doctorate from school officials.

Both businessmen are excellent choices, school leaders say. Speed and Trehern “have been engines of economic enterprise throughout Mississippi and beyond,” says Vice President for Academic Affairs Ron Howard.

They’re much-admired as “Christian businessmen whose generosity and hard work on behalf of Mississippi College will continue to advance the faith and learning of countless MC students for generations to come,” Howard said. “What a tribute to their Christian character and conviction of giving back and helping others.”