Congressman Alan Nunnelee Addresses MC Summer Graduation

First District U.S. Rep. Alan Nunnelee

First District U.S. Rep. Alan Nunnelee will serve as the keynote speaker at Mississippi College’s summer commencement on August 6.

The Saturday graduation program begins at 10 a.m. at the A.E. Wood Coliseum on the Clinton campus. About 215 MC students are expected to receive diplomas.

A member of the Mississippi College Board of Trustees, Nunnelee is a deacon and Sunday school teacher at Calvary Baptist Church in Tupelo.

Before taking the oath of office to join the 112^th Congress on January 5, 2011 Nunnelee represented Lee and Pontotoc counties in the Mississippi Senate. The Republican served as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and was a leader on several national committees addressing public health issues.

In the U.S. House, the Mississippian serves on the House Appropriations Committee and a few key subcommittees dealing with agriculture, energy and water development, military construction and veterans affairs.

“Mississippi College is very honored to have one of the rising stars of Congress speaking to our graduates,” says Ron Howard, vice president for academic affairs.

“Mr. Nunnelee has distinguished himself as a hard-working state senator and shows every sign of bringing those virtues to his work in the U.S. House to benefit his constituents and the entire state,” added Howard, an MC political science professor.

Among other roles on Capitol Hill, Nunnelee is a member of the Congressional Prayer Caucus, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus, and the Congressional Nursing Caucus. He’s also serving on the Immigration Reform Caucus.

As a senator, Nunnelee was nationally recognized for his success in making Mississippi the safest place for unborn children. He succeeded now U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker in the state Senate in Jackson in 1995. In November 2010, the Mississippi State University graduate defeated Democratic U.S. Rep. Travis Childers to win the congressional seat that spans much of north Mississippi.

Prior to joining Congress, Nunnelee served as vice president of Allied Funeral Associates, a life insurance company specializing in working through funeral homes. He’s been active in the Tupelo Youth Baseball Association and as a member of the board of the Community Development Foundation in Tupelo.

The 52-year-old Mississippi congressman is a Tupelo native. He and his wife, Tori, have three children Reed, Emily and Nathan. Nunnelee has family ties to Baptist-affiliated Mississippi College. Reed Nunnelee, 26, is a student at the Mississippi College School of Law in downtown Jackson.