Mississippi Superintendent of Education Tom Burnham Delivers Commencement Address

Mississippi Superintendent of Education Tom Burnham

Mississippi Superintendent of Education Tom Burnham will speak to the Class of 2011 at Mississippi College’s spring commencement on May 7.

Returning to his alma mater, Burnham will speak at undergraduate ceremonies at 10 a.m. for the schools of Christian Studies and the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and Science and Mathematics. He will address students from the School of Business and School of Education at 2 p.m. on that Saturday.

Both events are in the A.E. Wood Coliseum on the Clinton campus.

The Mississippi Board of Education appointed Burnham to the state’s education leadership post in November 2009. He officially began his second tenure on the job in Jackson in January 2010.

Prior to that, Burnham served as dean of the School of Education at the University of Mississippi from 2004 through 2009. He’s also served as superintendent of the Henderson County (North Carolina) Public Schools and the Biloxi Public Schools.

Burnham received a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s in school administration, both from Mississippi College, and a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from Delta State University. He’s been named the outstanding education alumnus at Mississippi College. Burnham is a member of the Council of Chief State School Officers and the American Association of School Administrators.

Among other ceremonies, MC English professor Lee Harding will address the commencement for the Christian university’s Graduate School at 7 p.m. on Friday May 6 at the A.E. Wood Coliseum. Harding received a bachelor’s and master’s degrees at MC and a doctorate at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Janet Harris, a nursing leader for 37 years, including service with Baptist Health Systems and at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, will speak at the MC School of Nursing graduation. The ceremony is at 1:30 p.m. on May 6 in Swor Auditorium. The Brandon resident is chief nursing officer at University Hospital in Jackson and chief nursing executive officer for the university system.

The Mississippi College School of Law graduation is set for Friday May 13 at 2 p.m. at First Baptist Church Jackson. The guest speaker is U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Hayes.