Howorth, Gibbs headline Ole Miss’ 2019 Alumni Hall of Fame Class
Published 9:15 am Saturday, July 13, 2019
A former mayor and an Ole Miss football legend are just some of the University of Mississippi’s five newest members into its Alumni Hall of Fame.
The school announced its Class of 2019 inductees on Tuesday, eight people being recognized for their service and accomplishments.
This year’s class will be inducted during Homecoming Weekend on Oct. 4 and 5. They will be introduced during halftime of Ole Miss’s football game against Vanderbilt.
Inductees into the Alumni Hall of Fame are: Kimsey O’Neal Bailey (BSPh 94) of Aberdeen; Donald R. Cole (PhD 85) of Oxford; Jake Gibbs (BSPHE 61) of Oxford; Duncan M. Gray III (BA 71) of Oxford; and Richard C. Howorth (BA 72) of Oxford.
A two-sport All-American at Ole Miss and Sports Illustrated’s 8th-best collegiate quarterback in history (1991), Jake Gibbs is one of Ole Miss’ greatest athletes to come through the football and baseball programs. He was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 1976 and College Football Hall of Fame in 1995. In 1960, Gibbs finished third in the Heisman Trophy race when he led the Rebels to the Football Writers’ national championship. Gibbs also played third base for the baseball team.
Howorth, a Marks, Miss. native, majored in English and sociology at Ole Miss. His family moved to Oxford in 1963 and he has called Oxford home ever since. In 1979, Howorth opened Square Books, returning to Oxford after working at a bookstore in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. for two years. In 2001, Howorth ran for mayor of Oxford and was elected, serving two terms.
David Orris McCormick (BA 77, JD 80) of Pascagoula will receive the Alumni Service Award for service to the university and the Alumni Association over an extended period. Sly Lee (BSPSC 10, MS 12) of Los Angeles will receive the Outstanding Young Alumni Award, which recognizes alumni who have shown exemplary leadership throughout their first 15 years of alumni status in both their profession and dedication to Ole Miss
The final award is the Honorary Alumni Award, which honors individuals who are not graduates of Ole Miss but have consistently demonstrated extraordinary commitment, support, dedication, loyalty, leadership or service that has enriched the substance of and contributed to the advancement of the university’s Alumni Association’s missions, reputation or prestige. Vaughn L. Grisham of Oxford is receiving this year’s honorary award.