n Former Northeast Mississippi Community College student David "Bubba" Pounds recently was named the Mississippi/Louisiana Phi Theta Kappa honor society's "Most Distinguished Alumnus" for 2008-2009.

During his time at Northeast (2002-2004), Pounds was active in Phi Theta Kappa and Phi Beta Lambda. He was Northeast's Student Government Association secretary and made the Dean's List both years at Northeast.

After graduating from Northeast, Pounds earned his bachelor of business administration in finance from the University of Mississippi. He joined Langston Law Firm after graduation, researching legal documents and working in the accounting department, and in June 2006 was named deputy chancery clerk for Prentiss County. In December 2008, Pounds was sworn in as the youngest chancery clerk in Mississippi.

* A systems biology researcher at Mississippi State is receiving the university's 2009 Ralph E. Powe Research Excellence Award.

Dr. Shane Burgess is associate dean for strategic initiatives and economic development at the College of Veterinary Medicine and a professor in the college's department of basic sciences.

Burgess, a Fellow of the Institute for Neurocognitive Science and Technology, also directs MSU's Life Sciences and Biotechnology Institute and is co-founder and co-director of the Institute for Digital Biology.

He holds a doctorate from Bristol University in the United Kingdom and the equivalent of a doctor of veterinary medicine degree from New Zealand's Massey University.