An MBA Program Where You Don't Have to Put Your Career on Hold
Class of 2021
Jacob Dykes
Ergon, Inc.
Manager of Corporate Engineering
Dykes manages the Corporate Engineering Department at Ergon, which works to contribute to the vision, goals, and strategy of the company. General responsibilities include review, assignment, and evaluation of projects, succession planning, technical oversight, due diligence support, personnel professional and technical development, and general administrative functions. He has worked at Ergon since 2011, and previously filled positions as a project engineer, assistant facility manager, and facility manager. He received his B.S. in Civil Engineering from MS State University in 2008. He currently resides in Madison with his wife Anny and five kids.
Lauren Ford
Egg Traders, Inc.
Assistant Office Manager
Ford has worked in her family’s company, Egg Traders Inc., since July 2015 and started as a Broker Administrative Assistant. She has performed numerous functions within the trading and distribution of the product, human resource duties, and accounts payables and receivables. Her background prior to that was with a non-profit, Pearl Ministries, Inc., as a fundraiser and then as a COBRA Administrator for a consulting group, both in Birmingham, AL. She earned a BA in International Relations in 2009 from Samford University.
David Grayson
CareMed EMS
CEO
Grayson is the CEO of CareMed EMS, an Oxford-based company serving emergency and non-emergency ambulance transportation needs in
northeast and central Mississippi. He has spent more than 20 years in the emergency medical services field. He is a nationally registered paramedic and has worked his way from being a field paramedic and teaching in the EMT and paramedic programs to Operations Manager and Chief Executive Officer. David attended the University of Mississippi and earned a
BBA in Managerial Finance
in 2018.
Harold Hart
Elim’s Art Concepts
Executive Director and
Marketing Director
Hart is the owner of Elim’s Art Concepts and has been a professional framer for over 15 years. He manages major design concepts for both residential and business interiors. Harold earned a B.B.A. in Finance and Economics from Jackson State University in 2003.
Jim Hurt
University of Mississippi Medical
Center | Assistant Professor,
School of Medicine, Department
of Orthopedic Surgery
Hurt is a native of Clinton, MS and earned his BS in Biology and a minor in finance from the University of Alabama. He then earned his MD from University of Alabama at Birmingham in June 2007. He is board certified in Orthopedic Surgery and Orthopedic Surgery – Sports Medicine. He is the team physician for the Mississippi Braves, Tougaloo College, and multiple local high schools. His wife, Christy, is a dermatologist, and they have 4 young kids.
Rock Ingram
Entergy, Inc.
Senior Regulatory Analyst
Ingram is charged with organizing, executing, and coordinating regulatory compliance activities at Entergy Mississippi. With 16 years of utility experience, Rock has been exposed to various aspects of the business in regards to project management, customer service, root cause analysis, and design. Rock served in the MS Army National Guard from 1994-2006. In 2005, he was deployed to Iraq as a Radar Operator for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Afterwards, he completed a BS in Electrical Engineering from MS State University in 2006.
Cathy Northington
MS Economic Council
Chief Operating Officer
Hard work, determination, and never straying from her values has led Cathy Northington to the position of Chief Operating Officer of the Mississippi Economic Council – the state’s largest broad-based business organization. She goes beyond the scope of her job to become a part of the fabric of each region of the State. She also volunteers her time with multiple organizations, including the Junior League of Jackson, United Way of the Capitol Area, and the Real Foundation. Cathy is a graduate of the respected Institute for Organization Management Program, an intensive four-year nonprofit leadership training program conducted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and held at the University of Georgia. When she isn’t working, she enjoys traveling and spending time with her kids – Matt, Courtland, and Jordan.
Letitia
Otchere-Darko
University of Mississippi Medical
Center | Assistant Professor,
Department of Anesthesiology,
and Director of Offsite
Anesthesia Services
Leticia oversees anesthesia services at five different areas within the UMMC hospital system. Within each area she manages, she encourages the teams to work collaboratively. Leticia attended the University of Rutgers and earned a BA in Chemistry in 1998. She then attended Baylor College of Medicine and earned her MD in 2003. She is board certified in Anesthesiology.
Erma
Robinson-Cook
MS Dept. of Employment Security
ES-Chief Technical Services
As Chief Tech at MS Department of Employment Security, Erma monitors the performance and integrity of the Unemployment Insurance program. She manages and trains a team on
separation and non-separation issues, as well as ensuring that decisions on claims are following the MDES Law, Unemployment Insurance law and policies, and the federal guidelines of the Department of Labor. At MDES, she also serves as the agency’s liaison to the governor’s office. She has been employed in state government for sixteen years. Erma attended Rust College and earned a B.A. in Political Science in 1995. She is a member of Central United Methodist Church. She is also an active member of Beta Delta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Jackson-Hinds Alumni Chapter of Rust College, and International Association of Workforce Professionals.
Kelly Taylor
Nissan North America
Lead Automation Engineer
Taylor is the project leader for the FAULT Integration in the Tire and Wheels Assembly (TWA). He leads special projects and manages the robots that assemble the vehicles. Previously, he served as a Senior Weld Engineer at Tower Automotive and a Production Engineer at Alliance Compressors, where he was working on various robots to increase efficiency and cost savings. Kelly earned his BS in Automotive Engineering Technology from Grambling State University in 2002.
Patrick Turbeville
Nissan North America
Engineer 3-Parts Quality
Engineering (PQE)
Turbeville has had responsibility for key components of vehicle building, including cock pit modules, door trim panels, brake lines, and headliners, to name a few. He has coordinated the PQE Just-in-time Team, championed the PQE Supplier Site Containment Committee, and mentored co-op engineers. Prior to working at Nissan, he worked as a Platform Engineer at Viking Range, Inc. Patrick earned his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Mississippi in 2015.