Z 1779.000 Mississippi Academy of Sciences Records

Z 1779.000
MISSISSIPPI ACADEMY OF SCIENCES RECORDS

The Mississippi Academy of Sciences (MAS) is an organization of scientists, engineers, technicians, science educators, and others from schools and universities, government, industry, and business. These individuals, joined by the states academic institutions and other MAS institutional members, support science in Mississippi. MAS provides a network for Mississippi scientists and offers national contacts through its affiliation with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. A board of directors, a number of standing committees, and an executive officer govern and direct MAS. A state office is maintained in Jackson. An annual meeting is held to present addresses, symposia, workshops, scientific papers, and exhibits to its members. MAS also helps coordinate and organize scientific seminars and symposia throughout the state. Current subject-area divisions include agriculture and plant science; cellular, molecular, and developmental biology; chemistry and chemical engineering; geology and geography; health sciences; marine and atmospheric sciences; mathematics; computer science and statistics; microbiology and immunology; physics and engineering; psychology and behavioral neuroscience; science education; and zoology and entomology. MAS publishes a journal entitled Science in Mississippi.

The idea for the Mississippi Academy of Sciences originated in the late 1920s, with Dr. J. B. Looper of the University of Mississippi organizing a committee of inquiry. At the time, there were twenty-seven similar organizations across the country. Looper sent a January 1, 1930, letter to several colleagues around the state requesting that they form an association to foster research and provide a forum for the exchange of scientific information. The planning meeting was held on January 11, 1930, at Millsaps College in Jackson. The first organizational meeting was held March 7-8, 1930, at Delta State Teachers College (now Delta State University) in Cleveland, Mississippi, as a joint meeting with the Louisiana-Mississippi chapter of the National Council of Mathematics Teachers. The first group of officers included Dr. G. L. Harrell, Millsaps College; Theodore Burdine; Dr. C. C. Dobbs, Delta State Teachers College; Dr. J. P. Looper, University of Mississippi; Dr. J. M. Sullivan, Millsaps College; and Dr. B. B. Roberts, Belhaven College. The small consortium of professors quickly grew to include college and high-school students, high-school teachers, and scientists outside the collegiate realm. MAS was formally incorporated in July of 1947 and was permanently located at Mississippi State University in Starkville. MAS established the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory at Ocean Springs in August of 1947.

MAS members encouraged the improvement of the states high-school science curriculum through an accreditation program and by hosting a statewide science fair, the first of which was held in 1953. Two student organizations grew out of these efforts: the Junior Academy of Sciences and the Junior Engineering Technical Society. The Junior Academy of Sciences organized local, district, and state science fairs as well as the Junior Academy of Sciences contest that judged student scientific papers. The Junior Engineering Technical Society was modeled after a similar organization begun in 1950 at Michigan State University. It offered a variety of student engineering projects, and it arranged seminars with professional engineers. MAS also coordinated two other successful programs for high-school students. The Westinghouse Corporation sponsored a scientific talent search that awarded monetary prizes to the winners. The National Science Foundation sponsored a high-school science visitation program that introduced students to academic and professional scientists.

As membership in MAS has grown, so have its programs. The premier program has been the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory that actually had its beginnings in the early 1920s with Dr. R. W. Harned, head of the Department of Zoology and Entomology at Mississippi State College (now Mississippi State University). Twenty years passed before the laboratory was officially opened. Despite that delay, it was still the only one of its kind, with no federal or regional marine research laboratory closer than Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Indeed, Dr. Clyde Q. Sheely, a chemistry professor at Mississippi State College and executive officer of MAS, hoped that the laboratory would become the Woods Hole of Mississippi. With its subtropical climate and expert scientific guidance drawn from across the state, the laboratory was in a position to support academic and commercial research in oceanographic sciences for the whole region. The laboratory offered only summer classes until 1953, when it began operating year-round. It offered undergraduate and graduate courses, attracting students from across the nation and internationally. Hurricane Camille (1969) destroyed most of the facilities and research underway at the site. The laboratory was rebuilt and soon regained its reputation through programs and publications. A recent survey showed the campus as consisting of fifty acres (including satellite laboratories), eighteen senior scientists, and a staff of over 160 researchers, educators, technicians, and support personnel.

This collection consists of correspondence, minutes, a constitution, bylaws, bulletins, newsletters, programs, and reports on various subjects ranging from organizational history, to science education in Mississippi, to the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory.