“From working big tornadoes, hurricanes, fires, floods, winter storms to supporting the Deepwater Horizon oil spill event and being deployed to support a Superbowl, they have all had a lasting impact on my journey,” said Kenneth E. Graham, a 1994 MSU geosciences graduate who today serves as the director of the National Weather Service. Before the NWS, he served as director of the National Hurricane Center.

Allie Koenig, a 2025 Mississippi State University graduate, first fell in love with the university as a junior in high school while attending fall preview day with her father. “I was in awe of the beautiful campus and felt so welcomed by so many kind people. I was so impressed by Hannah Coleman’s presentation on all the amazing things offered in the College of Arts & Sciences. I distinctly remember sitting in a Q&A session with the biological sciences ambassadors and listening to their stories and plans for when they graduate, hearing that some of them would be going to medical school and hoping that would one day be me,” said Koenig.

For 40 years, Mississippi State has helped students earn an education without having to put their careers, families or other responsibilities on hold. What began in 1986 as distance education has evolved alongside technology and the changing needs of students. Now, MS State Online serves approximately 3,200 students through more than 180 programs, connecting learners across Mississippi, the nation and beyond with MSU educational opportunities and degrees.