New ‘Health Professions Resource Room’ honors legacy of alumni couple
STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State University’s College of Arts and Sciences hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Colonel Roger W. Strickland, MD and Mrs. Lucy T. Strickland Endowed Healthcare Conference Room and Library to honor two alumni with the establishment of a dedicated study space for future healthcare professionals.
The new conference room and library is named after Roger and Lucy Strickland, who met as lab partners in the Hand Chemical Lab for honors freshman chemistry in the 1970s and then married. Their twin daughters, Amanda and Nicole Strickland, cut the ribbon at the unveiling ceremony in the Dr. A. Randle and Marilyn W. White Health Professions Resources Center at MSU this past fall.
Sara Frederic, director of development for the College of Arts and Sciences, said the twins admired their father for his wholehearted commitment to his career and helping others.
“Watching their father’s work ethic, drive and unwavering dedication to helping all those around him are memories that Amanda and Nicole continue to treasure,” Frederic said.
Roger Strickland graduated as valedictorian of Sand Hill High School and enrolled at Mississippi State University in 1972 with a concentration in pre-medicine. He was accepted into the University of Mississippi Medical School in 1975 with an army medical scholarship. He gained the titles of chief resident and assistant chief of rheumatology during his residency and fellowship. During his career, he also was chief of medicine, division surgeon of the 1st Calvary division and ultimately earned the rank of “Colonel” in the U.S. Army.
“Unfortunately, his career trajectory was cut short when he passed away from cancer in 1998 at the age of 44,” Frederic said. “Despite traveling all over the country and the world, he always considered himself a Mississippian first and foremost, and Mississippi was always home to him.”
Lucy Strickland grew up in Hong Kong and came to the United States in 1972 to attend Mississippi State University, where she met her husband. While supporting his career, she received her master’s degree in business administration at the University of Texas at El Paso. She continued her broad-spectrum education by earning a teacher’s certification in elementary education.
“Her lifelong career and passion was raising her twin daughters who became physicians themselves,” Frederic said.
Lucy Strickland served as a substitute math teacher in the Killeen Independent School District in Texas until she passed away in April 2022.
Amanda and Nicole Strickland grew up in Harker Heights, Texas, and graduated early from Texas A&M University with honors in 2011. In 2015, they both earned M.D. degrees from University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. Amanda Strickland is an academic pathologist in Chicago, and Nicole Strickland is a dermatologist in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
“In April of 2023, Amanda and Nicole wanted to continue the legacy and impact their parents made in their lifetimes at the university where it all started,” Frederic said. “In honor of their parents, Amanda and Nicole decided a named space in the Dr. A. Randle and Marilyn W. White Health Professions Resource Center would be the optimal memorial to them both.”
After the ribbon cutting ceremony on November 22, 2023, Amanda and Nicole Strickland got to experience some of the MSU memories their parents made together. They attended the Egg Bowl, took a tour of campus and even visited the chemistry classroom that their parents could have met in.