A Mississippi State University faculty member has made a celestial discovery in Starkville: the first asteroid identified from the state of Mississippi.

“It has to be the night I was elected the first woman MSU Student Association President in Mississippi State’s 100-year history,” said MSU alumna Laurie Williams of her favorite stand-out MSU memory. “It was a thrill finally kicking through that glass ceiling––in high heels, no less!”

Curt Brown, retired U.S. Air Force colonel and six-time space shuttle veteran, visited campus Wednesday [March 4] to help celebrate Mississippi State Astronaut Scholars James “Brittin” Perdue and Spencer Lile.