Hattiesburg leaders receive Community Innovation Leadership Award Southern Miss vice president and former ADP leader share 2009 John I. Rucker Award
Ridgeland, MS - The Mississippi Technology Alliance (MTA) recently presented the John I. Rucker Community Innovation Leadership Award to Dr. Cecil Burge, vice president for research and economic development at the University of Southern Mississippi, and Dr. Angie Godwin, former president of the Area Development Partnership.
MTA presents the award to recognize outstanding innovation-based economic development individuals and organizations that have demonstrated leadership in partnering with government, academia and the private sector to drive innovation-led economic development efforts that benefit high growth companies and communities.
In presenting the award, Dr. Randy Goldsmith, president and CEO of the Mississippi Technology Alliance said, “Dr. Cecil Burge has been a leader in technology-based economic development in Mississippi for the past 25 years. Quietly, effectively and relentlessly, Dr. Burge has been a leader in Mississippi’s efforts to bring science and technology assets to bear for economic development.”
Burge was instrumental in creation of the landmark legislation called the Mississippi University and Research Act (MURA) in the 1980s, that made it possible for faculty at public universities to create private companies based on technology developed as a result of their university research while still remaining in their jobs at the university. In addition, Burge has led efforts to obtain more than $500 million in external funding for research and development in the years he has served at USM.
“Dr. Angie Godwin came to Mississippi in 2002 to become the first full-time President/CEO of the Mississippi Technology Alliance, then known as Mississippi Technology Inc.,” said Goldsmith. “Under Angie’s leadership, Mississippi began a statewide conversation about how science and technology drive economic growth and she inspired communities around the state to form technology councils to identify their assets and strategies for creation of technology-based companies.”
As president of the Area Development Partnership, Godwin has worked to bring many innovative approaches to the greater Hattiesburg area, participating with the Pine Belt Innovators to create a local Angel investor network, the Business Launch Point incubator in downtown Hattiesburg and most recently development of The Garden, a state of the art technology park focusing on polymer science and advanced materials technologies in partnership with USM.
“We are grateful and honored in Mississippi to have individuals like Angie and Cecil working on our behalf to lead our state’s innovation-based economic development projects, programs and organizations,” said Goldsmith.
The award is named in honor of the late John I. Rucker, who served a decade as the executive director of the Oktibbeha County Economic Development Authority and was credited with helping lay the ground work for several innovation-led economic development projects in the greater Starkville community. He was a visionary economic developer and a good friend to MTA. The award was presented during the Tenth Annual Conference on High Technology in Jackson.
The Mississippi Technology Alliance is a non-profit organization with the mission to drive innovation and technology-based economic development for the State of Mississippi. For more information about MTA, visit www.mta.ms
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