Jack McCarty - “Taking Care of Business”
Jack McCarty
A familiar face has returned to Mississippi State University. Jack R. McCarty has been spending the past few months getting reacquainted with the university and getting down to the business of fundraising through the MSU Foundation.
From 1994 to 2001, McCarty served as director of development for various units within the Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine. He rejoined the university in fall 2007, becoming director of development for the College of Business and its Adkerson School of Accountancy.
During his time away from the university, McCarty served as director of development for Ducks Unlimited Inc. in Memphis, the world's leader in wetlands conservation. He began his career with the Mississippi Boll Weevil Management Association by working with cotton farmers and the agriculture industry.
Assisting people who share his passion for MSU is part of the allure that drew him back to the university-fold. "I enjoy being in a position to help people make significant investments that in turn make a difference for the university," he shares.
Since rejoining MSU, McCarty has been busy with fundraising for the 52,000-square-foot addition to McCool Hall as part of the Seal Family Business Complex. Now, McCarty has turned his attention to soliciting gifts for the college's priority needs through the university's new "Reach for Excellence" initiative.
The needs of the business college, he says, are similar to a three-legged stool. "It takes scholarships for good students, and funds for good facilities, but we also need chairs and professorships to recruit and retain quality faculty members," he explains.
Mississippi State has always been a family affair for McCarty. A native of Starkville, he earned a bachelor's degree in agricultural science from MSU in 1991. His wife, Jimmie Faye, is a graduate as is his mother, Frances, and his sister, Robin. His late father, Robert McCarty, was an MSU graduate who was the director of the Bureau of Plant Industry for the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce.
It was his father's dedication to serving Mississippi that steered McCarty down his chosen career path.
"My father was an extremely dedicated, loyal and hard-working employee of the state for 33 years. He loved his work and it showed. He was a role model and a leader for many people and the scholarship established through the MSU Foundation serves as a reminder," he recalls.
Through the years, McCarty has been on the receiving end of some gifts whose impact is still being felt at Mississippi State. The first gift he closed for MSU was from television and film actor Morgan Freeman which was earmarked for the division's College of Veterinary Medicine. While McCarty quickly points out the majority of his gifts haven't been from nationally-recognized persons, they have been gifts, he's proud to say, that make a difference day in and day out at Mississippi State.
McCarty may be contacted at 662.325.9580 or by email at jmccarty@foundation.msstate.edu.
