Contact: Allison Matthews

STARKVILLE, Miss.--Mississippi State University graduates heard from a fellow Bulldog who returned to his alma mater to share lessons learned from his own path to success.

Thomas B. "Tommy" Nusz, a 1982 MSU petroleum engineering graduate, told students they now have a "license to learn" and encouraged them to consider their graduation as a new starting point.

"My hope is that for each of you, your best days are yet to come and that your connection to Mississippi State and the relationships that you developed here do not stop here, but continue to grow with time," he said during spring commencement exercises at Humphrey Coliseum.

Approximately 2,600 MSU students were candidates for May degrees.

Nusz, CEO and chairman of the board of Oasis Petroleum, an independent and publicly-traded exploration and production company he helped launch in 2007, advised the graduates to learn to listen.

"In today's world, you are going to be bombarded with data, information, opinions, and stories from multiple sources. You are going to have to decide what you believe," Nusz said. He warned to avoid becoming constrained by the status quo, conventional and societal norms, and the viewpoints of so-called experts. He advised instead to consider all the facts and weigh options to make the best decisions.

He stressed the importance of building relationships and said developing people and their "human skills" was a key ingredient of success at his company. Nusz said developing traits like initiative, dependability, adaptability and an ability to work with others proved a good investment that cultivated a business team of people "who didn't just do what they were asked to do -- they did everything they could do," he said.

Nusz said pursuing a passion has been another key to his success. Making the decision to start a new company in 2007, going against conventional wisdom, led to an enterprise valued at $4.5 billion.

"It has blessed Terri and me with the opportunity to give back to a tremendous institution like Mississippi State," he said, adding that his wife of 32 years also is a Mississippi State graduate.

Also at the respective Friday and Saturday [May 8 and 9] ceremonies, Charles W. "Tex" Ritter of Kosciusko, MSU's 2002 National Alumnus of the Year, and leading Meridian businessman Tommy E. Dulaney received honorary doctorates in public service for lifetime achievements and longtime major support of university programs.

Ritter is a 1956 agriculture graduate who was longtime president and CEO of Attala Mills, a Kosciusko manufacturer of flour and pet food. While building a successful business career, Ritter simultaneously devoted nearly 60 years of almost uninterrupted service to the university, serving as president of the MSU Foundation and Alumni Foundation.

Dulaney founded Structural Steel Services Inc. in Meridian in 1975. The Louisville native and longtime Meridian resident is a member of the MSU-Meridian Dean's Advisory Council and MSU Foundation board of directors. Beyond his board service, he has endowed a scholarship in engineering at MSU.

MSU is Mississippi's flagship research university, available online at www.msstate.edu, facebook.com/msstate, instagram.com/msstate and twitter.com/msstate.