Contact: Addie Mayfield

STARKVILLE, Miss.—An endowed scholarship for civil and environmental engineering majors is being created in Mississippi State’s James Worth Bagley College of Engineering in memory of a Starkville alumnus.

Named in memory of James Carson Patton Sr., a Water Valley native and 1941 civil engineering graduate known to many as “J.C.,” the award is for full-time civil and environmental engineering majors and gives preference to Mississippi residents with demonstrated financial need.

A U.S. Navy officer and member of the Seabees Construction Battalion during World War II, Patton later worked in private practice as a civil engineer in Lexington for 35 years. After retiring in 1990, he and his wife, the former Sara Frances Tarlton, returned to Starkville.

His well-known dedication to MSU athletics also earned him the nickname “Coach Patton” among family and friends. Both he and his wife were avid supporters of the university, with contributions provided over the years to athletic and engineering programs and scholarships.

The endowment recently was established by the Pattons’ three children, Linda Patton MacMorran of Baton Rouge, Louisiana; James Carson Patton Jr. of Starkville; and Sara Patton Rutledge of Brandon. James Jr. and Sara also are MSU alumni, with degrees earned, respectively, in 1976 and 1984.

For more information about this and other endowed engineering scholarships, contact Bennett Evans, Bagley College development director, at 662-325-0386 or bevans@bagley.msstate.edu.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.