OXFORD, Miss. – The University of Mississippi School of Law will hold its annual Alumni Hall of Fame induction ceremony on March 25 as part of Law Alumni Weekend.
William H. Barbour Jr.
The event, in the Gertrude C. Ford Ballroom of The Inn at Ole Miss, begins with a 6 p.m. reception. Dinner will be served at 7 p.m. followed by an induction ceremony. Dress is business attire.
Two alumni are being inducted posthumously: Judge William H. Barbour Jr. (JD 66), of Yazoo City, and Myres S. McDougal (BA 26, MA 27, LLB 35), of New Haven, Connecticut. The three remaining inductees are Minnie P. Howard (BA 76, JD 80), of Batesville; Michael C. Moore (BA 74, JD 76), of Ridgeland; and Colette A. Oldmixon (JD 81), of Poplarville.
“Every year, I am amazed at the quality group of individuals we induct into our Hall of Fame,” said Susan Duncan, dean of the School of Law. “Our Hall of Fame classes are indicative of the quality practitioners and community leaders this school has been producing for almost 170 years.”
Minnie Howard
Barbour received his degree from the UM law school in 1966 following his undergraduate years at Princeton University. Barbour practiced law with members of his family in Yazoo City until he was appointed in 1983 by President Ronald Reagan to be an Article III judge to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. He retired from the post in 2019.
Howard, a 1980 law school graduate, is deputy director of North Mississippi Rural Legal Services in Oxford. For more than 40 years, Howard spent her career providing civil legal assistance to low-income Mississippians.
Her work includes case work involving voting rights, school desegregation, consumer issues, public benefits and disability. She also taught in the law school’s clinical programs, providing practical experience for more than two decades to law students.
Myres McDougal
Born in the Burton community in Prentiss County in 1906, McDougal graduated from Booneville High School before making his mark at Ole Miss. During his time as an Ole Miss student, he played varsity football and was editor of the Daily Mississippian and president of the student body.
By age 20, he earned his bachelor’s degree, followed by a master’s degree and law degree before he became a Rhodes Scholar. Upon his return to the U.S. from his studies at Oxford University, he became a giant in the field of legal education.
In 1935, McDougal joined the faculty at Yale Law School, where he taught for more than 40 years. He was named Sterling Professor Emeritus of Law and became widely known for his expertise in international law.
Mike Moore. Photo by Celebrity Photos/John Mathew Smith
Moore, from the Mississippi Gulf Coast, earned both his undergraduate and law degrees from the university. After earning his law degree in 1976, he returned to the Coast and became an assistant district attorney in Jackson County.
In 1979 he became the youngest elected district attorney in Mississippi and in 1987, he won a statewide election to become Mississippi’s attorney general. He is widely known for his efforts in 1994 to file suit against 13 tobacco companies, which resulted in a $246 billion recovery of costs the state incurred to treat smoking-related illnesses.
Following his career in public service, Moore returned to private practice in the Jackson area and remains active in tobacco prevention programs throughout the state.
Colette Oldmixon
A native of Texas, Oldmixon earned a bachelor’s degree at Northwestern State University in Louisiana before obtaining her law degree from UM. Immediately after her graduation in 1981, Oldmixon moved to Poplarville to begin working with her mentor, David Smith, and his partners.
Predominantly a plaintiff’s personal injury lawyer, she maintains the law firm of Smith & Oldmixon. She has given back to the Mississippi Bar throughout her entire career, serving on numerous committees. She is a fellow and past president of the Mississippi Bar Foundation.
She has spent many years working with the Mississippi Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Rules, and is a life member of the Mississippi Association of Justice and the state’s chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates. The Ole Miss law school has also been the beneficiary of her leadership, as she is a past president of the Law Alumni Chapter’s board of directors and a past chair of the Lamar Order giving society.
The 2023 Law Alumni Hall of Fame banquet is open to the public. Tickets can be purchased online at https://www.olemissalumni.com/events/ under the 2023 Law Alumni Weekend section or by calling Anna Claire in the Alumni office at 662-915-2401.