MPB’s ‘Conversations’ Features Chancellor Robert Khayat

Program premieres Sunday evening

Chancellor Emeritus Robert Khayat is the next guest on MPB’s ‘Conversations’ series. Photo by Robert Jordan/Ole Miss Communications

OXFORD, Miss. – University of Mississippi Chancellor Emeritus Robert Khayat reflects on his life’s work and achievements for the next installment of “Conversations,” premiering at 5:30 p.m. Sunday (April 8) on Mississippi Public Broadcasting Television.

Host Marshall Ramsey, who interviewed Khayat for the segment, said he’s wanted to have the former chancellor on the program “for a long time.”

“I wanted to have him on not just because of his incredible career and what he’s done at Ole Miss, but because of the difference he’s made for the entire state,” Ramsey said. “He made amazing contributions to making life better for people all across Mississippi.”

“Conversations,” a regular program on MPB dating back to the 1970s, features interviews with a variety of notables, including politicians, athletes, entertainers, inventors and business leaders. Khayat stands out among the people featured on the show because of his natural leadership style, said Ramsey, who took over as host three years ago.

“He definitely does leadership just by walking around,” he said. “Chancellor Khayat once told me that when he’s out for a walk, if he sees a piece of trash, he has to pick it up and throw it away because that’s the example he wants to give others. That’s real leadership.”

Encore presentations of the episode are set for 10 p.m. Thursday (April 12) and 11:30 p.m. April 15 on MPB stations. The show also can be streamed after the premiere at http://www.mpbonline.org/conversations/.