New officers of the Ole Miss Alumni Association are (from left) Kirk Purdom, treasurer; Leon Collins, president-elect; Bobby Bailess, president; Matt Lusco, vice president; Deano Orr, Athletics committee member; and Andy Kilpatrick, Athletics Committee member. UM photo by Jim Urbanek
OXFORD, Miss. – The Ole Miss Alumni Association announced its officers for 2017-18 on Saturday (Oct. 14) as part of Homecoming festivities at the University of Mississippi.
Bobby Bailess (BBA 73, JD 76) was named president, a one-year term that changes each Homecoming. Bailess is a lifelong resident of Vicksburg, practicing law there since 1976.
“I am so humbled and honored to serve the Ole Miss family,” Bailess said. “Natalie and I look forward to working with and getting to know more of the alumni, faculty, students and friends of this great university.”
Bailess was a three-year letterman for the Rebel football team from 1971 to 1973. He is a fellow of the Mississippi Bar Foundation and served as a member of the foundation’s board of trustees. He is past president of the Mississippi Bar Association, a member of the Lamar Order and a former chairman of the Law Alumni Board.
He and his wife, Natalie (BAEd 73), have three children, Russ (BBA 99, MBA 01), Katherine and Becca (BAEd 07), and four grandchildren.
“I know that Bobby and Natalie Bailess will serve Ole Miss and the Alumni Association with grace and enthusiasm,” said Hal Moore (MD 76), outgoing Alumni Association president, of Pascagoula.
Retired Maj. Gen. Augustus Leon Collins, (BBA 82) of Madison, chief executive officer for MINACT Inc., was named president-elect. Matt Lusco (BBA 79), senior executive vice president and chief risk officer for Regions Financial Corp. in Birmingham, Alabama, was elected vice president.
Athletics Committee members are Andy Kilpatrick (BBA 87), of Grenada, and Deano Orr (BBA 93), of Bartlett, Tennessee. Kilpatrick serves as counsel for the Mississippi State Board of Architecture. Orr serves as executive director of International Paper Foundation in Memphis.
Kirk Purdom, the Alumni Association’s executive director (BA 93), serves as treasurer.