Bryant appoints Starr to College Board
Gov. Phil Bryant has appointed a North Mississippi periodontist to the state College Board.
Dr. John Starr will fill the seat Bryant originally had appointed Glenn McCullough Jr. to occupy. McCullough was named the new executive director of the Mississippi Development Authority last week. He starts that job June 8.
Starr is owner of Golden Triangle Periodontal Center, which has offices in Starkville and Columbus. He's practiced in the area for 29 years.
"Dr. Starr is a Mississippi native and has applied the education he received from the state's public universities to a successful career as a periodontist and business owner," Bryant said in a statement his office released. "I am pleased to appoint him to the College Board."
Starr holds a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Mississippi State University. He is a graduate of the University of Mississippi Medical Center School of Dentistry and completed his residency in periodontics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
He served on the Mississippi State Board of Dental Examiners from 2004-2010, serving as president in 2007, and is a past member of the Board of Trustees for the Mississippi Dental Association. He is a member of the Columbus Rotary Club and is 2014-2015 president of the Columbus GirlChoir board of directors.
"I am very humbled and honored to receive this appointment by Gov. Bryant to serve on the IHL Board of Trustees. I appreciate this opportunity to serve the public universities in our state," Starr said. "Serving in this capacity, to better advance Mississippi and its future, is a way for me to give back for the opportunities afforded me by the public university system of Mississippi."
Starr and his wife, Lee Ann, have two daughters, Breland and Georgia Grace. They are members of St. Paul's Episcopal Church.
Starr's appointment will have to be confirmed by the Mississippi Senate. He takes his place on the College Board in the middle of a search for a replacement for Ole Miss chancellor Dan Jones. The Board voted March 20 to order then-IHL commissioner Jim Borsig to begin preparations for a search to find Jones' replacement, essentially not renewing Jones' contract, which expires in September.
Borsig has since returned to Mississippi University for Women as president, a position he held before being named IHL Commissioner in February. Glenn Boyce, who was IHL's associate commissioner for academic affairs, was named the new commissioner last month.
Contact Clay Chandler at (601) 961-7264 or cchandler@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @claychand on Twitter.