Nora R. Miller, President of Mississippi University for Women (The “W”) spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the club’s February 18, 2020, 2020. The subject of her presentation was “The W”, how it is today and how it is progressing. Ms. Miller received her BBA and Bachelors in Accounting from the W and her MBA from Mississippi State University. She is a CPA. She joined the staff of the W in 2001 and served as vice president of finance and administration for the W for 11 years prior to becoming president. She said that the W was created in 1884 and that it became coeducational in 1982. The current enrollment is 80% female.
Miller served as chair of the University Press of Mississippi and has served on the Board of Directors of the Southern Association of College and University Business Officers (SACUBO). She serves as Secretary/Treasurer of the Southern Universities Conference. She is active in a number of organizations including the Mississippi Chapter of the International Women’s Forum, Town and Tower, serving as chair in 2014-2015; Columbus Air Force Base Community Council; and Rotary Club of Columbus, serving as president in 2008-2009, and a three-time Paul Harris Fellow. A member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, she has served on the Vestry and as Senior Warden in 2015-2016. Miller was also on the Board of Directors of St. Paul’s Episcopal School, serving as chair in 2009-2010.
Miller served as Chair of the Tenn-Tom Chapter of the American Red Cross in 2007-2009 and has also been a member of the Northeast Mississippi Chapter and the Mississippi Regional Advisory Council of the American Red Cross.
A Leadership Mississippi graduate, Miller was named one of the Top 50 Businesswomen of the Year by the Mississippi Business Journal. Other honors include being named a 2019 Woman of Distinction by the Girl Scouts Heart of the South council, and a Rotary District 6820 2019 Champion of Change. Most recently, Miller received the Mississippi Distinguished Civilian Medal of Honor for her responsiveness to the soldiers and airmen of the Mississippi National Guard. A member of the Mississippi University for Women Alumni Association, she has served as treasurer for the MUW Alumnae Association and the MUW Ecumenical Council.
Miller emphasized that the W is a bargain in higher education with annual tuition and fees of about $15,000 for Mississippi residents. A program for moving Registered Nurses (RNs) from RN to BSN is one of the university’s stronger programs. The students in this program are non-traditional with much of the program being offered online.
The W is recognized as a great place to work and is a ‘best value” among Southern public universities. The university has an enrollment of 2813 students, with an average age of 24.6 years reflecting the emphasis on RN to BSN students. 86 % of the students are from Mississippi, 37%are African-Americans, 45% of the students are in health-related professions, again reflecting the RN-BSN program. The student-faculty: ratio of 13.1 is the highest in MS public universities. From 2010 - 2019, the W increased the number of undergraduate degrees by 67%. In 2019, the W graduated 911 students. The W’s graduates have a system low average indebtedness of students with loans of $29,393.
We thank Ms. Miller for her presentation and for her commitment to the youth of Mississippi. She is shown in the following photo with Club Director Larry Anderson (left) who introduced her and club president Greg Campbell (right).
