SHELBY F. THAMES, FORMER PRESIDENT
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI
For more articles and editorials concerning Thames, please click here.
(May 20, 2008) There's No Denying It, They Were All There by Duane Cobb The opinion that the 2002-07 USM
Presidency of Shelby F. Thames was an unmitigated disaster is one that is widely held. One gets glimpses of why
this is so from (the pages of) the various news media (e.g., The Hattiesburg American, The Clarion Ledger, The
Student Printz, etc.) and web blogs (e.g., the USM Forum -- to build trust, a team and a campus -- Message Board,
Liberty & Power, USMNEWS.NET, etc.) that reported on the USM issues of the day. One can also sense the
devastation wrought on the institution (USM) by the Thames administration from the oral histories passed on by
those (faculty, staff, students, etc.) who were "there" during that awful time.
(May 23, 2008) CoB Flashback: keepgas.doc In January of 2003 former USM President Shelby Thames fired all of
USM's deans and reorganized the University. The reorganization of USM led to both new colleges and fewer
colleges than before. One of these was the College of Business and Economic Development, and one of the
finalists for the CBED dean's position (in the spring of 2003) was Syracuse University's Harold Doty. Doty told the
crowd of CBED faculty and staff gathered for his interview presentation that he (Doty) viewed the inclusion of
economic development (ED) in the business college (CB) as an opportunity to create an advantage and do new
things. Shortly after taking the post as the dean of the CBED, Doty even taught a graduate-level course in economic
development. It would be the only course he ever taught during his tenure as dean from July-03 through early
April-07.
(June 5, 2008) CoB Flashback: May 7, 2003 In May of 2003 USM's business school was known as the "College of
Business and Economic Development." The name had changed from "College of Business Administration" back in
January of 2003, when then-USM President Shelby Thames reorganized the University and fired all of its deans.
That included CBED Dean William Gunther, who was set to complete his 2002-03 contract and be out of office by
June 30, 2003.