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Alumni > Alumnus/Alumna of the Year Awards > Ed King - 2011 Alumnus of the Year

Ed King - 2011 Alumnus of the Year

Reverend Ed King is a native of Vicksburg, Mississippi, a Millsaps graduate (BA, Sociology, 1958), a retired minister of the United Methodist Church, and a member of the University of Mississippi Medical Center faculty. He served as Chaplain and Dean of Students at Tougaloo College from 1963-68, held an adjunct faculty position at Millsaps in Sociology and Religion from 1974-2004, and was an adjunct faculty member at the University of Mississippi in 1987. Rev. King has been an associate professor with tenure at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, School of Health Related Professions since 1974. King has received countless honors and awards including the J. F. Kennedy Freedom Award, and the United Methodist Church of Mississippi Conference Award for 35 years work in racial reconciliation. He has been recognized by the Catholic Council of Civil Liberties and Harvard University and received the Mississippi Religious Leadership Conference Founders Award for 40 years of work in cooperation and communication between races and religions groups.

Lectures and sermons by Rev. King are heard in universities and churches all over the country and as far afield as Moscow, Russia. Ed's oral history interviews are available in 16 libraries ranging from Columbia and Duke Universities, to Tougaloo, Jackson State and Millsaps College. His knowledge of and experience in civil rights efforts have made Rev. King a sought-after speaker, writer, consultant and spiritual leader.

Ed's contributions to the Mississippi civil rights movement and to the national progress toward racial equity are legendary.  One writer refers to Ed as the most significant white leader in Mississippi's march toward racial equality. Under King's leadership and with the assistance of many others, by 1969, 66.5 percent of black Mississippians were registered to vote.  In 2010 the Leaders of Values and Ethics (LOVE) award was renamed The Rev. Ed King Leader of Values and Ethics Award to recognize Rev. King's record of service-leadership for humankind. The award is bestowed on the student leader who best exemplifies principled leadership for a cause of deep moral consequence that may meet with opposition but proves over time to be true. For other community members at Millsaps, in Jackson, and in Mississippi, King remains a role model who embodies principled leadership in support of essential causes.  For his personal sacrifices, moral fortitude and courage in the face of violent opposition, Rev. Ed King exemplifies the credo of the Methodist Church: Open hearts, open minds, open doors.

(Reprinted from the 2011 Spring Alumni Awards Ceremony Program)