MSU engineering alumnus establishes Jerry and Alice Little Memorial Endowed Scholarship

Jerry and Alice Little

A gift from the late MSU engineering alumnus Jerry Little is providing Mississippi State students with the opportunity for an endowed scholarship to pursue mechanical engineering.

Little donated through a generous bequest from his will to establish the Jerry and Alice Little Memorial Endowed Scholarship following his passing on July 27, 2022.

Born on August 17, 1935, in Bridgeport, Little grew up on a farm until his family moved to Hazlehurst, where he graduated from Hazlehurst High School in 1953. He graduated from MSU in 1957 with a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering. In 1972, he married his late wife Alice Hammond, who also was memorialized with this scholarship.

For over 35 years, Little served as the shipbuilding supervisor at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, overseeing the construction of destroyers, cruisers and assault ships as a civilian employee for the U.S. Department of Defense.

The scholarship benefits full-time undergraduate students pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering, maintaining a 3.0 GPA and demonstrating financial need. Preference is given to students from Copiah, Jackson and Simpson counties, ensuring students from the areas he cherished are supported in their education.

Don Little, his nephew, said Jerry was truly dedicated to the university as a former graduate.

“Jerry was an avid MSU Bulldog,” Don said. “His commitment to MSU is based on what the university provided to him not only in education but in personal development as well.”

By Aspen Harris