Jamie Harris
When Jamie Harris came to Millsaps College as a geology professor in 1995, he had never taught before, even as a graduate student. Since then, Harris has flourished as a teacher. On Nov. 19, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching named him Professor of the Year for Mississippi.
Miro Lago
Miro Lago can boast of being the first working manager of the King Edward Hotel in more than 40 years, since the business closed its doors in 1967. The King Edward Hotel, which is reopening as a Hilton Garden Hotel, is a fitting place for him, really. Lago, whose whole name is Argimiro Dimas Lago, III (His dad, Argi, used the first part of the name, while Miro took the second part) enjoys putting himself neck-deep in history. Before coming to Jackson, Lago ran a steamboat that cruised along the Mississippi River, was a front office manager in the Ponchartrain Hotel in New Orleans, built in 1927, and also ran the luxurious Maison Dupuy hotel in New Orleans' French Quarter.
Curnis Upkins
Curnis Upkins, 27, knows what he wants. He wants his neighborhood to support the kind of diversity found in thriving communities. Serendipitously for him, he gets paid to create opportunities for his community to flourish.
Latasha Willis
Today we honor one of our own: new JFP event listings editor Latasha Willis. The best way you can honor Latasha? Send your events calendars for the next three months to her by next Tuesday, Dec. 1 at [e-mail missing].
Ricky Moore
Ricky Moore will retire from his position as Hinds County's assistant director of emergency operations on Nov. 30. Moore, a Jackson native, has held the post for 20 years, and his retirement, which he announced Nov. 6, comes after he was passed over for promotion to the top spot with the county's Emergency Operations Center.
Marianne Hill
Dr. Marianne Hill, senior economist at the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, wants to see the status of women improve in Mississippi.
Dea Dea Baker
When Dea Dea Baker graduated from the University of Colorado in 1978 with a business degree, she never thought she would leave her adopted home of Boulder to come back to her hometown of Jackson. Love, however, had other plans for Baker.
Ivory Harris
Ivory Harris remembers the Northwest Jackson neighborhood of Presidential Hills where he grew up as a "living, breathing community." As a student, a teacher and a public servant, Harris has never strayed far.
Pat Chambliss
Pat Chambliss, 52, is the volunteer executive director and one of the founding members of Dress for Success in Jackson. A national organization started in 1997 in New York, the organization's goal is to provide "suits to self sufficiency," Chambliss says.
Robin Webb
Concert pianist, composer and activist Robin Webb, 52, has been living with HIV and AIDS for more than two decades. Diagnosed in 1988 as HIV positive, his doctor told him in 1990 that the virus had progressed. "You have AIDS," he told Webb. "... You need to put your house in order."
John Dooley
John Dooley is turning his passion for scuba diving into a business. Two weeks ago, Dooley won a $10,000 grant from the Mississippi Technology Alliance to develop Diver's D\Lyte, a performance drink that Dooley invented for scuba divers.
Wyatt Waters
The Mississippi Arts Commission has announced that Clinton artist and area favorite Wyatt Waters, known statewide for his watercolor paintings, will receive a 2010 Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts. The award honors five artists each year in the performing, visual and literary arts throughout the state. Past recipients include Eudora Welty, Bill Dunlap and Dr. Samuel Gore.
Beth Poff
Beth Poff laughs her best laugh as she ponders the question, "What do you do in your spare time?"
Justin Vaughn
Justin Vaughn, a 26-year-old designer, is the founder of Jackson-area T-shirt screen-printing company, Unik Ink, pronounced "unique" ink. A lifelong resident of Madison, Vaughn graduated from the University of Mississippi in 2005 with a bachelor's degree in art, emphasizing graphic design. He learned his trade during college working as a designer for a screen-printing company.
Roy Wheat
Some of the most honorable and selfless men and women in our country's history have served in the armed services. Mississippian Roy Wheat entered this category with a heroic, selfless act during the Vietnam War.