Mississippi College posts five on business journal’s Top CEOs list

CLINTON, MS (Special) — The Mississippi Business Journal has named Blake Thompson, president of Baptist-affiliated Mississippi College (MC) in Clinton, as one of Mississippi’s Top chief executive officers for 2021 along with four MC graduates.

According to a press statement from the university, other MC inductees on the Mississippi Business Journal’s 2021 list were:

— Jonathan Hollingshead (’01), president of Business Communications, Inc., in Ridgeland.

— Teresa Malone (’93), executive director of the Mississippi Nurses Association in Jackson.

—  D. Michael Heindel (’97), president of Northwest Mississippi Community College in Senatobia.

— Dwanna Stanley (’09), owner of The Agency Real Estate Services in Ridgeland.

Thompson was previously vice president of The Ohio State University in Columbus, one of the largest universities in the country. In his career, he has held a vice president appointment with Batelle, a leading non-profit research and development organization, and served in Washington. D.C., as a senior staffer to the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee and the late U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.).

Thompson is a three-time graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy in Oxford, and was named the school’s 2021 Distinguished Alumnus of the Year. He also holds a executive master’s degree from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

On the national level, Thompson serves on the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Presidents Council, Division II’s highest governing body for sports. He operates a small blueberry farm along with wife Jana, son Grey, and daughters Sarah Blake and Cate.

“I’m honored to be recognized alongside these four MC graduates,” Thompson said. “That we have four alumni named to the list of our state’s top CEOs says so much about the value of an MC education and our university’s role in preparing students for leadership positions.

“I’m confident our current student body includes the next generation of our state’s leaders, and I’m looking forward to seeing their names on future editions of the Top CEOs list.”

For more information on Mississippi College, visit https://www.mc.edu/.