Jim Laird

Research & Executive Support Editor
Phone: 662-325-2137
jim.laird@msstate.edu

In his role as research and executive support editor for Mississippi State University, Starkville native Jim Laird provides key research, writing and related executive support for the Office of the President and serves as the liaison to the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning and the board’s administrative staff.

As part of the Public Affairs team, he writes, edits and distributes the MSU News Digest weekday mornings, and also publishes the Maroon MEMO online newsletter for faculty and staff every Monday morning.

For a decade, Laird was editor of the Jackson-based Mississippi Business Journal, the Magnolia State’s only statewide business weekly publication. His editorial writing won gold and silver awards from the Alliance of Area Business Publications, and the Mississippi Press Association has also recognized his work.

A graduate of Starkville Academy, he holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Mississippi College. His wife, Harriet, is associate director of the Office of Public Affairs at MSU. Their daughter, Hannah, is a summa cum laude Mississippi State graduate and a first-year medical student at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, and daughter Harper is a sophomore at MSU, where she is a member of Kappa Delta sorority and an MSU Diamond Girl.

He is the son of Marilyn Laird Henley of Starkville and the late Dr. Kermit Laird.