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News and Event Releases > Mississippi Business Leader Jim Barksdale to Speak at Else School Fall Forum

Mississippi Business Leader Jim Barksdale to Speak at Else School Fall Forum

Wrap-up of the Else Forum: Education pays in very big ways - Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, MS

Jim Barksdale, chairman and president of Barksdale Management Corp., a private investment company, will be the featured speaker at the Else School of Management Fall Forum on October 20 at Millsaps College. The topic for this Forum will be "Public Education ... The Big Idea." Doors will open at 8 a.m. for a buffet breakfast and the program will get under way at 8:30 a.m.  Admission is $15.  Reservations are recommended. For more information, call 601-974-1250.

Barksdale brought national recognition to the issue of childhood literacy with his gift of $100 million for the creation of the Barksdale Reading Institute. With more than 35 years of active management/executive experience he now invests his time and funds in new ventures and philanthropic endeavors. During his business career he was on the forefront of new companies that started new industries.

Barksdale served as chief information officer of FedEx in its early formative days of 1978-1983 and later as its chief operating officer from 1983 to 1991. In 1991, he became president and chief operating officer of McCaw Cellular during the early development of cellular technology and its industry. When McCaw was sold to AT&T in 1994, he became the first chief executive officer for AT&T Wireless.

 In 1995 he was named chief executive officer of a new start-up in the Internet industry-Netscape Communications.. The Netscape browser was the first step for millions to begin using the Internet. When Netscape was merged into America Online in 1999, Barksdale started The Barksdale Group, a venture capital company and Barksdale Management. He serves on numerous boards of directors including Time Warner Inc., FedEx Corp., Mayo Clinic, and In-Q-Tel. 

He served for eight years on the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. After Hurricane Katrina he served as chairman of the Governor's Commission on Recovery, Rebuilding and Renewal. He also served as co-chair of the Markel Foundation's Commission on National Security in the Information Age.

He has been the recipient of numerous awards in business as well as for citizenship and his work in education. Barksdale received his B.A. in Business Administration from the University of Mississippi.

The Else Forum at Millsaps College is a regularly scheduled event, which provides a platform for regional and national leaders in business to comment on topical issues for Millsaps students and interested members of the community. The fall forum usually focuses on economic or public policy issues, while the spring forum branches out into management or marketing issues.

Speakers have included Jack Guynn, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta; Leland Speed, executive director for the Mississippi Development Authority; Howard McMillan Jr., former president of the American Bankers Association; Mark W. Olson, chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board; John Moore, marketing expert and author; and Frank Abagnale, expert on fraud and embezzlement and subject of the movie "Catch Me If You Can."