Long time Hinds Community College President and Delta State University alumnus Dr. Clyde Muse was bestowed with one of the university’s highest honors– an honorary Doctor of Public Service degree, during the 2012 Spring Commencement ceremony.
Delta State University confers the honorary degree to individuals who have made significant and meritorious contributions to the university, higher education generally, or other areas of society. Achievements can include, but are not limited to, outstanding creative and scholarly work, distinguished leadership or service, significant accomplishments, or exceptional philanthropic support.
With 34 years of outstanding leadership at the helm of Mississippi’s largest community college and 60 years as a public educator, Dr. Clyde Muse, president of Hinds Community College, has earned the distinction of being Mississippi’s elder statesman in higher education. His energy, enthusiasm and dedication to the education of Mississippi’s citizens have not wavered in six decades.
Muse received his A.A. Degree from East Central Community College, his B.S. Degree from Delta State University, and his M.Ed. and Doctorate from Mississippi State University. He served as high school science teacher and head basketball and track coach at both Canton and Starkville Public Schools; high school principal and assistant superintendent of Starkville Public Schools; Hinds County Superintendent of Education; Superintendent of Meridian Public Schools; and in 1978 became president at Hinds. A native Mississippian, Muse has spent his entire professional career in Mississippi.
He is a member of several honor societies, including Phi Delta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, Omicron Delta Kappa, Red Rose, and is listed in Who’s Who in American Col¬leges and Universities. Muse has been active in Mississippi Economic Council affairs and is a member of the Jackson Rotary Club, Jackson Chamber of Commerce, and the Boy Scouts of Amer¬ica. He is a past president of the Alumni Association of Delta State Univer¬sity, the Mississippi Associa¬tion of Secondary School Principals, Mississippi Asso¬ciation of County Superinten¬dents, Mississippi Association of School Administrators, Mississippi State University College of Education Alumni Chapter, Mississippi Association of Colleges, Mississippi Association of Community/Junior Colleges, and past chairman of the Mississippi State Accrediting Commission.
Muse served as chair of the Association of Community College Trustees’ Advisory Committee of Presidents for 1994-95. In October 1995, he was appointed to the American Association of Community Colleges Commission on Community and Workforce Development. He is presently serving as Legislative Committee Chair of the Mississippi Association of Community/Junior Colleges, a position he has held for more than 20 years.
Muse was selected as Delta State Alumnus of the Year – 1982; East Central Community College Alumnus of the Year – 1991; Mississippi State University Alumnus of the Year for the College of Education – 1992; recipient of the Mississippi Association of School Administrators 1991 "Golden Lamp" Award; Hinds Community College’s Outstanding Administrative Non-Teaching Professional Award for 1994; National Association for Developmental Education’s Outstanding Administrative Support to Developmental Education Award for 1994; Mississippi Chapter of National Multiple Sclerosis Society Hope Award for 1994; Hinds Community College’s Distinguished Administrative Non-Teaching Professional Award for 1995; Mississippi Association of Coaches Hall of Fame-2000; 2000 Distinguished Vocational-Technical Education Service Award presented by the National Association of State Directors of Vocational-Technical Education Consortium; 2000 Shirley B. Gordon Award of Distinction presented by Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society; 2001 Southern Region Chief Executive Officer Award presented by the Association of Community College Trustees; 2003 People of Vision Award, honored by the Mississippi Legislature in 2005 with a resolution citing his many years of outstanding service to education in the state, and the Friends of Utica, Inc. 2005 Community Leadership Award. In 2011, he was honored by Mississippi State University as an Alumni Fellow for the College of Education.
He is a member of the Raymond United Methodist Church where he serves as a member of the administrative board, as a Sunday school teacher, and as a member of the choir. Muse and his wife, the late Vashti Underwood Muse of Leland, have three children, seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
