Mississippi College Salutes Business Leader J.L. Holloway

J.L. Holloway

Mississippi College’s J.L. Holloway Appreciation Day will honor a business luminary, philanthropist and generous supporter of the university for years.

Events are set for April 20 on the Clinton campus. President Lee Royce will touch on some of Holloway’s many achievements. The MC leader will speak prior to the MC Choctaws baseball game with visiting West Alabama. Ceremonies will be at the Dickens-Scoper Stadium front entrance at 3:30 p.m. that Friday afternoon.

Moments later, Holloway will be in the spotlight again on the pitcher’s mound at Frierson Field. He will toss the ceremonial first pitch to get the baseball game off to a good start. MC faces one of their Gulf South Conference rivals on the diamond. Holloway on Friday will receive a baseball signed by the MC Choctaws players and coaches.

Among the Blue & Gold fans on hand for the festivities will be his wife, Diane.

The Holloways are Ridgeland residents with a zeal for all things Mississippi College. Their support stretches from MC athletics to the School of Business and much more.

“We are so blessed to have friends of Mississippi College like J.L. Holloway and his family,” said MC Athletic Director Mike Jones.

“The contributions he has made and the support he has given to our school and our Athletic Department helped make us a strong university and extremely competitive in in NCAA Division II and the Gulf South Conference,” Jones added.

This Fall, MC sports teams will mark their fifth season back in NCAA Division II and the Birmingham-based GSC after about two decades in NCAA Division III.

In many ways, Holloway stands tall as a powerful home run hitter for the Baptist-affiliated university and as a successful leader in the business world.

In 2016, MC officials awarded Holloway an honorary Doctor of Business degree at its May 2016 commencement at the A.E. Wood Coliseum.

The tribute back then speaks to MC’s appreciation for his many achievements on and off the Clinton campus.

“J.L. Holloway has had a transformative impact on the School of Business,” said Marcelo Eduardo, who serves as the dean. “His continuous support and commitment to Christian business education has strengthened our business program.”

Contributions from Holloway enabled the MC School of Business to recruit outstanding students, attract top-notch faculty and be a resource to the state’s business community, Eduardo said.

The J.L. Holloway Business and Technology Center at Self Hall, the school’s headquarters, was named in his honor in 2007. The facility in the lobby provides up-to-the minute news about business markets worldwide. Extensive renovations to modernize Self Hall were a result of significant contributions from Holloway and others.

The J.L. Holloway MBA Scholarships help students further their education at MC. He created a fund to enhance MC faculty training and professional development.

Built in the mid-1990s, the J.L. Holloway Rotunda anchors the men’s residence hall on the Clinton campus. The nearly 5,200-student Christian university is a better place because of people like Holloway and the J.L. Holloway Appreciation Day speaks to that.

Mississippians know Holloway as the self-made industrialist who began HAM Marine more than 40 years ago. It became the foundation of Friede Goldman International with Holloway serving as its CEO. The company was a leading international provider of offshore drilling services.

In 2003, Holloway founded Tenax, LLC, a capital investments firm that is now TenaxAerospace, LLC, an aviation leasing form. Holloway in 1999 was named to the Mississippi Business Hall of Fame. In 2006, the MC School of Business selected J.L. Holloway for its Executive Excellence Award.