U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper will be the keynote speaker for fall commencement exercises at Mississippi State on Dec. 11 at the Humphrey Coliseum.

For the Bulldog Beat

Third District Rep. Gregg Harper will deliver Mississippi State’s 2009 fall commencement address.
The first-term Republican from Pearl will be featured during the university’s single Dec. 11 graduation program that begins at 7 p.m. in Humphrey Coliseum.  
Some 1,200 students are scheduled to receive degrees this semester.  Those choosing to participate in the ceremony will be joined by a number from the summer term, for which there is no separate recognition event.
Harper, a former prosecuting attorney for the cities of Brandon and Richland, was sworn into his current office in January of this year.
He succeeded fellow GOP member Chip Pickering in representing a district that covers central portions of the state, stretching from the Louisiana border in the southwest to the Alabama border in the east.
Harper, a graduate of Mississippi College and the University of Mississippi Law School, was a practicing attorney in the state for nearly three decades.  
In Congress, he is the only freshman serving on the Committee on House Administration.  He also is a member of the Judiciary and Budget committees, among others.  
Additionally, the former chair of the Rankin County Executive Committee sits on the House Republican Steering Committee.