Taylor cements mom’s teaching legacy with MSU scholarship
As Margaret Dodd Taylor of Louisville reflects on her life this Mother’s Day, she’ll find joy in knowing the scholarship she lovingly created as a memorial for her mother will have its first recipient. A generous endowment she established at Mississippi State University will bring scholarship opportunities to future generations of teachers.
The College of Education scholarship honors its namesake, Doris Haddix Dodd, who grew up in Aberdeen and graduated from MSU in 1957 with a bachelor’s degree in industrial education and later earned her teacher certification from the institution. A first-generation college graduate, she influenced over 700 students in her 30-year career as a third-grade teacher in Florida.
“My mother was a third-grade mother to all those little lives she touched,” said Taylor. “I know she impacted many students, and I’m grateful she was able to share her talents and her giving nature with others.”
At MSU, the inaugural recipient of the Doris Haddix Dodd Endowed Scholarship will be Evelyn Phillips of Louisville, who will receive $4,000 for her junior year. Phillips’ major field of study is special education and after graduation she’ll teach at the K-12 level. She is a student employee for the MSU Office of Agricultural Communications and earlier was an intern for the Winston County Journal.
“I am thankful for this scholarship because it gives me an extra reason to continue this physically and emotionally challenging career path. I find myself growing to love teaching and special education more every time I interact with the students at my practicum sites,” Phillips said. “I hope to honor Mrs. Dodd’s legacy by serving an important need in the community wherever I teach.”
Over time, the Doris Haddix Dodd Endowed Scholarship will assist more full-time upperclassmen majoring in elementary or special education with demonstrated financial need. Students from Winston or Monroe counties in Mississippi who meet established criteria for the scholarship will be given preference in the MSU selection process.
Taylor understands the importance of scholarships firsthand, having received assistance as she followed in her mother’s footsteps at MSU. She graduated with three degrees from the land-grant institution—a 1982 Bachelor of Science in Special Education, a 1983 Master of Science in Education, and a 1985 Education Specialist.
She and her husband William A. “Lex” Taylor III, a 1977 Bulldog general business administration graduate, met while she was attending MSU. He is chairman and CEO of the Taylor Group Inc. They have three children—daughters Alexis and Bailey, a teacher at Grace Christian School, and son Alex, a freshman studying business at MSU.
Taylor taught school for several years before home schooling her children. She substitutes locally now as a teacher, and she volunteers with the Mississippi Scholars. She also serves the MSU College of Education Advisory Board and arranges and accompanies prospective students on MSU visits.
“I believe a teacher must have a servant’s heart. I know sometimes looking at the whole village is overwhelming; however, touching one life and making a positive difference is key, and I try to do my part in my community, having learned that from my mother,” Taylor said.
In her later years, Dodd returned to Mississippi and lived with her son Wesley, also an MSU alumnus, and his family in Madison. She died in 2017, and her husband, fellow Aberdeen native Albert W. Dodd, preceded her a decade earlier. He was an MSU 1958 electrical engineering graduate who enjoyed a long career with Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.
“I’m happy to remember Mama with an MSU scholarship to help educate great teachers,” said Taylor. “She would have been proud to have her name perpetually associated with her vocation, and I know my father would have been happy the scholarship endowment forever connects our family to the university we all share.”
