(AURN News) — Dr. Richard E. Holmes, the first Black student to enroll at Mississippi State University, died Oct. 16 at age 82, according to Mississippi Today.
A native of Starkville, Holmes integrated the formerly segregated university on July 19, 1965, three years after James Meredith enrolled at the University of Mississippi.
Holmes earned a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts in 1969 and a master’s degree in microbiology in 1973. He earned his medical degree from Michigan State University in 1977 and later worked as an emergency room physician in Birmingham, Ala., for more than 20 years.
In 2003, Holmes returned to Mississippi State as a staff physician at its student health center.
Mississippi State named its cultural diversity center in Holmes’ honor in 1991 and dedicated the Dr. Richard E. Holmes Plaza on Aug. 21.
Rest in peace, Dr. Richard E. Holmes.
