House Concurrent Resolution 77

(As Adopted by House and Senate)

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION COMMENDING THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS AND PUBLIC SERVICE OF DR. MATTHEW HOLDEN, ACADEMICIAN.

WHEREAS, Dr. Matthew Holden, a multi-talented gifted scholar,

is being recognized for his outstanding contributions in academia as well as his public service; and

WHEREAS, a native of Mound Bayou, Mississippi, Dr. Holden and his family moved to Chicago, Illinois, during his childhood where he graduated from Wendell Phillips High School; and

WHEREAS, after high school, Dr. Holden graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in political science with a minor in history from Roosevelt University and then earned a master of arts degree and a doctorate in political science with a minor in anthropology from Northwestern University; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Holden has taught at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Virginia, where he was the Henry L. and Grace M. Doherty Professor of Politics, which speaks volumes of his notability in the area of politics; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Holden has also been the Newman Visiting Professor of American Civilization at Cornell University and has been a visiting professor at Jackson State University, where the Matthew Holden, Jr., Symposium Lecture was created in honor of his work as well as the creation of the Mrs. Dorothy Howard Holden and Dr. Matthew Holden, Jr., Reading Room in which Dr. Holden and his wife donated a 4,000 volume library to Jackson State; and

WHEREAS, since 2009, Dr. Holden has had the notable honor of being the Wepner Distinguished Professor in Political Science at the University of Illinois-Springfield, and he is the convener of the Wepner Symposium on the Lincoln Legacy and Contemporary Scholarship, which has the purpose of exploring Lincoln-related material using concepts in political science with other disciplines in the exploration; and

WHEREAS, described as an eminent scholar of race and politics, public bureaucracy, regulatory policy and urban politics, Dr. Holden has written in various fields of the discipline of political science; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Holden has written Continuity & Disruption: Essays in Public Administration, a study of race and politics entitled the Divisible Republic as well as an edited volume on Varieties of Political Conservatism, and contributions to a joint volume on Resources and Decisions; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Holden has several research and writing projects, including: The World and the Mind of Isaiah T. Montgomery; The Greatness of a Compromised Man, which examines the lone African-American delegate in the Mississippi Constitutional Convention of 1890; and

WHEREAS, in addition to making vast contributions in academia, Dr. Holden has selflessly served the public as a Commissioner of the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin and as a Commissioner of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Holden has also been a member of the United States Department of Energy's Electricity Advisory Board, the Task Force on Electric System Reliability, the President's Air Quality Advisory Board and the Board of Directors of Atlantic Energy, Inc.; and

WHEREAS, as one who supported the mission of the National Urban League, Dr. Holden has been a member of its delegate assembly and education and youth incentives committee, has served on the boards of directors for the Madison, Wisconsin, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Urban Leagues, has been a member of local NAACP chapters and is an active layperson in the Episcopal Church; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Holden is the former President of the American Political Science Association, the Policy Studies Organization, is a former fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a senior fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Holden holds the following honorary degrees: the L.L.D. from Tuskegee University and the L.H.D. from Roosevelt University as well as Virginia Theological Seminary; and

WHEREAS, in addition to his vast studies and contributions in academia, Dr. Holden is a man of valor having served in the United States Army, with 16 months in Korea in the 7th Infantry Division Artillery; and

WHEREAS, throughout all of Dr. Holden's endevours, he has been lovingly supported by his beautiful wife, Dorothy Howard Holden, and their two children, Paul and Matthew; and

WHEREAS, it is the policy of the House of Representatives to pay tribute to great native Mississippians such as Dr. Matthew Holden, whose outstanding contributions in the discipline of political science and the area of energy have left those fields positively changed thereby resulting in dynamic benefits for others:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE SENATE CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby commend Dr. Matthew Holden for his outstanding contributions in academia as well as his public service and extend best wishes for continued success in all of his future endeavors.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be furnished to Dr. Holden and to the members of the Capitol Press Corps.