WEST PLAINS, Mo. – West Plains resident, former radio personality and community champion Laurel Thompson received an honorary Associate of Science degree Saturday, May 14, during Missouri State University-West Plains’ commencement ceremony at the West Plains Civic Center arena.
This is the sixth year an honorary degree has been bestowed by the university. It is designed to recognize extraordinary individuals who have given a substantial part of their lives to serving others and/or who have distinguished themselves, university officials said. It also is designed to establish a public association between Missouri State-West Plains and such exceptional men and women, thereby providing testimony to the values and quality of two-year institutions, officials added.
“Laurel Thompson has been a leader and champion of the West Plains community for many years, and whether working in radio or for the City of West Plains, he has been a loyal supporter of our campus,” Chancellor Drew Bennett said. “His many efforts on behalf of this community epitomizes the public affairs mission of Missouri State University-West Plains, and we are pleased to award him this honorary degree.”
Thompson has been a West Plains booster since he was a young man, working tirelessly for decades on various economic development and community betterment projects. A native of West Plains, Thompson often has been heard saying he wanted West Plains to be a place where his children could live, work and raise their own children.
After completing technical school for radio engineering in Kansas City, he returned to his hometown and began working at KWPM Radio Station and lending his efforts to a variety of community causes that would nurture and grow West Plains.
Although Thompson and his wife, Margaret, never attended college, he understood the importance of higher education for individuals and communities alike, and encouraged his children to pursue degrees. Four of the five did, with three completing post-graduate degrees. Two of his children completed degrees through Missouri State University in Springfield.
His first direct involvement with Missouri State-West Plains was through a $6,000 donation from the West Plains Rotary Club, of which he was a long-time member, to help purchase books for the fledgling campus’ library when the campus was known as the West Plains Residence Center and located at West Plains High School.
Several years later, while serving as president of the Greater West Plains Area Chamber of Commerce, he formed a committee with other chamber members to help campus officials with renovations to what would become Kellett Hall after the property on West Main Street was donated to the university by the Kellett family to serve as the first permanent home for Missouri State-West Plains. Thompson and other members of the chamber committee also helped university officials pay for renovations and acquire additional property by individually signing for funding from West Plains Bank, clearly demonstrating their well-placed confidence in the long-term viability of the campus.
Thompson’s support of Missouri State-West Plains continues to this day. He’s often one of the faces seen at ground-breaking ceremonies for campus construction and renovation projects, and he attends many of the Grizzly Athletics events and games.
University officials said that by awarding Thompson the honorary degree, they are recognizing his many achievements, his commitment to the campus community, and, through his extensive community involvement, his service as a role model for students.