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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Haltom Earns Ole Miss' Highest Academic Honor
4/5/2010 | Baseball
OXFORD, Miss. -- Ole Miss baseball player Scott Haltom will receive the highest honor an Ole Miss student can receive, as the senior catcher has been selected as a Taylor Medalist.
The Taylor Medal, which recognizes outstanding academic performance, is given to no more than one percent of the student body. To be considered, a student must have a grade-point average of at least 3.85.
The 2010 medalists will be recognized Thursday at the University's Honors Convocation. Haltom will attend the ceremony before traveling with is family to meet his teammates at the University of Georgia for a weekend series with the Bulldogs.
Haltom is following in the footsteps of his parents who were both Taylor Medalists at Ole Miss. His father, James, received a Taylor Medal in Biology, while his mother, Susan, received two Taylor Medals in Art and French. His mother was also a Carrier Scholar at Ole Miss.
"I'm excited and honored to receive the Taylor Medal, especially since both of my parents were Taylor Medalists at Ole Miss," Haltom said. "My parents have always been very supportive of me throughout my academic and athletic career."
"This is such a tremendous honor and one that Scott is certainly very deserving of for his efforts in the classroom," said head coach Mike Bianco. "Scott is the epitome of a student-athlete and we are very proud of him. It's nice to see him receive recognition for the dedication he has shown to his studies, athletics and efforts in the community."
A native of Ridgeland, Miss., Haltom has competed in a pair of games for the Rebels this season and earned his first letter following his redshirt freshman season in 2008.
The Mechanical Engineering major has been a standout in the classroom throughout this prep and college years, including being named a National Merit Finalist and a Presidential Scholar Nominee.
Haltom holds a 3.96 GPA and is set to graduate with his Bachelor of Science in May. A member of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honor College, the senior has been named to the Chancellor's Honor Roll seven times and has been named to the SEC Freshman Academic Honor Roll (2007) and SEC Academic Honor Roll (2008).
Haltom has been accepted to graduate school at the University of Texas at Austin for their masters program in Engineering Mechanics and has also applied at Vanderbilt University for their masters program in Robotics.
A member of several academic honoraries, including Phi Kappa Phi and Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society, Haltom also served as the American Society of Mechanical Engineer's Chair and was named as the 2010 recipient of the Outstanding Senior Engineer Award. Haltom also is a Carrier Scholar and received the Luckyday Merit Scholarship presented to National Merit Finalists.
Haltom has also been active in the Ole Miss and Oxford community in his time with the Rebels. For the past several years, Haltom has been an active member of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Oxford and has participated in the Reading with the Rebels program, the Ole Miss Bats and Balls Clinic and visited St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Haltom was a Wendy's High School Heisman Nominee at St. Andrews, where he was a four-year letterwinner. He twice earned All-Region honors and received the "Best Defense" Award in 2006.
