Graduation is only four months away for the MSMS Class of 2017, and the senior class officers have announced that Dr. Cary Gunn, MSMS Class of 1991 graduate and founder and CEO of Genalyte, will be this year’s featured guest speaker.

The officers began to prepare the ceremony this past summer, working with other members of the senior class as well as the Senior Sponsors to find and contact potential speakers. With the help of Mr. Spike Harris (also a 1991 MSMS alumnus) and Mr. Wade Leonard, the officers reached out to Gunn and were met with success.

“For our graduation speaker, we wanted someone who was charismatic and represented all of the four ideals of MSMS, especially those of service and community,” said Senior Class President Mayukh Datta. “After the senior class officers were introduced to Dr. Gunn, we instantly knew that he would be the right person.”

Dr. Gunn originally hails from Eastabuchie, Mississippi. He was a student at Petal High School before becoming a member of the second MSMS class. After graduating from MSMS, Dr. Gunn attended the United States Air Force Academy, where he received his undergraduate degree in applied physics in 1995. He went on to attend the California Institute of Technology where he received his master’s and doctorate in electrical engineering.

Gunn launched Genalyte, a biomedical engineering company based in San Diego, in 2007. His company has been responsible for developing single-drop blood testing methods that produce results within 15 minutes. Known as the Maverick Detection System, this technology has been used in the recent Ebola epidemic.

Gunn holds 81 US Patents and was named as a Top Innovator by the 2003 MIT Technology Review. In 2008 Gunn was awarded the Berthold-Leibenger Foundation Innovation Prize and the Optical Society of America Adolph Lomb medal. Gunn is also co-founder of Luxtera. Today, Dr. Gunn continues to work as President and CEO of Genalyte. You can read more about Dr. Gunn and Genalyte here.

During his time at MSMS, Gunn was involved in Physics Club and was an exceptional student. Mrs. Richardson, one of the English faculty members and the last original staff member of MSMS, remembers Dr. Gunn. “I did teach Cary Gunn and have a clear recollection of him as a strong student in English,” Richardson said.

Datta is “extremely excited” that Dr. Gunn agreed to be the commencement speaker. “As an alum he would not only empathize with the dilemma that we have faced during our time at MSMS, but what he has done after MSMS shows that he clearly represents all the MSMS ideals,” Datta said.

In his invitation to Gunn, Datta wrote, “We believe that the insight that you have gained from being an entrepreneur, a scientist, and an MSMS alumnus, will provide useful reflections for us during our last moments as classmates.”

Gunn responded that he is “honored by the invitation and excited for the event.”

The graduation will be held on the MSMS campus on Saturday, May 20, 2017.