Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Hornsby earns tenth college degree

    HATTIESBURG - Pearl River Community College social studies instructor Dr. Benny Hornsby recently earned his tenth college degree - a Master of Arts in Sociology from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces.
    Hornsby teaches a variety of courses at PRCC’s Forrest County Center, where he also sponsors the Education Club, and is considering working on an 11th degree at Jackson State University.
    "I know it seems ridiculous, but there’s a reason for all of it," he said.
    Hornsby enlisted in the Navy after graduating from Lumberton High School in 1959. While serving as a seaman, he decided he wanted to be an officer. After his enlistment, he enrolled at the University of Southern Mississippi and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English.
    "After being commissioned as a Naval line officer, I decided that I wanted to be a chaplain, so it was necessary for me to graduate from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary," Hornsby said. "I knew that chaplains did lots of counseling, so I also got a Master of Science degree in counseling from USM at the same time."
    During 30 years of active duty, including 18 years at sea, Hornsby went to night school whenever he had the opportunity. He earned a Master of Arts degree in English from the University of Rhode Island and a Master of Arts in history from San Diego State University.
    "Taking one course at a time, it took me several years to get each degree, and I usually had to write my theses while my ships were at sea," he said. "Later, the Navy offered to send me to the University of Oklahoma in Norman, for a Master of Arts in human relations, so I couldn’t turn that down."
    Needing a doctoral degree to be promoted to captain in the Navy Chaplain Corps, Hornsby then earned a Doctor of Ministry (Theology) at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif., the world’s largest non_denominational seminary.
    Hornsby left the Navy in 1996 and taught social studies for five years at Sumrall High School. He earned the Educational Specialist degree in secondary education from USM to qualify for the Mississippi AAA teaching certificate.
    "When I ‘retired’ from teaching at Sumrall, I decided that I really wanted to be a mechanic, so I enrolled in the two_year auto mechanics program at PRCC in Poplarville," Hornsby said.
    While earning the Associate in Applied Science degree, Hornsby was named to Who’s Who Among Students in American Junior College and taught at USM, William Carey and PRCC. He took a full-time teaching position at PRCC’s Forrest County Center after completing the mechanics program.
    "I came to PRCC primarily as a history and English teacher, but I soon found myself teaching several other subjects, including sociology," he said. "I had enough graduate hours in sociology to teach it, but I didn’t have a degree. So, in order to gain credibility with my students, and since USM does not offer a master’s degree in sociology, I enrolled in the sociology MA program at New Mexico State University, my first on-line degree program. It was a very innovative and challenging program that I have incorporated into my own on-line teaching.
    "It took me three years to complete the degree, struggling through statistics, passing my comprehensive exam and graduating last December."
    Hornsby credited PRCC math instructor Doug Donohue with getting him through the statistics course.
    Hornsby currently teaches marriage and family, social problems and sociology at the Forrest County Center. He makes frequent use of the skills learned in the auto mechanics course as well.
    "I’m always cranking kids’ cars," he said. "I keep everything running for my family."
    His wife, June, recently submitted his list of degrees to the Guiness Book of World Records in two categories - most college degrees with 10 and most master’s degrees with six.
    "I have no idea how that will turn out," he said.
    Hornsby plans to start work soon on a doctorate in urban sociology from Jackson State University.
    "But don’t tell my wife - she thinks I’m over_educated," he said.