Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A former state Department of Finance and Administration official is Mississippi State's new director of procurements and contracts.
Donald G. Buffum began work Wednesday [Jan. 3] as the university's top manager for procurement policies, procedures and objectives. His MSU appointment was approved earlier by the state College Board.
He began his career with the state's central procurement office in 1980 and has over 26 years of experience in public procurement. He has held various positions in public procurement including 12 years as director of the Office of Purchasing and Travel. Most recently, he directed the newly created Office of Purchasing, Travel and Fleet Management.
Buffum holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Washington, Seattle. He also completed a master's in the same field from Mississippi College.
He is an active member of several professional organizations, including the National Association of State Purchasing Officials, National Institute of Governmental Purchasing and Mississippi Association of Governmental Purchasing and Property Agents.
Buffum's career achievements include several significant honors. He has been selected for the Roy Saye Award as Mississippi's most outstanding public purchasing official and Manager of the Year Award of the Mississippi Association of Governmental Purchasing Agents.
He also received the Guilio Mazzone Distinguished Service Award, the highest honor of the National Association of State Procurement Officials.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.