The faculty, staff and students of Mississippi State University’s English department are all wishing for the full recovery of one of its instructors who sustained injuries in an accident two weeks ago.
Linda Brasher, who has taught English at MSU since 1987, was involved in an automobile accident Nov. 19 at the U.S. Highway 82/Research Boulevard intersection.
Brasher was taken to the North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo.
Hospital spokesperson Elizabeth Curlee said Brasher is listed in serious condition.
Matthew Little, head of the English department, said, “[Brasher’s] colleagues in the English department hope for her full recovery and the resumption of her excellent work here.”
Amanda Easley, one of Brasher’s students, said she first had a class with Brasher last spring, and since she enjoyed her teacher so much she decided to enroll in Brasher’s literature course this semester.
“She’s not really been just a teacher,” Easley said. “She’s been a friend.”
Easley said she first had reservations about taking some English classes because of her Christian background, but after talking with Brasher about the content covered in her English courses, she knew that Brasher would be a good instructor.
Richard Wolf, an English professor, said he has known Brasher for a long time, and in that time he has noticed that she is extremely empathetic to students.
Easley said that with some teachers once the semester is over both the student and teacher go their separate ways. But that was not the case with Brasher.
“She’s a very student-oriented teacher,” Wolf said. “It’s hard for me to think of a better teacher at Mississippi State.”
Starkville Police Chief David Lindley said Brasher’s was heading northbound on Research Boulevard, approaching the intersection, when a truck going eastbound on U.S. Highway 82 collided with her vehicle.
Lindley said the Starkville Police Department is working with the city’s engineer office and the Mississippi Department on Transportation to determine possible measures to make the intersection safer.
Brasher, a wife and mother of two, studied at MSU where she received her bachelor’s and master’s degree in English. Since 1994, she has been serving as director of undergraduate studies in the English department, as well as the chief undergraduate advisor. Brasher was twice awarded the certificate of merit for outstanding academic advising at MSU was named a Woman of Distinction by the President’s Commission on Women in the 1995-1996 school year.
Brasher also serves as a member of the National Academic Advising Association, the National Council of Teachers of English and Sigma Tau Delta, the National English Honors Society.
“She’s just joyful,” Easley said about her instructor. “She has a good attitude, even at 8 in the morning. She’s precious; just a sweet lady.”