JACKSON, Miss. – Wyatt Gunter, a senior at the University of Mississippi, has been selected as the 2022 Orrin H. Swayze Scholar by the Mississippi Bankers Association Education Foundation and the Mississippi Young Bankers section of the association.

Gunter was chosen from applicants across Mississippi to receive the $5,000 scholarship, which is given annually to Mississippi’s most outstanding banking and finance student. The Pontotoc native is scheduled to graduate in May with a bachelor’s degree in banking and finance.

He has already accepted a position with First Choice Bank in Pontotoc.

“Wyatt is an outstanding representative of our program and is very deserving of this statewide award,” said Ken Cyree, dean of the UM School of Business Administration and the Mississippi Bankers Association chair and professor of finance. “He was very engaging with the selection committee and an enthusiastic participant in the convention presentations.

“We are very proud of Wyatt and look forward to his future success.

The Orrin H. Swayze Scholastic Awards, first awarded in 1979, are given each year to five outstanding college seniors who are majoring in banking and finance at state-supported universities. The awards are presented in honor of Orrin H. Swayze, who was a respected banker in Mississippi and a pioneer in continuing education in the field of banking.

Students are nominated by their professors, and the Mississippi Young Bankers Scholarship Committee selects five finalists. During MYB convention, the committee conducts interviews and determines the Swayze Scholar, who receives a $5,000 scholarship.

The remaining four finalists, honored as Orrin H. Swayze Scholastic Award Finalists, each receive a $1,500 scholarship. The awards are funded by the MBA Education Foundation.

Other Swayze finalists were fellow Ole Miss student Vedan Patel; Annabelle Peck, from Mississippi State University; Brock Revels, University of Southern Mississippi; and Jameria Stokes, Jackson State University.