Samuel "Calvin" Thigpen graduated from the University of Mississippi with Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and Math in 1999. He served as associated student body president from 1997 to 1998. While ASB President he led the student charge to remove the confederate flag from home football games by passing a "stick ban" in the student senate. Thigpen was the male winner of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

's highest academic honor, the 1999

Walter Byers Award The Walter Byers Scholar (also known as Walter Byers Scholarship, and Walter Byers Postgraduate Scholarship) program is a scholarship program that recognizes the top male and female student-athlete in NCAA sports and that is awarded annually by th ...

, in recognition of being the nation's top male scholar-athlete. Thigpen was named a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

in December 1998, and studied at Oxford University, Brasenose College from September 1999 through June 2001. He returned to Mississippi at that time and received his

M.D. Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...

University of Mississippi School of Medicine The University of Mississippi School of Medicine (UMSOM) is the Medical school in the United States, medical school of the University of Mississippi in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The UMSOM was created in 1903 on the Oxford, Mississippi, Oxfo ...

. In Medical School, Thigpen was president of his medical school class, editor of the student newspaper "The Murmur," and received the Medical Student of the Year award. He obtained his M.D. in 2005. He subsequently completed three years of training in Internal Medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, and served one additional year as Chief Resident in the Department of Internal Medicine at the same institution. He then completed a fellowship in Hematology and Oncology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, during which he was named "Fellow of the year" three years in a row. Currently, Thigpen serves as an clinical internist and rotating hospitalist at the University of Mississippi, as well as Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Program, the largest residency program at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

Notes

American oncologists American male long-distance runners American Rhodes Scholars Living people University of Mississippi alumni Year of birth missing (living people) University of Mississippi Medical Center alumni {{US-physician-stub