Alma Corley (1934-2017) was a native Mississippian (Mendenhall) and resident of Oxford, Mississippi. She worked for over two decades in advertising, public relations, and marketing. She held several degrees: Music, Delta State College (1959); Education, University of Hawaii (1959); MBA from University of South Alabama (1988), and a doctorate in Mass Communications from the University of Southern Mississippi (2000). She also taught at Eastern New Mexico University and Eastern Carolina University. Before her retirement, she was an assistant professor in speech and public relations at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, Arkansas. The Alma O. Corley Outstanding PR Student Award is named in her honor at UCA where she built and developed the public relations program.