Visit Jackson President & CEO, Dr. Rickey Thigpen, Officially Receives Degree
July 7, 2022
![Rickey Thigpen](https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/Rickey-Thigpen-books.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=320&s=cb267be8db02e29121fe4b84fa724ce1 320w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/Rickey-Thigpen-books.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=540&s=4437d608bf50ef64b2e1b23b2e15f257 540w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/Rickey-Thigpen-books.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=768&s=06e5d736841c5e455749bdf62fb01dfb 768w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/Rickey-Thigpen-books.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1024&s=2dacdb3f7ccfb6cdce79bb735cf9999e 1024w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/Rickey-Thigpen-books.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1200&s=8024c6bcdcaaaecdd844f4a3c14d2a4c 1200w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/Rickey-Thigpen-books.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1440&s=d11d679cca2a3ceb08173dc27b18a890 1440w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/Rickey-Thigpen-books.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1920&s=9de0ecf68aec0b71693c83acef54e18d 1920w)
Congratulations goes out to Visit Jackson President & CEO, Dr. Rickey Thigpen, a graduate of The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Thigpen officially received his Doctorate in Organizational Leadership on July 8, 2022 after defending his dissertation last year.
This ceremony was delayed a year due to COVID.
The ceremony was livestreamed here on Friday, July 8, at Noon.
Thigpen began his tenure at Visit Jackson in 1987 as the Information Systems Manager and various management positions before becoming President & CEO role 2018.
Thigpen has appeared in Black Meetings & Tourism Magazine as one of the most influential African Americans in the tourism industry multiple times and, in 2020, received their APEX Award.
In 2019, Thigpen was named the Mississippi Tourism Association’s Member of the Year, and in 2020 and 2021, under his leadership, Visit Jackson received Destination Marketing Organization of the Year.
More recently, he was tapped to serve on the board of Destinations International and the U.S. Travel Association.