Dr. B. Michael Thorne

Dr. B. Michael Thorne Michael Thorne died October 12 of a heart attack at home. He was born September 7, 1942 to William Albert and Alice Jeanne Mathis Thorne, in Shreveport, LA. He graduated from LSU with a B.A. in sociology ('64), M.A. ('67) and Ph.D. ('69) in psychology. Mike and Wanda Bourgeois married February 1, 1964, days after graduation. They moved to Shreveport, then returned to Baton Rouge in 1965 for Mike to attend graduate school. They moved to Starkville with their newborn son, Dean, in 1970 for Mike to join the psychology department. Two years later their daughter, Erin, was born. Mike's research career focused on brain damage and aggression in rats. He authored more than 80 scientific articles and encyclopedia entries. After his animal research ended, he devoted his career to scholarly writing and editorial work. He wrote textbooks in statistics, biological psychology, and history of psychology. As the department's graduate coordinator for a decade, he copyedited all master's theses, and he served for 20 years as executive editor of a psychology journal. He was a member of Phi Kappa Phi, Psi Chi, Sigma Xi and several professional organizations. Although Mike retired in 2002, he continued to teach a course each semester until 2009, when he had a second bypass operation (first one was in 1983) and completed a 40-year teaching career. As an educator, he was fair, well-prepared, a master of his subject matter and often entertaining. Most good students got his dry-witted humor, and many of them thought he was one of their best teachers. Following full retirement, the Thornes pursued their travel interests. They visited all 50 states, and Europe, Mexico and Canada multiple times. The pandemic halted their travels abroad, and their health and ages halted U.S. trips. Mike loved to write. He penned several short stories, with many published. "Worms" finished 9th of 2,300+ entries in a Writer's Digest short-story contest. Mike self-published his novels Murder in Memory and Harper's Bizarre. He wrote articles and spoke to groups on health topics. A coin collector since his youth, Mike wrote 1,000+ articles for national coin periodicals. He Dr.had a part-time mail-order business for a decade, bought and sold coins on eBay and wrote a monthly column in Coins magazine (later, Numismatic News) since 1985. Mike was elected to the Numismatic Literary Guild. He advised and aided people in disposing of their inherited coins. Mike had a passion for cars, especially sporty little red ones. Riding with the top down in their MG Midget and two Miatas was a joy. Concerned with climate change, his last 2 years he drove an EV. The couple owned 36 cars during their marriage. His other pursuits included cooking, reading, exercising and watching movies and British TV. Mike was a dog lover. Gramps connected with his out-of-town kids and grandkids on FaceTime. Mike was preceded in death by parents Billy and Jeanne Thorne and sister Drew Mitchell. He is survived by his wife Wanda Thorne, children Dean Thorne, of Flowood, and Erin Thorne and husband Andrew Bernotas, of Chicago; grandchildren Andrew Thorne, Gus Bernotas and Della Bernotas; siblings Timothy Thorne, of Pearland, TX., Nancy Williams and Mark Thorne, of Houston, TX.; brother-in-law Andy Bourgeois, wife Lola, of Sugar Land, TX, nieces and nephews. Mike donated his body to UMMC. His memorial service will be November 1, 2 pm (visitation 1-2 pm), at Welch Funeral Home. Memorials may be made to the Dr. B. Michael Thorne Endowed Scholarship in Psychology, MSU Foundation, PO Box 6149, Mississippi State, MS 39762.Alternative nonprofits are MPB or any ones addressing animal welfare or climate change.