STARKVILLE -- Third District Rep. Gregg Harper will deliver Mississippi State's 2009 fall commencement address.

The first-term Republican from Pearl will be featured during the university's single Dec. 11 graduation program, which begins at 7 p.m. in Humphrey Coliseum.

Some 1,200 students are scheduled to receive degrees this semester. Those choosing to participate in the ceremony will be joined by a number from the summer term, for which there is no separate recognition event.

Harper, a former prosecuting attorney for the cities of Brandon and Richland, was sworn into his current office in January. He succeeded fellow GOP member Chip Pickering in representing a district that covers central portions of the state, stretching from the Louisiana border in the southwest to the Alabama border in the east.

Harper, a graduate of Mississippi College and the University of Mississippi Law School, was a practicing attorney in the state for nearly three decades.

In Congress, he is the only freshman serving on the Committee on House Administration. He also is a member of the Judiciary and Budget committees, among others.

Additionally, the former chair of the Rankin County Executive Committee sits on the House Republican Steering Committee.