A $208,000 contribution to Mississippi State from a Leland widow will establish an endowed fund to continue the research of her late husband, a longtime university employee and internationally recognized agronomist.
Winifred B. Hartwig of Leland has named Mississippi State as the beneficiary of the charitable gift annuity, which will establish the Edgar E. and Winifred B. Hartwig Endowed Fund for Excellence. The annuity also will provide Mrs. Hartwig with an income for life.
Known in agronomy circles as "Mr. Soybean," Edgar Hartwig died last May at age 83. During a career that spanned more than half a century, he is credited with developing 90 percent of the soybean varieties grown in the South. He was an adjunct professor of agronomy at Mississippi State at the time of his death.
The Hartwig Fund for Excellence primarily will support graduate assistantships in the department of plant and soil sciences.
In addition, Mrs. Hartwig is designating the university as the beneficiary of her estate, according to Charles Weatherly, director of development for the Division of Agriculture, Forestry, and Veterinary Medicine.
"When the university receives the bequest, it will substantially boost the Hartwig Fund for Excellence," Weatherly said. It also will establish the proposed Edgar E. and Winifred B. Hartwig Endowed Chair in Plant Breeding, also in the plant and soil sciences department, he added.
Hartwig was a world-class research scientist whose work benefited many countries around the world, said university President Donald Zacharias.
"Dr. Hartwig's name is synonymous with soybeans across the country and the world," Zacharias said. "His work through the years brought great recognition not only to himself but to this university and this state. Through Mrs. Hartwig's generosity and love, her husband's important work will continue at Mississippi State for many years to come."
In a separate tribute to the researcher, the Mississippi Soybean Promotion Board is pledging $200,000 to Mississippi State to establish the Hartwig Endowed Fund for Soybean Research at the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment StationÕs Delta Branch in Stoneville.
A native of Minnesota, Edgar Hartwig received a bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota and master's and doctoral degrees in agronomy and plant breeding from the University of Illinois.
He came to Mississippi StateÕs Delta Branch of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station in Stoneville in 1949 as a USDA research agronomist for soybean production research. He previously had worked with the Florida and North Carolina agricultural experiment stations.
Hartwig's research is credited with making soybeans a viable crop in the Mid-South and a leading cash crop in the United States. A leading aspect of his work was the breeding of multiple-pest-resistant varieties. His collection of publications and papers, housed at the Delta Branch, will be made available for student instruction and research at Mississippi State.
Winifred Hartwig, also a native of Minnesota, received a bachelorÕs degree in home economics from the University of Minnesota, where she met her husband. Through the years, she has been a teacher, a homemaker, a grower of roses, and an accomplished artist.
Weatherly said that the Hartwig Fund for Excellence has been the beneficiary of several memorial gifts from friends and associates of Edgar Hartwig, with additional memorial gifts anticipated.
Persons interested in contributing to the endowed fund can contact Weatherly in Mississippi StateÕs Office of Development at (601) 325-3410.