Contact: Sammy McDavid
Top, left to right, scholarship namesake Wayne Cole and his wife Mary, MSU donor James Smith
Bottom, MSU senior John Atwill, the first Wayne Cole Scholar
John L. Atwill of Deering, Mo., is the first A. Wayne Cole Scholar in Agriculture and Life Sciences at Mississippi State University.
A senior agricultural pest management major and the son of Mr. and Mrs. John Atwill, he is receiving $1,000 for the 2002-03 school year. Atwill is a President's Scholar and member of the Alpha Theta Chi agriculture honor society.
The scholarship is named for the MSU professor emeritus and 1962 horticulture graduate who served for more than 30 years as a College of Agriculture and Life Sciences faculty member and administrator. Cole taught for a quarter-century in the department of plant and soil sciences before concluding his tenure as department head for six years.
The award is made possible by Cleveland alumnus James E. Smith, owner and president of Delta Rice Services Inc., a multifaceted Bolivar County company involved in sales, consulting, surveying, fumigation, drying, and merchandising.
Smith, Cole's first doctoral student at MSU, chose the scholarship endowment as a way of thanking his former professor for successes he has enjoyed in the agriculture business.
Cole Scholars must be full-time students in the college, preferably majors in weed science or a closely related discipline.
Cole, a Smithville native, lives in Starkville with his wife Mary.
The Cole Scholarship Fund may be increased through additional contributions. For more information, telephone Amy Cagle of the MSU Foundation at (662) 325-1006.