Contact: Sammy McDavid
Family and friends of the late Robert S. Barker are establishing a scholarship endowment in his memory at Mississippi State University.
The endowment honors the Copiah County native who served for nearly three decades as a Mississippi State Extension Service agent in Rankin County. Barker died in May of 2002.
The fund will support a scholarship for any major in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, one of the university's two oldest academic units.
Barker was a 1941 agriculture graduate of then-Mississippi State College. Following service as a pilot in World War II, he began his extension career in Grenada County. He returned to active military duty as a pilot in 1951, serving in Korea with the Mississippi Army National Guard.
Upon discharge in 1953, Barker returned to his extension duties, this time in Rankin County. During the remainder of his professional career, he played a lead role in numerous local agriculture-related advancements, including organization of the Rankin County Livestock Association, helping organize the state-supported Dixie National Livestock Show and developing one of the state's first organized cotton pest management programs.
In addition to establishing an annual 4-H livestock show in the county, Barker worked tirelessly to ensure that premium prizes were available for the young participants.
The Robert S. Barker Fund in the MSU Foundation may be increased through additional contributions. For more information, telephone the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at (662) 325-8112.