Contact: Sammy McDavid
William A. Raney
An endowed scholarship for undergraduate agronomy majors is being created in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Mississippi State University.
Jane Raney, a resident of Cary and Greenwood, recently established the award in memory of her late husband, William Andrew Raney.
A Meridian native, William Raney received bachelor's and master's degrees in agronomy from Mississippi State in 1942 and 1947, respectively. He later completed a doctorate from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.
Senior Scott J. Newman, an agronomy major from Franklinton, La., is the first William Andrew Raney Endowed Scholar. He is receiving $1,000 for the current academic year. The son of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Newman, he also is attending MSU as a Mississippi Seniors Golf Association Scholar.
After graduation from Cornell in 1950, William Raney returned to Mississippi State as a professor of soil physics. In 1956, he joined the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Soil and Water Division in Beltsville, Md., and later became its chief soils physicist.
"Because William began his career at Mississippi State's soils lab through funding provided by scholarships, our family feels that an endowed scholarship in agronomy is a fitting memorial to his life's work," Jane Raney said.
All three of the Raney's daughters are MSU graduates. They include Susan Raney McIntyre, of New Orleans; Rebecca Raney Lamb, of Greenwood; and Julia Raney Beavers, of Sanger, Texas.
In addition, two of the Raneys' grandsons, John and Watson Lamb, currently are enrolled at the land-grant university.
GREENWOOD (Miss.) EDITOR: Raney granddaughter Frances McIntyre Knight and grandson Andrew Henry Lamb are local residents.
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SANGER (Texas) COURIER: Raney grandsons James William Beavers and Travis Wilson Beavers are local residents.