DeSoto native receives scholarship established by rural lender

Contact: Sammy McDavid

<br /><br /> Jim Sayle


Jim Sayle

Mississippi State senior James H. "Jim" Sayle of Lake Cormorant is the university's inaugural Land Bank of North Mississippi Scholar.

The major rural lending cooperative recently established the annual scholarship for a student enrolled in any of the nearly 20 academic majors available in MSU's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

A DeSoto County native majoring in agricultural economics, Sayle received the $1,500 award for the 2004-05 school year. A 2001 Memphis University School graduate, he is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert P. Sayle Jr., farmers of some 3,000 acres of cotton, corn, soybeans, and milo in DeSoto County.

At MSU, Sayle is a member of the National Agri-Marketing Association and president of the Kappa Alpha Order social fraternity.

Part of the nationwide Farm Credit System established by Congress in 1916, the borrower-owned cooperative provides agribusinesses in 32 Mississippi counties with a dependable source of credit.

"It is an honor to reward hard-working, dedicated students like Jim," said Gary L. Gaines, the bank's president and chief executive officer. "He and those like him are tomorrow's agricultural leaders."

Scholarship recipients must be full-time students residing in a county served by the Land Bank of North Mississippi who have demonstrated academic achievement, community service and leadership ability, among other criteria.

"We are always impressed and appreciative when organizations such as the Land Bank of North Mississippi invest in our students at Mississippi State," said Jud Skelton, director of development for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. "Scholarships such as these are equally rewarding for both the students and those who fund the award."

The Land Bank of North Mississippi serves the counties of Alcorn, Attala, Benton, Bolivar, Calhoun, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Clay, Coahoma, DeSoto, Itawamba, Lafayette, Lee, Lowndes, Marshall, Monroe, Noxubee, Oktibbeha, Panola, Pontotoc, Prentiss, Quitman, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tate, Tippah, Tishomingo, Tunica, Union, Webster, Winston, and Yalobusha.

For more information on this and other scholarships in the MSU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, contact Skelton at (662) 325-0643.