Ames Foundation Top Ag Donor In Capital
Campaign
The Ames Foundation of Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest
contributor to date to the Institute of Agriculture in the 21st Century
Campaign.
The contributions, made as part of an annually renewable
agreement, support research activities of Ames Plantation at Grand Junction,
Tennessee, one of 11 branch stations of the UT Agricultural Experiment Station.
The 18,000-acre facility, which spans Fayette and Hardeman counties, was
left to the trustees of the Hobart Ames Foundation for the benefit of the
university by Mrs. Julia C. Ames.
According to Station Superintendent Dr. Jim Anderson, research
in progress includes studies of the effects of agricultural chemicals on
surface and subsurface water, growing quail in the wild, forestry productivity,
input practices for major row crops, and swine production. Ames Plantation
is recognized as a regional center for livestock grazing research and provides
the grounds and administrative support for the national bird dog championships.
"We are grateful to the trustees of Ames Foundation,
for their continued support is integral to the operation of this unique
and outstanding research facility," said Dr. D.M. Gossett, vice president
for agriculture. "Because of the foundation's vision and spirit of
cooperation, UT has made giant strides in research that benefits a wide
range of producers and consumers in Tennessee and elsewhere."
Dr. D. M. Gossett has appointed five new members to the
UT Agricultural Development Board, a support group that helps to raise funds
for the Institute of Agriculture. Two current members are also serving additional
three-year terms on the board, which consists of approximately 20 prominent
leaders in agriculture and various agribusiness enterprises, located primarily
in Tennessee.
New appointees include: Juanita Fasola of Knoxville, retired
Agricultural Extension Service specialist in home economics; Tommy Hord
of Murfreesboro, a realtor with Clark Maples Realty; Judith Johnson of Memphis,
regional director of BellSouth; Julius Johnson of Columbia, chief administrative
officer with the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation; and Alfred Ladd, a farmer
from Franklin.
Stratton Bone, a farmer and real estate developer from
Lebanon, Tennessee, chairs the board. He is a member of the Tennessee House
of Representatives, serving District 46. Serving a second consecutive term
are Bromma Pemberton, a retired bank executive from Oneida, and her nephew,
Jim Pemberton, a businessman from Sunbright.
The board, along with members of the 21st Century Campaign
Agriculture Steering Committee, had its semiannual meeting in Knoxville
on November 1.
During the meeting, Steering Committee Chair Jim Powell
of Limestone, Tennessee, announced that the Institute has already exceeded
its adjusted campaign goal of $24 million, upped from the original $22 million
set at the beginning of the five-year fund drive, which is scheduled to
end June 30, 1998. The university-wide capital campaign upgraded its goal
as well-from $250 million to $308 million-and is now in its National Gifts
phase in which all UT alumni will be asked to make a gift.
Bronson Gift to Benefit Two Departments
Dr. Martin Bronson, a retired radiologist from Elizabethton,
has established a trust through a gift of land valued at more than $300,000
that will benefit the Department of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries (FWF)
and the Department of Ornamental Horticulture and Landscape Design (OHLD).
Seventy-five percent of the S. Martin Bronson, M.D., Forestry
and Horticultural Endowment will fund research on coniferous forest species
and support graduate students in forestry, while the remaining 25 percent
is designated for horticulture, especially the nursery crops research program.
Appointed to serve three-year terms on UT's Agricultural
Alumni Council are Jim Wells, Rogersville; Roger Edens, Knoxville; Anni
Self, Nashville; Dr. Robert Fincher, Urbandale, IA; Dr. Donald Davis, Kingston;
Kevin Hoyt, Crossville; and Michael Hallum of McMinnville. Dr. Bill Miller
chairs the  council. |