Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture
Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences
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Table of Contents • Notables Dean reviews 2006 accomplishments Non-profits workshop and career day, Monday & Wednesday Vision Credits
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MLK speaker relates achievements of African Americans in agriculture
Dr. Handy Williamson, vice provost for international programs at the University of Missouri in Columbia, spoke about "African Americans' Struggles and Achievements in Agriculture" Jan. 19 as part of a weeklong observance of Martin Luther King Day at the University of Arkansas. Williamson's address, in the AFLS Building's Hembree Auditorium, was co-sponsored by Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences and the UA chapter of MANRRS, which stands for Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences. On Thursday, Williamson joined the MANRRS students for a service project at Apple Glen Elementary School in Bentonville. He and the UA students helped conduct "Math, Science and Technology Night" activities for the elementary students. "I was very impressed with your MANRRS chapter," Williamson said. "They are helping to build bridges between Bumpers College and the university and the community while developing their leadership and communication skills." In his address, Williamson reviewed the history of African Americans in agriculture, beginning with the origins of civilization and crop cultivation in the Nile Valley of Africa. Research has revealed that the native ingenuity of Africans was seen in many innovations by slaves, for which their masters received credit, Williamson said. "The record of black inventions and other accomplishments in agriculture since slavery is just astounding," said Williamson. He provided details on well known and lesser-known African American leaders in agriculture from Henry Blair, inventor of the corn planter and cotton planter, to Clifford Wharton, an agricultural economist and president of Michigan State University in the 1990s. Williamson said the 17 historically black "1890 land-grant universities" in the United States, including the U of A at Pine Bluff and Alcorn State University, his alma mater in Mississippi, have produced many accomplished scientists, educators and professionals. Williamson received a doctorate in agricultural economics from the University of Missouri in 1974, M.S. degrees from Missouri and Tennessee State, a B.S. degree from Alcorn State, and an associate's degree from Pineywood Jr. College, Pineywood, Mississippi. A former head of the department of agricultural economics at the University of Tennessee, Williamson currently holds tenure as a professor of agricultural economics at MU. His research and publications include studies of land use, resource management, manpower training and efficiency of small and large farms. He has been a consultant on projects and review teams in Africa, the Caribbean, the Far East, the European Union and the United States. |
