2007-08 AWARDS & ENDOWMENTS
Harry S. Baker Distinguished Service Award For Cotton Bruce Heiden, a former National Cotton Council president and Board chairman, received the 2006 Harry S. Baker Distinguished Service Award for Cotton. He was recognized at the National Cotton Council's 2007 Annual Meeting.
The award, named for the late California industry leader and NCC President Harry S. Baker, is presented annually to a deserving individual who has provided extraordinary service, leadership and dedication to the U.S. cotton industry. The Arizona cotton, alfalfa and grain producer was honored for his exceptional leadership and dedicated service to agriculture. Heiden became NCC board chairman in 1990 after serving as NCC president in 1989. He also was the first Arizonan to be elected as board chairman of CALCOT, having served in that capacity from 1995-2003. He also has been chairman of the Committee for the Advancement of Cotton’s Steering Committee since 1992. Heiden’s years at the NCC’s helm were marked by: 1) the successful passage of the 1990 farm law, which included an improved marketing loan, 2) legislation to provide an increase in Cotton Incorporated’s funding, and 3) a significant expansion in program activities and funding for Cotton Council International. Previous honorees of the Harry S. Baker Award include Duke Barr, Bruce Brumfield, Lloyd Cline, Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS), Robert Coker, Rep. Larry Combest, Charlie Cunningham, William B. Dunavant, Jr., Duke Kimbrell, Bill Lawson, Lon Mann, Frank Mitchener, Albert Russell, Jimmy Sanford, Earl Sears, B. F. Smith, Charles Stenholm, Jack Stone and Charlie Youngker. | 
Harry Baker Award winner Bruce Heiden, left, accepts loving cup from 2006 NCC Chairman Allen Helms. |
Oscar Johnston Lifetime Achievement Award The late William M. Garrard, the first general manager of Staplcotn Cooperative, was the recipient of the 2006 Oscar Johnston Lifetime Achievement Award. The announcement was made at the National Cotton Council’s 2007 Annual Meeting. The annual award, established in 1997, is named for Oscar Johnston, whose vision, genius and tireless efforts were foremost in the organization and shaping of the NCC more than 60 years ago. The award is presented to an individual, now deceased, who served the cotton industry, through the NCC, over a significant period of his or her active business career. In 1921, Staplcotn’s originating directors urged Mr. Garrard to become their first general manager. By the time that he died in 1958, Staplcotn had sold more than 10 million bales of cotton valued at $1.5 billion, with buyers in the United States, Europe and Japan. Mr. Garrard was known for his winning personality, courage, depth of character and unusual trading abilities. With this pioneering attitude, he was able to bring cooperative marketing to the Mississippi Delta. He also was known for his basic blend of ideas from which emanated the rules of cooperative marketing. Mr. Garrard participated in the National Cotton Council’s organizational meeting and served as a NCC delegate from 1939 until 1958. Previous Oscar Johnston Lifetime Achievement Award recipients are: James E. Echols, Memphis, TN, a former NCC chairman; Sykes Martin, Courtland, AL, producer; Walter Montgomery, Sr., Spartanburg, SC, textile manufacturer; William Rhea Blake, a former NCC executive vice president; Roger Malkin, long-time chairman and CEO of Delta and Pine Land Company, and former NCC presidents, George C. Cortright, Jr., Rolling Fork, MS, producer, and Jack Hamilton, Lake Providence, LA, producer/ginner/warehouseman.
High Cotton Awards 
2007 High Cotton Award winners from left: Monty Rast, Cameron, SC; Justin Cariker, Dundee, MS; Barry Evans, Kress, TX; and Gil Replogle, Visalia, CA. | For 13 years, the High Cotton Awards has honored full-time cotton producers who produce a profitable, high quality crop while meeting the best standards of environmental stewardship.
The winners of the 2007 awards were: Justin Cariker, Dundee, MS., representing the Mid-South; Monty Rast, Cameron, SC, the Southeast; Barry Evans, Kress, TX, the Southwest; and Gil Replogle, Visalia, CA, the Far West. |
Robert and Lois Coker Trustees Chair in Molecular Genetics Endowment: $1,000,000 The Coker Chair has helped Clemson University obtain general assembly appropriations for biotechnology research. The chair itself attracts not only a top-notch faculty member to fill it but additional exceptional faculty as well. The resulting momentum helps attract state investments in facilities such as the new science and technology center and the state-of-the-art greenhouse complex at Clemson.
The C. Everette Salyer Fellowship in Cotton Research Endowment: $300,000 This fellowship at Texas A & M University was inaugurated to honor the late California producer-ginner and former Cotton Foundation president, C. Everette Salyer. Doctoral and post-doctoral level students are able to study and conduct research geared to the sciences of producing and marketing cotton. It also provides funding for recipients to attend the annual Beltwide Cotton Conferences, where they are able to share their results with industry leaders.
Cottonseed Oil Clinic Endowment: $60,000 Proceeds from a Mississippi Valley Oilseed Processors Association endowment support the Annual Conference of the Oilseed Processing Clinic. The clinic is jointly sponsored with the USDA Agricultural Research Service’s Southern Regional Research Center and the National Cottonseed Products Association. |
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