Agriculture Student Receives Jim & Betty Sloan Scholarship
JONESBORO – Lindsey Lewis, a third-generation farmer from Newport, is the latest recipient of the Jim and Betty Sloan Scholarship in the College of Agriculture, Engineering and Technology at Arkansas State University.
Lewis will be a junior this fall. A transfer student from ASU-Newport who helps her father grow rice and soybeans in Jackson County, she is a plant and soil science major. She also assists with Extension Service test plots on the family farm.
"I learned at a young age the value of hard work from working on the farm in the summers," she wrote in her application. "I have learned a lot over the years by watching my dad and granddaddy and am now confident I could manage and operate the farm by myself."
In addition to being "a farm hand" with her father, Lewis has also worked internships at Farmers Elevator and Warehouse in Newport and the Jackson County Farm Bureau.
When Jim Sloan of Jonesboro died in 1979, his widow Betty, their six children and the Craighead County Farm Bureau, led by the late Lee Linzay, established the memorial scholarship for agriculture students through the ASU Foundation.
After Betty died in 2014, her name was added. Both were landowners, farm managers, community volunteers and strong supporters of the A-State College of Agriculture, Engineering and Technology. Jim served on the state Farm Bureau board for 10 years (1969-79). Betty was named to the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame in 2007.
The Sloan Scholarship is now awarded to A-State agriculture majors who are rising juniors. If recipients maintain their grades, the scholarship continues for a second year, including graduate study. Last year's junior recipient, Whitney Schug of Paragould, will graduate in December with a degree in plant and soil science.
For details about this and other scholarships, contact the College of Agriculture, Engineering and Technology at coat@AState.edu.
