The University of Missouri will partner with MFA Oil and MFA Incorporated to create a professorship in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources.
The $750,000 gift over four years will help to hire and keep an agri-business professor and will also fund agricultural research.
“CAFNR has a national reputation as a leader in agri-business,” MFA Oil President and CEO Mark Fenner said. “Although many schools have some (agriculture) classes, they’re not nearly as comprehensive as what you will find at Mizzou.”
Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin said one of the biggest challenges in creating the best academic programs are recruiting and keeping the most skilled faculty members. He said this partnership will help that cause.
“Our faculty, our students and our staff here make this university what it is,” Loftin said. “Not the buildings, not the land, but the people here.”
The entities have pledged $750,000 toward the professorship, but that total could grow. If the amount of future gifts from the MFA entities reach $1.1 million, then the professorship will be converted to an endowed chair in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources.
The college’s Division of Applied Social Sciences Director Jill Findeis said the university is in a prime position to help solve some of the world’s biggest problems.
“MU is in the right place at the right time for leading the world in providing fuel and food for a growing population,” Findeis said. “The MFA gift will leave a legacy and have long-lasting and significant impact.”
The search to fill the professorship will begin soon, and it is expected to be filled within two to three years.