Hot News

4.29.2008

By BRUCE HOTCHKISS
Senior Editor

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Roscoe N. Whipp, 90, one of three former University of Maryland Extension agents to have served as president of the National Association of County Agricultural Agents (NACAA), has been honored by the Tau (Maryland) chapter of Epsilon Sigma Phi, the national Extension fraternity.
Whipp, who retired in 1973 after nearly 30 years of service to youth and Maryland Cooperative Extension, is the recipient of the chapter’s 2008 coveted Friend of Extension award.
Announced at the recent annual Maryland Extension conference in Greenbelt, the award is made to “an individual who is not an employee of Cooperative Extension but whose contributions have been important to the betterment of Extension.”
Previous winners of the award have included Dr. Gene Swackhammer, former president of the Farm Credit Banks of Baltimore, and the late Louis Goldstein, the famed and beloved Maryland comptroller.
Whipp was unable to attend the presentation, which was announced by Dr. Nick Place, the university’s new Extension director. The Tau Chapter said it would find an appropriate time to make the presentation.
This could be said of Roscoe Whipp by his many friends and colleagues: His contributions to — indeed, his “friendship” for — Extension — and his alma mater, the University of Maryland — were as significant in the more than 30 years since he retired as during a distinguished career as a 4-H agent in Montgomery County.
Whipp made a considerable mark as that dedicated University of Maryland alumnus who made his voice heard, in person, one on one, on the College Park campus when he felt his counsel was needed.
Hear what Dr. Place read in the announcement of the award:
“The 2008 honoree has a powerful Extension connection that has served the institution well. He graduated from the University of Maryland College of Agriculture in 1942 and immediately came to work for the Maryland Cooperative Extension Service as a 4-H agriculture youth agent. He spent his entire 30-year career in this position.
“Although he retired from Extension in 1973, he has continued over the past 30 years to mentor new employees, and connect with each and every new dean of the college of agriculture, as well as making his views known to every chancellor and provost.
“A major contributor to the university through the Terrapin Club and Legacy Society, he, together with his wife, have been recognized as major donors to the Maryland 4-H Foundation as well.
“Active in the Maryland Farm Bureau, he is quick to call legislators, secretaries of agriculture and governors, when he feels it is in the best interest of the college and Cooperative Extension.
“His legacy includes high energy, intense involvement and a passion for each project he has been involved with from 4-H judging teams to building the Montgomery County Fairgrounds.” (He would later serve as a president of the Montgomery County Fair Board.)
Whipp ended nearly 31 years of service to youth and agriculture on July 31, 1973. During those years, he received many special recognitions including being elected president of NACAA for 1968-69.
Two other county agents in Maryland would eventually follow him in that presidency, both now retired, of course, and both living.: Robert L. Jones of Carroll County and Richard Curran of Baltimore County.
Whipp’s leadership of Montgomery County youth resulted in the development of many successful judging teams representing the county and Maryland in many state, national and international contests,
Just prior to his retirement in 1973, he had served as a master judge for the Holstein-Friesian placings at that year’s international dairy judging contest — the first American ever to be invited to serve there in an official capacity. His passion for, and talent in, judging competitions may have been honed while a student at College Park.
During the period from 1926 to 1940, the state’s 4-H poultry and egg judging teams never finished lower than third in national competition, according to Wade H. Rice of Upper Marlboro, Extension poultryman at the university from 1922 to 1961.
Whipp recalls that he was a member of a Rice-coached team that won the national 4-H poultry and egg judging contest in 1937.
He was the first place individual in the nation. Whipp recalls as well that another Rice-coached judge of his time was a fellow Friend of Extension award winner, Comptroller Louis L. Goldstein.