ACADE MICS
“I had the privilege to spend time with so many great SAAS students. I have kept in touch with some and am amazed at where their SAAS education has taken them.”
Answering the Call: Instructor and Extension Specialist Clark Williams CLARK WILLIAMS WAS BORN AND RAISED ON A WHEAT, CATTLE, AND ALFALFA FARM IN COYLE, OKLAHOMA, A SCANT SEVEN MILES FROM LANGSTON UNIVERSITY.
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s a boy, he was active in both 4-H and FFA and, as a high school senior, was awarded a State FFA Degree. He spent his college years at Oklahoma State University, where he earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in agricultural economics.
How Williams came to spend 30 years at Langston University’s School of Agriculture and Applied Sciences (SAAS) is the story of a single day in August 1990. That morning, Dr. Francis Epplin, a professor in OSU’s department of agricultural economics, asked Williams if he had applied for “the position being offered in your backyard.” When Williams wondered where the position was being offered, he learned that SAAS was searching for an extension specialist to work on a new USDA grant. Still a few months shy of completing his master’s degree and looking for work, he immediately called LU. He was asked if he could interview that afternoon. He could, he did, and, at
the interview’s end, he accepted the job. His official first day at SAAS was September 9, 1990. S T U D E N T- F O C U S E D
Williams never intended to have a career in teaching, but two months into his extension duties, he was asked to teach the introduction to agricultural economics course in the spring semester. He soon discovered how much he enjoyed working with students and making a difference in their lives. In fact, teaching became the favorite part of his job. Dr. Terry Gipson, extension leader for the American Institute for Goat Research (AIGR), colleague, and friend for 20 years, always appreciated Williams’ contributions to students. “Clark did immeasurable good for countless SAAS students,” Gipson said. “He always put them and their interests first. His retirement will be a great loss for the next gen(continues) eration, who will not have his guiding hand to S C H O O L O F A G R I C U LT U R E & A P P L I E D S C I E N C E S
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