New CAES scholarship honors Charles Whitaker ‘68 for his lifetime of work in agriculture

The newest scholarship offered by College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences honors an N.C. A&T graduate who has worked with farms and farmers for more than half a century.

The Charles Whitaker Sr. Endowed Scholarship will support CAES students with demonstrated financial need and a GPA of 3.0 or better. The first scholarship could be awarded as soon as next fall.

The scholarship was a birthday surprise from the family of Charles Whitaker Sr., who turned 78 on Oct. 27. Whitaker said seeing his name on an A&T scholarship means a lot to him.

“It signals to me that somebody has seen my desire to help our young people and get them interested in pursuing an education in a field that’s going to be the most important field in the world,” Whitaker said. With climate change, increasing pollution and shrinking water tables worldwide, he added, “there will be more demands on agriculture in the years ahead than we’ve ever known.”

The scholarship is named for Whitaker, a Garner native who earned his bachelor’s degree in agricultural technology from A&T in 1968. Starting with a summer college internship, Whitaker worked for 38 years with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. His first permanent post was as a soil conservationist in Kentucky before returning to North Carolina and climbing up through the USDA ranks.

Whitaker’s USDA career took him all over the country. His family lived in Leitchfield, Kentucky; Greenville, Rockingham (twice) and Aberdeen, N.C.; and Washington, D.C. He visited agricultural operations in 48 states — all but Alaska and Hawaii — as well as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Whitaker retired from the USDA in 2003 as acting director of the department’s outreach office (now the Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement). But he wasn’t through with agriculture.

Elaine and Charles Whitaker in 2019.

Two years later and after moving to Raleigh, where he lives today, Whitaker launched the Whitaker Small Farm Group Inc. Whitaker is president and CEO of the nonprofit, which is funded by USDA grants and provides outreach, training and technical assistance to minority and limited-resource farmers throughout eastern North Carolina. The group also assists new farmers and military veterans. 

Whitaker’s nonprofit provides a number of services. One of them is estate planning to ensure that minority farmers can pass their land down to their heirs. That’s crucial, Whitaker said, because Black farmers now represent only about 2 percent of all U.S. farmers today.

“I want to continue to try to the best of my ability and my organization’s ability to make some type of stoppage in farms being lost by minority and limited-resource farmers,” Whitaker said.

Though Whitaker left Greensboro more than five decades ago, he has kept in touch with A&T. He belonged to the alumni association, cheered on the Aggies in football and made it back to campus for many homecomings.

He also has collaborated with several CAES professors and researchers through his work with his nonprofit. These included a former CAES dean, the late Daniel Godfrey, Ph.D.; former interim dean Donald McDowell, Ph.D.; and professors Osei Yeboah, Ph.D., and Paula Faulkner, Ph.D. A former A&T research associate, Victor Ofori-Boadu, helped Whitaker submit his first grant proposal and remains a crucial member of the farm group’s team.

The $25,000 scholarship endowment was established by Elaine Whitaker, Whitaker’s wife of 54 years, and the couple’s three adult children: Mark Whitaker, who lives in Whitsett; Marion Whitaker, who lives in Largo, Maryland; and Charles Whitaker Jr. of Raleigh.

Marion Whitaker said the family wanted to recognize her father’s contributions to agriculture and the university.

“He was always promoting A&T and helping kids identify scholarship opportunities at A&T,” she said. “He has helped a lot of kids go to school at A&T. He has been a great supporter of the university, and he always talks about how much A&T has meant to him.”

Kimberly Davis, director of development for CAES, said the college is delighted to receive this donation.

“This endowed scholarship not only will benefit deserving students who may need additional financial support, but also will honor Mr. Whitaker’s legacy in perpetuity for his contributions to agriculture and N.C. A&T,” Davis said.