News from	Michael D. Chason Director of Public Relations ABAC 30, 2802 Moore Hwy Tifton, GA 31793-2601 Phone 229-391-5055 Fax 229-391-5051 mchason@abac.edu

For IMMEDIATE Release July 1, 2010

ABAC President David Bridges addresses students in the Rural Studies program on their first day of class in 2009. A new $1 million gift to the ABAC Foundation will provide funds to enhance the program.

ABAC Receives $1 Million Gift For Rural Studies Program

TIFTON—A gift of $1 million from a former student “who never forgot his roots” will be used to enhance the newest bachelor’s degree program at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

ABAC President David Bridges said the gift to the ABAC Foundation from the estate of Herbert and Meade Bynum will be used as a student enhancement endowment for the bachelor’s degree program in Rural Studies.  The gift will fund “The Herbert and Meade Bynum Endowment for Student Enrichment in Rural Studies.”

“With the help of the Bynum gift, I think the possibilities for Rural Studies are limitless,” Bridges said.  “I am very excited about the fact that an alumnus from a small town in Georgia who walked the halls of ABAC in 1946 chose to honor his alma mater in this manner.”

ABAC Vice President for External Affairs and Advancement Keith Barber said Bynum “never forgot his ABAC roots.

“This gift represents a lifetime commitment from the Bynum family and tells the world how much value they place on an ABAC education,” Barber said.  “The gift is really reflective of their lives.”

Barber said the Bynums were in the egg production business in Tampa, Fla.  They supplied eggs to major retailers across the southern part of the United States.  Mr. Bynum was originally from Blakely and a 1946 graduate of ABAC.

The ABAC Rural Studies degree is the only one of its kind in the United States. The first classes began on Aug. 17, 2009. Students who major in Rural Studies can choose from four areas of concentration including Business and Economic Development, Arts and Culture, Community and Social Affairs, and Writing and Communication.

Dr. Bobbie Robinson, Dean of the School of Liberal Arts, believes the Bynum gift will have a lasting impact on the Rural Studies program.

“This gift will make it possible to award academic scholarships to the talented students whom we want to attract to the program and could also help us to support students as they pursue internships in their concentrations of study,” Robinson said.  “It is gratifying that this alumnus has recognized the program’s merit and has endorsed it in a most generous way.”

Classes begin Aug. 16 for the fall semester at ABAC.

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