Title

Interview with Rodney Foil

Authors

Robert Rodney Foil

Files

Description

Oral history; Interview conducted with Rodney Foil on June 18 and 25, 2002 at Mitchell Memorial Library, Mississippi State University. Robert Rodney Foil was born in Bogalusa, Louisiana in 1934. He received his B.S. (1956) and M.S. (1960) in Forestry at Louisiana State University and completed his PhD in Forestry at Duke University in 1965. Foil also served two years in the Army and was for a short period, an industrial forester in Georgia. Before coming to Mississippi State University (MSU) in 1969, Foil worked for Louisiana State University, first at the North Louisiana Hill Farm Experiment Station and then as a statewide extension specialist in forestry at the LSU Baton Rouge campus. he also received his B.S. and M.S. degrees. He served at MSU as Head of the Forestry Department (1969-1971), Associate Dean and Head of Forestry (1971-1973), Dean of Forestry (1973-1978) and associate director of MAFES (1973-1978), Director of Experiment Station (1978-1986), and Vice-President for the Division of Agriculture, Forestry, and Veterinary Medicine from 1986 until his retirement in 1999. General topics covered in the interview include the impact of mechanization on agriculture, impact of computers on farming, biotechnology, the Mississippi catfish industry, freshwater shrimp research, aquaculture, the impact of privatization on farming operations, environmental issues in agriculture, and academic and social changes at MSU.

Publication Date

6-18-2002

Time Period

2000-2009

Subjects

Mississippi State University--Employees--Interviews; Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station; Mississippi State University. Cooperative Extension Service; Mississippi State University--History; Mississippi State University--Administration; Farm mechanization; Biotechnology; Catfish fisheriesΓÇôMississippi; Shrimp--Research--Mississippi; Aquaculture--Mississippi; Forests and forestry--Mississippi; Privatization; Agriculture--Environmental aspects; Agricultural innovations; Crops--Mississippi; Agricultural education.

Keywords

CHARM

Geographic Location

Starkville (Miss.)

Object Type

text

Format (original)

document: 33 p.

Format (digital)

PDF

Digital ID

Rodney Foil Oral History.pdf

Source

Mississippi State University Libraries, Special Collections Department, University Archives Division, CHARM Oral History Collection, Folder: Foil, Rodney

Repository

University Archives

Digital Publisher

Mississippi State University Libraries (electronic version)

Rights

Copyright protected by Mississippi State University Libraries. Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce is required.

Contact Information

For more information about the contents of this collection, e-mail sp_coll@library.msstate.edu.

Recommended Citation

Copyright protected by Mississippi State University Libraries. Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce is required.