The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) unveiled a new name for its School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, honoring the life and legacy of agriculture educator Simon A. Haley, father of “Roots” author Alex Haley.
The official naming ceremony was held Tuesday, Sept. 8, at Hazel Hall as part of UMES’s 140th Anniversary Founders’ Week Celebration.
Simon Haley was a lifelong advocate for education as a path to empowerment. His family’s story was chronicled in Pulitzer Prize winning novel “Roots: The Saga of an American Family” and the Emmy-winning television miniseries it inspired, which trace his family’s genealogy back to the 1767 arrival in Annapolis, Maryland, of his West African ancestor, Kunta Kinte, who was sold into slavery upon arrival.
Haley grew up in the American South, the child of formerly enslaved parents, and overcame significant obstacles in pursuit of his dream of teaching. After an honorable discharge from the United States military following World War I, he pursued graduate studies and earned a master’s degree in agriculture. He went on to chair and hold multiple faculty positions in agriculture departments at institutions of higher education across the South.
“Simon Haley’s enduring quest for knowledge embodies the quintessential spirit of higher education,” said UMES President Dr. Heidi M. Anderson. “The Simon A. Haley School of Agriculture and Natural Sciences at UMES continues that legacy through its commitment to providing experiential research opportunities that not only serve our students and faculty but offer valuable advances to Maryland’s Eastern Shore and the greater agricultural industry.”
The school is anchored by three academic departments – Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences; Natural Sciences; and Human Ecology – and serves about 700 undergraduate and graduate students and over 100 research and extension personnel. The school is a core component of UMES’s designation as an 1890 Land-Grant institution and maintains a highly competitive research and Extension program that has helped launch and advance careers in the agriculture industry. Through the UMES Agriculture Experiment Station and UMES Extension, the school serves, communities, farmers and the food system in Maryland and beyond.
The Haley School is recognized as a leading school in research grant funding, giving students an advantage in securing internships and scholarships. The Haley School manages several Centers of National and Global significance including the NOAA Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center and the 1890 Universities Center of Excellence for Global Food Security and Defense.
“This naming is a testament to one man’s commitment to the stewardship of nature’s resources and his efforts to ensure that the knowledge needed to care for and benefit from them is passed on to future generations,” said Dr. Moses T. Kairo, dean of the Haley School. “The Food System remains critical to the economy and the well-being of people everywhere. It is, in turn, an honor for UMES’s School of Agriculture and Natural Sciences to carry on Haley’s name as the widely recognized program we have become.”
