Powell and Kelley Carman.

Powell (B.S., agricultural economics, ’83) and Kelley (B.A. ’87) Carman have chosen to give back to their alma mater in a unique way.

The Carmans have made the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources the beneficiary of a life insurance policy through their estate plans. This bequest will fund the Carman Family Endowment to support faculty in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.

Several members of the Carman family are MU graduates. J.P. (B.S., agriculture, ’60), Anne (B.S. ’65, M.A. ’68, Ph.D. ’83), Powell (B.S, agriculture, ’83), Kelley (B.A. ’87), Chris (B.S., agriculture, ’87) and Stacey (B.S. ’90) have each made contributions to MU throughout their lives.

A degree in agricultural economics and his background in Missouri agriculture helped Powell launch his professional career in law. Powell is a partner in the Bryan Cave law firm in St. Louis and co-leads the agribusiness practice there. He focuses on transactions in the agribusiness, agricultural technology and food sectors and has built on the many connection he made during his time in CAFNR and the Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity.

Powell and Kelley said they are grateful for everything their Mizzou education enabled them to accomplish. They believe the backbone of the university is its faculty and with quality faculty comes quality students, interesting and novel research and ultimately an increase in MU’s stature and profile – something facilities cannot do alone.

“We want to ensure CAFNR can continue to recruit and retain the highest quality faculty to develop the next generation of leaders in agribusiness,” Powell said.

Joe Parcell, interim director of the Division of Applied Social Sciences, agrees.

“We compete with larger and more well-endowed institutions for the best educators, leaders and innovators in agriculture. Funds like the one Powell and Kelley have created keep us competitive for the best minds in the world, which is key to our continued success.”

Gifts of life insurance can be a very simple process. Many have had life insurance policies in place for many years, whether it be through a workplace or a private policy established when children were young in case of an unexpected life event. All you would need to do would be to change the beneficiary of the policy to the University of Missouri-Columbia.

For more detailed assistance, please contact the Office of Gift Planning and Endowments by phone at (800) 970-9977, through its website or by sending an e-mail to giftplanning.missouri.edu.