Cole’s estate planning will have long-range impact

This article appears in the Winter 2022 edition of The West Texan. Click the image to read the full issue.

To pay his way through college, Dr. Andy Cole ’71 used proceeds from crops grown on his own land on the family farm.

Generations later, West Texas A&M University students are still reaping the benefits.

“When I went to school, college wasn’t as expensive as it is today. I had a lot of money saved up to pay my way through, but it’s a lot harder today to do that than it used to be,” Cole said. “If I can do something to help students make it through college a little easier, I think I’m doing a good deed there.”

Today, Cole—one of the newest members of the WTAMU Foundation board of directors—established the Cole Agriculture Scholarship in 2005, which has helped 40 students reach their educational goals. In addition, he has made a planned gift of nearly $300,000 through a charitable annuity, his will and his life insurance policy.

“The annuity works very nicely,” Cole said. “I get a fixed percentage of that each year as income for me, and when I pass on, the University gets the rest.

“It’s economically smart as well as charitable,” he continued. “It checked off a lot of good boxes, I guess you could say.”

Cole earned his degree in agriculture, specializing in animal science. He later earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in animal nutrition at Oklahoma State University before working 40 years at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Research Lab in Bushland as a nutritionist and, for four years before retiring, as the lab director.

Giving began early: Cole was one of the organizers of the Ag Development Association’s Ag Day, which has raised more than $1 million for the Department of Agricultural Sciences .

“We started by raising $3,000 and were tickled to death by that,” Cole said. “I like to think it’s been good for the department.”

In addition, Cole has contributed to multiple scholarship funds in the department, as well as funding the Dr. N. Andy Cole Collaboration Area on the third floor of the Happy State Bank Academic and Research Building in the Agricultural Sciences Complex.

“There is no better testimony of the value of an education than to have a graduate reach high success in their career followed by them making significant donations to their alma mater,” said Dr. Kevin Pond, dean of the Paul Engler College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences .

Pond said Cole’s donations specifically target areas that helped him be a successful scientist so that others can follow his path to make additional positive contributions to society.

“I’m in a unique situation,” Cole said. “I have no kids of my own, and I’ve always thought it was good to give back. I’ve been very lucky. I’ve had an excellent career as a scientist—a career that I’ve really enjoyed and made good money from. I wanted to give back to the people and organizations that allowed that to happen, so WT and OSU came to mind.

“I just thought I needed to return the favor.”

Makenzie Norden, a junior animal science major from Sugar Land, has won the Cole scholarship twice.

“This scholarship means a lot to me and my family because I have two other siblings in college and my mom is going back to finish her bachelor’s degree and figuring out how to pay for school is challenging, “Norden said. “The Cole Agriculture Scholarship has helped relieve some of the financial stress and allowed me to focus on academics and getting involved around campus. I can’t thank Dr. Cole enough for establishing this scholarship, and I hope it can help many students in the future like it helped me.”

“Some people have time. Some people have money,” Cole said. “I’ve had so many friends I’ve tried to convince to give back to the University. The University helped get you where you are.

“There are so many options to donate to,” he continued. “I just think that the University is a big one because it was so important in my life and so important in my career.”