A Promising Future for Agriculture Students

For Bob Frazee ’77, the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources was an oasis on the University of Maryland’s expansive campus of tens of thousands of Terps.

He remembers being impressed with UMD upon first visiting as a 10th grader with the Science in Action biology program, when he got to shadow classes and labs. But once he arrived as a Terp a few years later, thanks in part to a Victor E. Albright scholarship for Garrett County students, the culture shock kicked in.

“There were more people on that campus than the whole county I grew up in,” Frazee says. “But in the college, there was this close-knit community that went all the way to my advisor.”

Now, Frazee and his wife, Linda Frazee, are giving back to help incoming Terps enjoy the same kind of experience through the J. Robert and Linda Frazee Maryland Promise Scholarship.

Driven by their belief in UMD’s land-grant mission and AGNR’s focus on solving real-life problems, the Frazees contributed $50,000 to the endowed fund, which will be fully matched through the Clark Challenge for the Maryland Promise Program. The need-based scholarships for Maryland and D.C. undergrads, with preference for AGNR students, are renewable for up to four years for incoming freshmen and two years for transfer students.

“I just simply wouldn’t have had an education without the generosity of others,” Bob Frazee says. “I’m wired to want to give others the same chance I had.”

An agriculture and extension education major, he enjoyed his time on campus, where he met his late first wife, Lisa. He secured a job right after graduation as a loan officer at the Farm Credit Bank of Baltimore, and he worked his way up, making stops everywhere from the DMV to South Carolina to Puerto Rico, before becoming the CEO of MidAtlantic Farm Credit back in Maryland.

He’s stayed involved at Maryland through the Alumni Association, the Terrapin Club, the Dean’s Global Leadership Council and the Council on Agricultural Research, Extension and Teaching, which advocates for federal support for land-grant programs like AGNR. And Frazee hopes he and his wife’s gift will allow more driven Terps to bolster the college further.

“The College of Agriculture and Natural Resources takes great pride and effort in sustaining equitable entry for folks of all backgrounds and financial means,” says AGNR Dean Craig Beyrouty. “We are grateful to the Frazees for helping us attract a breadth of talented and passionate students to solve some of the world’s most pressing issues.”