Hosea Harkness

Changing lives by: establishing a scholarship through a bequest to help students discover the importance of statistics in agricultural economics.

K-State connection: Hosea grew up near Greenleaf, Kan., and graduated from Greenleaf High School in 1951. He attended K-State for two years but was drafted and served in the U.S. Army until 1955 and later returned to K-State.

Why he gave: “I keep relating back to K-State and the experience I had there,” Hosea said. “I felt like providing a scholarship was a good way to pay K-State back for that educational basis.”

How he did it: Hosea’s careful personal financial planning led to a five-year pledge to establish the Hosea S. Harkness Agriculture Economics Scholarship in the College of Agriculture.

“I’m a numbers person,” he said. “Numbers played a large part in solving the equation. I understand what it’s going to take me to live, what rate of return I can get on my investments and how much should be guaranteed to be there upon my death.”

Impact: “I feel that students should work and provide as much of their own financing for their education as possible,” Hosea said. “I know good reasons arise, especially at today’s prices, that there may be a necessity to have extra help available. Also, it may serve as an award to a student for the ability they have shown to do extra hard work.”