Farm Director KC Sheperd had the chance to visit with Oklahoma State University Extension Grain Market Economist Kim Anderson about his retirement from OSU on July 31st. Aside from his crop market expertise, Anderson is also well known for his sales and marketing class where he has positively impacted the lives of countless OSU students.
Anderson was raised on a dairy farm in Muscogee County, Oklahoma where he decided at a young age he would plan to pursue a college degree. After high school, Anderson said he attended Connors State College for a short time before he was drafted into the U.S. Navy, where he would spend four years.
After his time serving in the U.S. Navy, Anderson said he had the chance to attend OSU and obtain a bachelor’s degree in agricultural education, and soon after, a master’s degree in agricultural economics. Anderson didn’t stop his education there and went on to obtain his PhD at OSU as well.
After receiving his PhD, Anderson moved to Lexington, Kentucky to pursue the role of Assistant Extension Professor at the University of Kentucky. In August of 1982, Anderson said he was offered a job to serve as the grain marketing specialist at OSU, and he gladly accepted.
Anderson spent a large portion of the beginning of his career traveling the state and talking with individuals working within the agriculture industry. The year 1998 is when Anderson began teaching in the classroom.
“I started the sales course in January of 2001, and I have completed 23 and a half years this last semester,” Anderson said.
Over his years of experience, Andreson said he has witnessed a drastic change in technology, but the students are relatively the same. Aside from teaching sales, Anderson said he also teaches students how to learn, because he knows every student learns differently.
“They are sending us the best and the brightest,” Anderson said. “They are sending us kids that, for the majority of them, they want to learn.”
When asked what he will miss the most, Anderson said he will miss the people he has the chance to work with and the students he has helped.
“It is so humbling,” Anderson said. “I had the opportunity to impact and help prepare 220 young people a year, and I did.”
