Teaching the teachers: Two generations dedicate their lives to agricultural education
Friday, December 13, 2024
Media Contact: Sophia Fahleson | Digital Communications Specialist | 405-744-7063 | sophia.fahleson@okstate.edu
In southwest Oklahoma on a dryland cotton farm near Mountain View, the Terry family’s legacy began. Brothers Bob, Jay and Phil Terry, grew up in production agriculture and joined FFA in high school.
“All three brothers served as chapter presidents of Mountain View FFA,” said Rob Terry, Rodger Howell Memorial Professor of Agricultural Education and son of Bob Terry. “My father decided very early he was going to be an agriculture teacher.”
Their agricultural roots helped draw all three to Stillwater, Oklahoma. Being forever loyal and true, the brothers all attended Oklahoma State University, Rob Terry said.
Jay Terry earned an animal science bachelor’s degree in 1963, and Phil Terry completed a mechanical engineering bachelor’s degree in 1970. Bob Terry, the oldest brother, earned two degrees in agricultural education: a bachelor’s degree in 1959 and a master’s degree in 1962.
“The Terry family holds 16 OSU degrees,” Phil Terry said.
After graduating from OSU in 1959, Bob Terry spent four years as a vocational agriculture teacher for the Perry and Sumner FFA programs in central Oklahoma.
“He spent half the day teaching in Perry and the other half of the day teaching in Sumner,” Phil Terry said. “He then spent four years as the vocational agriculture teacher in Lone Wolf, Oklahoma.”
After establishing success within these programs, Bob Terry accepted a graduate fellowship from John Deere at The Ohio State University in 1967.
He earned his doctoral degree in agricultural education in 1969 and joined the Oklahoma State University faculty as an assistant professor of agricultural education.
“From my earliest memories, Bob just wanted to teach,” Phil Terry said. “In my evaluation of those around him and the results he produced, he was very good at it.”
Passionate and dedicated to teaching future agricultural educators, Bob Terry advanced to the professor rank, serving as the head of the OSU Department of Agricultural Education, Communications and Leadership for 20 years before he retired in 2002, Phil Terry added.
“Bob was one of those people who could do just about anything,” Phil Terry said. “He could have done a number of things, like working for John Deere, with his agricultural mechanics knowledge and how he conceptualized projects, but he wanted to teach.”
Understanding the importance of agricultural education and dedicated to honoring the Terry family legacy, Phil Terry and his wife, Ruth, donated funds to the new Agricultural Hall.
“Bob meant so much to us and to our family,” Phil Terry said. “He was not only a big brother. He was a father-figure who was always there for me.”
The couple wanted to honor Bob Terry’s legacy at OSU in a way that would be a testament to his dedication to teaching, Phil Terry said.
Through their generosity, the couple helped fund the Bob Terry CASE Teaching Lab.
“Bob was always quiet about his accomplishments and just did what needed to get done,” Phil Terry said. “Ruth and I felt Bob needed to be honored, and we could think of nothing better than putting his name on the department’s CASE teaching lab.
“Bob not only impacted his students and future agricultural educators, but also he shared his love for teaching agricultural education with his son, Rob,” Phil Terry said.
Rob Terry’s fondest childhood memories were riding alongside his dad in the truck going on FFA project visits, he said. In high school, Rob Terry enrolled in vocational agriculture and joined the Stillwater FFA chapter. Rob Terry quickly learned he was going to follow in his father’s footsteps, he said.
“On the front cover of my FFA record book my freshman year of high school, I put ‘rancher’ as my career objective because that is what everyone else put,” Rob Terry said. “On my sophomore year record book, I wrote ‘vocational agriculture teacher’ as my career objective and decided from that point on I wanted to teach agriculture.”
Rob Terry continued the family legacy by attending OSU, graduating witha Bachelor of Science in agricultural education in 1984.
He began his teaching career at Owasso High School while also pursuing a master’s degree in agricultural education from OSU. After earning a master’s degree in 1988, Rob Terry continued his personal educational journey by attending Texas A&M University, completing his doctorate in 1990.
During the past 40 years, Rob Terry has taught at California Polytechnic State University, Texas Tech University, TAMU, the University of Missouri and OSU.
“Opportunities and the fact we love OSU are what brought my wife, Anne, and I back to Stillwater,” Rob Terry said. “My wife is also an OSU alumnus. Stillwater has just become home to us. This is where we are supposed to be.”
Rob Terry returned to the OSU Department of Agricultural Education, Communications and Leadership in 2010 to serve as department head like his father.
“Agricultural education is our family business,” Rob Terry said. “My sister, Valeri, spent much of her career as an OSU Extension educator. My dad was on faculty during the time of the bread-breaking in the old Agricultural Hall, now known as Legacy Hall, and I am on faculty during the bread-breaking of the new Agricultural Hall.”
After serving as the department head for 14 years, Rob Terry returned to faculty in June 2024.
“I got into education because I love teaching,” Rob Terry said. “I have a true passion for teaching, and this gives me a chance to do that and work more closely with students.”
Rob Terry’s position is 75% teaching and 25% research. His research is focused on improving the preparation of future agricultural educators.
“Dr. Rob Terry is passionate about his subject matter, and you can really tell how much he cares about his students,” said Handley Everman, agricultural education senior. “He was the professor who made me want to continue to teach and inspired me to be an educator.”
Rob Terry teaches four classes in the department.
“I really love the creative process of teaching and the opportunity to find a way to make it interesting,” Rob Terry said. “I really enjoy being a teacher of teachers and getting to work with people who are going to commit their lives to teaching about agriculture.”
Rob Terry hopes students leave OSU with a passion for making a difference, he said.
“The cool thing about agricultural education is you can combine the love of agriculture and working with people,” Rob Terry said. “You have the opportunity to change lives and engage with agricultural and natural resource systems.”
Story by Maddy Nissen | Cowboy Journal