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Sanger, Texas 76266
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The ANRS & Rodeo Exes Association is an independent non-profit, charitable organization recognized
by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service as an eligible 501(c)(3) entity. The mission of the Association
is to promote Sul Ross State University and to raise funds to be disbursed to deserving Agricultural
students and rodeo participants by the University. Neither the Board, nor the membership, of the
Association has any part in the selection of scholarship recipients. Membership to the Association
is open to all individuals interested in the mission and activities of the Association.
Membership is $50 annually. New or renewal memberships can be sent to:
ANRS & Rodeo Exes Treasurer
129 Ringneck Drive
Sanger, Texas 76266
Additional information regarding the Association can be obtained from the same address.
It is a very special honor for me to recommend Dr. Samuel N. Little for induction into the ANRS-Rodeo Exes Hall of Fame. It is special because Dr. Little was my teacher and committee chairman for my Masters degree. It is also special because I took his place in the Department of Range Animal Science when he retired in 1986. It is an honor, because Sam was a lifelong friend.
Samuel N. Little was born into a rural New Hampshire farm family on February 4, 1924—a long ways from Trans-Pecos Texas.
After service in the Pacific with the US Navy during World War II, Sam (as he insisted on being called) returned to the University of New Hampshire where he completed a Bachelor of Science (1947) in Agriculture/Chemistry and a Master of Science (1949) in Soils/Chemistry. He then went on to West Virginia University where he completed the PhD in Soils/Chemistry in 1953.
In the interim between the BS and the MS degrees, he worked for the USDA as a soil surveyor in Tennessee.
He was a Professor of Soils at Texas Tech University from 1952 to 1956 when he went to work as Director of Research for the Central Aguirre Sugar Company (a sugar and cattle operation) in Puerto Rico. He owned and operated soils and plant tissue labs in Pecos and Lubbock from 1958 to 1960.
In 1960, Dr. Little became “Professor of Range Animal Husbandry” at Sul Ross State College. (On a personal note, I recall Sam telling about the first day he arrived in Alpine. He pulled into a service station with an umbrella and a pair of overshoes in his back seat. The attendant asked, “What are those?” Sam said that he knew right then that he was in the right place.)
He took a short hiatus during 1956-58 to work as a crop management specialist for Lindsey Seed Company. But, as many of us have experienced, he just could not resist returning to Alpine and the Trans-Pecos. The consummate New Hampshire Yankee was no longer consummate. He had found a home.
He returned to Sul Ross in 1967 and began teaching soils, animal science and range management. He later developed courses in agricultural economics and agribusiness, several of which I am proud to say, I still teach to this day. Just ask any alum if they recognize the term “Brain Smoker.” If they don’t, you can be sure they never had one of Sam Little’s agribusiness courses.
Sam was always thinking—the epitome of what is commonly known as an “out of the box thinker.” He always sought and respected other people’s ideas and opinions. In fact, he just might be driving down the road, have an impulse and stop at some stranger’s farm or ranch or agricultural service business to talk and ask questions. In the process, he was always humble, never with the arrogant, elitist attitude of being “the guy with the advanced degree here to tell everybody how they should do things.”
Then there was his out of character involvement with the rodeo team. There was a day when Sul Ross did not have a rodeo “coach” per se but did have a “faculty sponsor.” Sam served in that role up through the 1980’s. He used to describe his efforts at keeping up with the rodeo team as “trying to ride herd on a bunch of crows.” However, in his typical fashion, he conjured up an innovative way to keep up with the team. He would hold on to their per diem money and then, each night, each team member had to check in with him at a certain time to draw their allowance. It seemed to work.
To those who got to know him well, it was his humor and way with words that endeared him the most. For example, when he spoke of “Mecca on the Brazos,” we knew he was referring to Texas A&M University. “Foggy Bottom” was Washington, DC. Whether you heard it from him or from me, any of you who have ever “gazed off into a purple sunset” or “rattled a tin cup,” have Sam to thank. To my knowledge, those terms were his originals.
Such colorful expressions and analogies were a very large part of what made him such an interesting and effective teacher.
Induction into the Hall of Fame is the highest honor which can be bestowed on an individual by the ANRS & Rodeo Exes Association. This honor is for ANRS graduates or friends and recognizes those who have represented the Association, the ANRS Department, or Sul Ross State University with distinction through their personal and/or professional achievements which brought honor to our University. Nominations may be submitted by any member at any time. The ANRS & Rodeo Exes Board of Directors will periodically review nominations and determines inductees into the Hall of Fame. Inductions are not necessarily held annually, but rather when a sufficient pool of inductees is obtained. The induction ceremony is at the Annual Reunion held the last weekend of July in Alpine.
Make a nomination for a deserving individual for induction into the ANRS & Rodeo Exes Hall of Fame!
There is certainly room among these fine individuals for additional honorees. Please give some consideration to nominating a deserving individual for induction into the Hall of Fame.
