UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — With the hope of helping graduate students in the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences develop the valuable skills needed for professional success, Lamartine and Emeline Hood have made a $50,000 gift to establish the Lamartine F. and Emeline H. Hood Travel Fund.
The fund will provide the college’s Department of Food Science with a source of discretionary funds to support graduate student travel to present their research results. Money may be used for travel expenses, presentation expenses, professional development, materials, supplies and other items.
“As the Hoods know, the opportunity to present research results at national or international meetings is a transformative rite of passage for a graduate student,” said Bob Roberts, head of the Department of Food Science. “Students remember their first professional presentation forever. Having an endowed source of funds to support participation in these meetings is invaluable.”
Lamartine “Lam” Hood, who grew up on a dairy farm in Bucks County, always knew he would attend Penn State as the son of two Penn Staters. While an undergraduate, he participated in the Army ROTC program and worked in a dairy science lab, which inspired him to pursue a career in research and academia. While earning his degree, he was set up on a blind date with Emeline “Lina” Harpster, a State College native, who worked in the college’s Department of Rural Sociology. Nearly 70 years later, the couple is still together.
After graduating in 1959 with a bachelor’s degree in dairy science, Hood deferred his Army commission to pursue a master’s degree at the University of Minnesota. A few years later, with a master’s degree and required active duty in the Army completed, the Hoods returned to State College for Lam to pursue a doctorate in food science.
After graduating with his doctorate in 1968, the Hoods moved to Cornell University where Lam spent 18 years as a faculty member in the Department of Food Science and as director of the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station. The couple returned to State College for good in 1986, and Lam served as dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences for 10 years before closing out his career in a teaching role and as the environmental resource management program coordinator.
Through his many years as a student and then as a faculty member, Hood knew well what it took to be successful in research and academia.
“I realized one of the biggest keys to success is being able to explain, defend and answer questions about your work,” he said. “When I was a student, we would attend professional meetings and present our work and in doing that I developed valuable communication skills that have benefited my career. When I was advising graduate students, I would encourage them to attend those meetings, too.”
However, Hood knew that funding for those experiences often is very limited, and it can be expensive to pursue those opportunities. When the couple decided to make their next gift, they felt strongly about giving back to the department where Lam earned his undergraduate and doctoral degrees with the goal of ensuring current and future graduate students can attend and participate in professional meetings.
The Hoods, who are passionate about Penn State and the local community, previously created the Lamartine F. and Emeline H. Hood Scholarship for Adult Learners in the college, and sponsored the carbohydrate research laboratory in the Erickson Food Science Building. They also have supported the Center for the Performing Arts, Penn State Athletics, The Arboretum at Penn State, and other programs and organizations through their time and their philanthropy. This latest gift is another example of their dedication to causes important to them.
“You just have this strong feeling that when life has been good for you, you need to share that,” Lina said.
“We are Penn Staters through and through,” Lam added. “We have had a wonderful environment to live, work and raise our kids, and we have the philosophy that supporting the community that supports you is fundamental.”
Gifts like this advance the University’s historic land-grant mission to serve and lead. Through philanthropy, alumni and friends are helping students to join the Penn State family and prepare for lifelong success; driving research, outreach and economic development that grow our shared strength and readiness for the future; and increasing the University’s impact for families, patients and communities across the commonwealth and around the world. Learn more by visiting raise.psu.edu.