Mar 18, 2009
Samuel Roberts - Noble Foundation
Examples of philanthropy’s results
Lloyd Noble, founder of the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, respected the land and had a desire to give back to the community. When he established the foundation, he named it after his father, Samuel Roberts, whom Lloyd said was “the most generous man he had ever known.”
For over 60 years, the Noble Foundation has kept its eye skyward and its feet firmly on the ground, advancing plant science through significant basic and transnational research operations while simultaneously helping local farmers in and around Ardmore, Oklahoma.
When rancher Jack Cunningham moved from an arid and rocky part of southwest Texas to 600 acres of much different soil in Springer, Oklahoma, he needed guidance on making his new land productive, it was then that a friend recommended he call the farming experts at the Noble Foundation, who happened to be just 10 miles away in Ardmore.
“The soil specialist taught me how to test my soil,’” says Cunningham, now 62. “The livestock specialist helped me stock this place with yearling cattle. The crop specialist taught me how to spray for different insects and when to fertilize your winter pasture and Bermuda grass. The economist helped me with expenses by giving me data on the highs and lows of certain markets in Oklahoma City.”
Over its history, the foundation has spent more than $390 million on operations and $260 million on grants. “It’s particularly meaningful that an organization in Ardmore with these resources has continued the focus of the founder and implemented it in a way that could not have been envisioned 60 years ago,” says Michael A. Cawley, Noble Foundation President. “We’re doing things that now have the opportunity to impact the country and the world, and those things are being done by all three of our operating divisions.”
Staying true to Lloyd Noble’s intent is something the foundation takes very seriously, largely through the vigilance of nine family members on the foundation’s 12-person board.
“I guess I would have gone broke if they hadn’t helped me,” says Cunningham. “But I’ve been able to buy even more land since they’ve come up here. They’ve helped my kids. They’ve helped me. I can’t say enough good things about them.”