Some college graduates may not like the idea of spending their entire career working for one company. However, for one Mississippi State alum doing just that paid off considerably.
James C. Forbes, a 1941 graduate of the university, was employed only by General Electric and invested stock in the company, earning nearly 75,000 shares. Forbes is now bequeathing this stock to his alma mater in the form of a scholarship fund for students in the Bagley College of Engineering.
“The details of the scholarship haven’t been worked out yet,” said Dean of Engineering Wayne Bennett. However, Director of Development in engineering, John Rush, said there will be a preference for entering freshmen in any of the engineering majors, which now includes computer software engineering. Recipients must maintain a 3.0 GPA to keep the scholarship, which is good for all four years.
“When I went to MSU, I borrowed money from Field Cooperative Service -I think that’s the name-in Jackson to finish my junior and senior years and it made a big impression on me. Without their help, I wouldn’t have been able to finish school. I thought it would be a great honor for me to do the same,” said Forbes.
“He is a wonderful man who wants to help others,” said Bennett of Forbes.
Forbes owes his success to his professors; they arranged his interview with GE for him. “Without my professors giving me a degree in electrical engineering, I never would have gotten the job that gave me the shares I willed to MSU,” he said. Forbes was not one to spend money frivolously. During his college days, he lived off Corn Flakes. He never spent the money he earned from the GE stock; instead he reinvested the dividends every year.
“He (Forbes) told me, ‘I don’t need the money. I want to give education to others,'” said Rush. “He’s very passionate and generous.”
Forbes was born the son of a sharecropper in May 1916 in Tomnolen, Miss. He grew up in the Mississippi delta during the Great Depression. However, Forbes was lucky enough to attend MSU. While at school, he played baseball for the legendary Dudy Noble, who nicknamed Forbes “Gramps,” and he lived in Old Main. Forbes originally majored in forestry but an upperclassman convinced him that he would find more money in engineering.
After graduating third in his class, Forbes began working for GE making only $1 per hour. His job moved him to West Virginia, where he met his wife, Hazel Ruby Forbes, the daughter of a coal miner.
Because of her health, the couple moved to Dallas and bought the house in which Forbes still lives.
Forbes, now a retired widower, does not waste his days. He enjoys collecting cans for recycling and “he has a passion for asparagus,” Rush said.
Forbes still does not spend extravagantly. “My needs are pretty simple,” he claims.
Rush said, “Forbes hopes his gift will encourage the recipients of the scholarship to give back to the school.”
According to Rush, another portion of Forbes’ estate will be left to the Texas Community Foundation in Dallas for scholarship.