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Rob and Angela Moskow recently pledged $25,000 toward Northwest’s planned Agricultural Learning Center. (Submitted photo)
Aug. 15, 2019
With admiration for the quality education Northwest Missouri State University provided her parents and the advancement she sees as a member of the Northwest Foundation’s Board of Directors, Angela Moskow and her husband, Rob, have added their support to Northwest’s planned Agricultural Learning Center.
Angela, the daughter of Melvin and Valorie Booth, and Rob recently pledged $25,000 toward the project. With their pledge, the Moskows have added their names to the Homesteader Plat Map, which identifies donors providing gifts of $25,000 or more toward the Agricultural Learning Center. More than 30 donors have signed on to the plat map so far in the fundraising campaign.
“One of the ideals that was instilled in me as I grew up was the importance of helping others and giving back,” Moskow said. “I was able to witness this within our family as my parents provided an endowment for the business school and set up a scholarship to allow someone from their hometown who may not otherwise have been able to afford attending the University to have this experience. My husband and I believe the Ag Learning Center is an important part of that future, and we want to be part of making it a reality.”
The Agricultural Learning Center, for which the University and Northwest Foundation are actively raising funds, will be built at Northwest’s 448-acre R.T. Wright Farm and serve as a multipurpose facility, providing classrooms and laboratory resources to supplement and enhance the academic curriculum.
The estimated $8.5 million, 29,000-square-foot center also will allow for research and scholarly activities centered on crop, soil and livestock resources as well as space for processing agricultural products. It will include space for public and private functions such as producer and agricultural industry meetings, workshops, shows and career development events, and the promotion of agricultural literacy.
Angela, who, with her husband, resides in Basking Ridge, N.J., has worked in the healthcare field for nearly three decades, including 27 years in sales, marketing and government relations with Sanofi, an international pharmaceutical company. In 2017, she founded Equity After Investment LLC, a brand marketing strategic consulting firm focused on building and preserving brand and corporate equity across the health community. Rob earned his law degree in 1996 and works in the wine industry.
She grew up hearing stories of Northwest from her parents as well as her grandmothers, who are natives of Bethany, Missouri. “They would talk about their friends and their classes and just going to Maryville and how it set up such a strong foundation for them,” she said.
She also likes to joke that she attended her father’s graduation ceremony in the spring of 1967. “My mom was expecting me, so I say I actually did attend his graduation,” she said.
Still, the Moskows, both alumni of the University of Richmond Robins School of Business in Virginia, say they didn’t start to fully grasp Angela’s parents’ passion and loyalty for Northwest until they attended the ribbon-cutting that celebrated the naming of the business school in their honor in 2001.
In 2015, Angela accepted an invitation to join the Northwest Foundation Board of Directors.
“I really felt like supporting something that has been very important for our family, and it was also a great match with what I wanted to do moving forward professionally,” she said. “It has been a wonderful experience. Every time we have a meeting I’m always looking forward to coming back to the Midwest, back to what I consider my roots and spending time with amazing people. The Foundation Board has become more diversified with so much talent, and it’s nice to be able to interact with people who bring so much to the University.”
Shortly after Angela joined the Foundation Board, the Moskows became members of The 1905 Society, which recognizes supporters who make annual unrestricted gifts to Northwest of $1,000 or more. They also gained further appreciation for the University as they observed the enthusiasm surrounding the campaign to complete the Hughes Fieldhouse on the Northwest campus. It was during their visit for the opening of that facility, as plans for the Agricultural Learning Center were taking shape, that the couple decided to contribute to the ag project.
“As we looked at the long-term strategic plan for Northwest and we looked at how important ag sciences is for the University, how it continues to grow and how local employers are really impressed with the caliber of graduates that come out of the University, we realized how important the Ag Learning Center will be for the future of the University,” Angela said. “This is coming from someone who really doesn’t have ag in my background. I’ve asked a lot of the questions, and I’ve learned a lot along the way and have really come to understand how important this project is to the future of the University.”
Mitzi Marchant, Northwest’s director of donor engagement, said, “Angela’s involvement and leadership on the Northwest Foundation Board has been nothing short of tremendous. She has definitely made it clear that, despite where her degree is from, she is a Bearcat at heart. It was great to also see Rob’s enthusiasm for Northwest at the Hughes Fieldhouse grand opening, and we are excited they recognize the impact that will be made by the Agricultural Learning Center at Northwest at throughout the community.”
By giving of their time and financial support, the Moskows want to help uphold Northwest’s mission and strengthen the institution for future generations.
“From my first Board meeting, I have been able to experience what many call the ‘special sauce’ at Northwest,” Angela said. “It really is a special place that not only respects the past but is rapidly embracing changes needed to be a top University in the future.”
Northwest’s School of Agricultural Sciences – one of the largest and most unique agricultural science programs in the Midwest – served an enrollment of 672 agriculture majors during 2018-19. The School boasts an 84.1 percent retention rate compared to the national average of 68.7 percent, and 98.2 percent of its graduates are securing employment or advancing their education within six months of earning degrees.
The R.T. Wright Farm provides opportunities for Northwest students in ag science-related majors to gain profession-based experience with beef, swine, dairy and sheep enterprises as well as row and forage crops. Students in the School of Agricultural Sciences also benefit from access to Northwest’s Horticulture Complex, which includes seven greenhouses with state-of-the-art technology, and the McKemy Center for Lifelong Learning, which houses a commodity trading room providing up-to-the-minute commodities information and computer work stations.
To learn more about Northwest’s School of Agricultural Sciences, visit www.nwmissouri.edu/ag/.
