Howard Baker Memorial Scholarship

The deadline has passed to apply for the 2011-2012 Howard Baker Memorial Scholarship. The Baker scholarship is $1,000 and is sponsored by NGEMC and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). It is offered every fall to high school seniors who live with an NGEMC member. The student must attend school in the same county where he or she lives.

The scholarship is awarded to one senior in each of the seven counties served by NGEMC. These counties are Catoosa, Chattooga, Floyd, Gordon, Murray, Walker, and Whitfield.

 In 1999, this scholarship was named after long-time NGEMC director and co-op pioneer Howard Baker. Baker represented Chattooga County on the NGEMC Board of Directors from 1949 to 1996. He was instrumental in bringing TVA power to Northwest Georgia. In 1935, as Extension Service farm agent in Dade County, farmers sought his assistance in obtaining TVA power for their farm homes. He became a part of their positive coalition to electrify their rural life, and on April 6, 1936, he was with delegates at Chattanooga when TVA officially organized and named North Georgia Electric Membership Corporation.

 
In 1949, Baker began his service as NGEMC director and served as assistant secretary-treasurer from 1971 to 1972; secretary-treasurer 1972-1992; and as board president from 1994 to 1996. At his retirement in 1996, he had served 47 years on the board. In 1984, he was presented a "Pioneer Award" by Georgia EMC for his years of service to rural electricity in Georgia.