16
—
Dr
-
—
V.A. Little remembers
By JANE NORTH
Dr. V.A. Little, an 84-year-old retired
entomology professor, likes to sit in his
easy chair and reminisce about his 41
years of teaching at Texas A&M Univer
sity.
Little remembers an all-male school, a
musty classroom, a tarantula and a wasp.
In 1923, he came to Texas A&M to
work on his master’s degree in entomolo
gy. That fall, he was also offered an assis
tant teaching position.
“It was enjoyable — nobody enjoyed
teaching more than I.” Little reflected.
He was involved
in teachingdl years
He taught in the Mechanical En
gineering Building, during his first two
years, because the old Biological Sciences
Building was being'remodeled. After the
remodeling was completed, Little taught
in the Biological Sciences Building for 25
years.
Doyle Gougler, a former student of
Little’s who is now an assistant professor
of communications at Texas A&M, said
the old Biology building was dark and
dank, reeked of formaldehyde and had
buckling wooden floors.
Gougler also remembers Little bring
ing a coffee can with a tarantula in it to
class. He said the professor would let the
insect crawl up and down his arm.
“That tarantula bit the dickens out of
me one day, too — right on the finger,”
Little said.
Little remembers one day when he
had the tarantula on his shirtsleeve. One
of the women in his office thought it was
a fake rubber spider and reached over to
touch it. It ran up his arm.
“That cleared the office,” he said
chuckling.
Little said he also used to bring male
wasps to class (only the females sting).
The students couldn’t believe he didn’t
get stung.
“If you teach school, you have to do a
lot of things that interest kids, you know
— I’d tell ’em jokes and what not.”
Little’s teaching techniques earned
him many awards during his 41 years of
teaching, including the Outstanding
Professor of the College of Agriculture
award in 1958, I960 and 1962.
“Anybody that works in a place for as
long as I did is going to get a few honors
and recognitions and such.” he said
modestly.
He admits, how'ever, that he’s proud
of the Faculty Distinguished Achieve
ment Award he received in 1958 and
that he still wears the gold watch he was
given.
Little has written several books dur
ing his career.
“Well, I am not a voluminous writer,”
he said. “The ambition of so many pro
fessional men is to get something in
print. I never did believe in that. If I had
something worthwhile to publish, I’d
publish it,” he said.
One of his books, “General and Ap
plied Entomology,” is the text for En
tomology 201, a general entomology
course. The book has also been used all
over the United States and abroad. Little
revised the text in 1964, after his retire
ment. The book is now in its third edi
tion.
“It’s a simple book — a beginner’s
book," he said. “That’s what students
want and what they need, so I wrote it
like that.”
—“J remember an all-male
school and musty classroom.
--V.A. Little
He also wrote a paperback about cot
ton insects that had limited distribution.
After retirement, he said he wanted to
write another book, but never did.
After receiving his master’s degree in
1925, Little taught for 18 years. In 1943
-he got his Ph.D., but in everyday life, he
said, he prefers to be called Mr. Little,
not Dr. Little.
“There’s no title more honorable than
mister,” he said.
Supplement to the Battalion
Texas A&M University
the agriculturist
Fall 1982
cottonseed for food packaging
meats who’s impressives copy? fertilizers for gardens
Al helps herds where are all the engines? irrigation
is 2,4,5-T a problem?
1 ii tpa
I i fcs#
childrens barnyard
WE ARE FAMILY WE ARE FAMILY WE ARE FAMILY WE ARE FAMILY WE ARE FAMILY WE
Z
<
tu
Ul
U4
£
>
*1
z
<
u.
u
DC
<
u
5
>
Z
<
u*
u
cc
<
UJ
£
TEXAS A&M
COLLEGIATE FFA
Oldest Collegiate Chapter in the Nation
*WE ARE FAMILY
A PROUD PART
OF THE
COLLEGE OF
AGRICULTURE
FOR OVER 50 YEARS
DEDICATED TO
AGRICULTURAL
— LEADERSHIP
— COOPERATION
— CITIZENSHIP
>
-i
2 Membership: All Ag Majors and/or Present or Past FFA Members
UJ
< Meetings: Second and Fourth Tuesday of Each Month
UJ
$
FAMILY WE ARE FAMILY WE ARE FAMILY WE ARE FAMILY WE ARE FAMILY WE ARE FAMILY
r
£
m
>
x
m
■a
>
3
M
m
>
x
m
*T1
>
3
M
<
m
>
x
in
*TJ
>
3
r
m
x
m
>
3
<
professional career planning ag reunion barbeque saddle
and sirloin
GENERAL INFO
to haul or not to haul? what is a bug? gambling for a job
steer showing where is the animal pavillion? landscaping
ag ethics
agriculture’s stats decline ffa convention
what’s the mystery major? horses
new meats lab professor remembers rural sociology