Former dairy professor Harold Roberts honored through scholarship.
Harold Roberts, or as others knew him, “Mr. Ice Cream,” earned the name for his passion in teaching dairy processing, and for his years directing the operations of Kansas State University’s dairy processing plant.
“The ‘Purple Pride’ ice cream flavor was started by Harold back when the football field was purple and Vince Gibson was the coach,” said Kevin Grow, a former student of Roberts. “All the ice cream formulas and flavors at the Call Hall Dairy Bar were developed by Harold and to my knowledge are still intact.”
The Kansas Dairy Technology Society and the Missouri Dairy Products Association have created a scholarship to perpetuate the memory of Roberts and honor his family while providing financial assistance to students in the Department of Animal Science and Industry or the Food Science and Industry programs at K-State.
While having numerous professional memberships, Roberts also left a mark on K-State personally. He was a reliable dairy judge for the FFA, K-State dairy products teams and many state fairs, and also was known for inspiring many students in the classes he taught.
“Harold taught the dairy and milk processing courses, with hands-on lab classes making cheese, ice cream, cottage cheese and butter,” Grow said. “He also had extension responsibilities, and he enjoyed helping Kansas dairy processors troubleshoot and solve problems.”
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