The Elizabeth and Arthur Barton Farm Campus at Trenton has received a monetary gift, in the first disbursement from the estate of the late Doctor James and Joanna Whitley of Columbia. That first disbursement is nearly $458,000 to support the construction of the farm campus.

Additional disbursements are anticipated over the next several months, pending the sale of a 102 acre farm north of Columbia and the closure of the estate and trust.

North Central Missouri College is the primary beneficiary of the trust, with proceeds from the sale of the couple's residence, the farm north of Columbia, and the residue of the estate to be directed to NCMC.

Doctor Whitley was a 1941 graduate of Trenton Junior College. He earned his Masters and Doctorate in Agriculture Chemistry from the University of Missouri. In 1962, he began working for the Missouri Department of Conservation. He retired in 1990 as an Assistant Division Chief of the Fisheries Research Section. He authored several publications concerning water quality and pollutants.

Doctor Whitley died in December 2009 and his wife, Joanna, died the following July. Although the exact use of the funds from the Whitley's has not been determined, college officials plan to use some of the proceeds to pay off a loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that was secured in 2011 to begin construction of the Barton Farm Campus.