May Honored with Baker Distinguished Service Award

Bill May, former president of the Memphis-based American Cotton Shippers Association (ACSA), received the 2019 Harry S. Baker Distinguished Service Award.

Bill May

May was honored during the National Cotton Council’s (NCC) 2020 annual meeting in New Orleans. The award, named for the late California industry leader and past NCC President Harry S. Baker, is presented annually to a deserving individual who has provided extraordinary service, leadership and dedication to the U.S. cotton industry.

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In presenting the award, outgoing NCC Chairman Mike Tate said that May worked closely with the NCC to create policy that would improve cotton flow with the goal of ensuring that ACSA members could continue to ship their cotton in a timely manner.

“Bill’s initiative on cotton flow and recent partnership with NCC President Gary Adams yielded an industry-wide compromise that created significant improvement to the rules that govern cotton flow,” Tate said.

A native of Cleveland, MS, and graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi, May joined the NCC in 1979 as a Member Services representative in the Cotton Belt’s Mid-South region and later worked for the Southern Cotton Ginners Association. He joined ACSA in 1984 where he served as vice president of Special Projects and as executive vice president of both the Atlantic and Southern Cotton associations. After being named ACSA president in 2009, May led an effort the next year that resulted in ACSA becoming a NCC member.

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Tate noted that May’s leadership also was instrumental in leading ACSA – in conjunction with the NCC – during the 18-month long Turkish Anti-Dumping case that was filed in 2015. ACSA quickly evaluated the situation and agreed that outside legal counsel familiar with international trade policy was needed to alleviate a situation that threatened to undermine U.S. cotton exports to one of its best customers.

Throughout his career at ACSA, May also took great pride in ensuring the success of the ACSA International Cotton Institute, a six-week residential program to educate young leaders from around the globe about the value, quality and integrity of U.S. cotton.

Based on information provided by the National Cotton Council

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