For press information, contact Curt Guenther, 901/678-2843



For the fourth year, the University of Memphis, in cooperation with the American Cotton Shippers Association (ACSA) will host the International Cotton Institute to train future leaders in the global cotton industry. This summer’s program will run from May 26 to July 15 at the Fogelman Executive Center on the U of M campus.

The eight-week residential program is designed to provide a basic education in all aspects of the cotton industry and the international business environment. Participants from U.S. cotton-growing states and several foreign countries are expected to attend. They are involved in all facets of the cotton industry.

Students will learn the cotton trade from field to fabric. Coursework covers manual classing, the use of high volume instruments for classing raw cotton, buying, transportation, fiber manufacturing, risk management and the basics of price protection. In addition to classroom instruction, field trips are planned to cotton fields, classing and shipping facilities, warehouses and textile mills.

Almost a fourth of the nation’s cotton is grown in the Mid-South, with the major Memphis cotton firms trading 50 to 60 percent of the world’s cotton. Innovations in cotton’s production, processing, classification and transportation, as well as the evolution of new trade patterns brought on by the expansion of free trade in cotton throughout the world, require expanded educational programs for those involved in the cotton industry.

Since its creation in 1995, the Cotton Institute has educated more than 636 men and women from 62 countries.