Dr. Joe W. Floyd and Barbara L. Noble Scholarship

Dr. Joe Floyd was a faculty member at MSU Billings for 29 years retiring in 2007. At the 2007 commencement, he was awarded the rank of Professor Emeritus of Sociology. While a faculty member, Dr. Floyd focused on applied sociology that is making sociological knowledge accessible and useful to all types of people. Dr. Floyd practiced applied sociology in two major ways. While at MSU Billings, he founded and directed the Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing Laboratory (CATI Lab) and served as its director from 1989-2007. As the CATI Lab Director, Dr. Floyd served as principal investigator or co-principal director for some 154 contracted research projects. Most of these projects were telephone or written questionnaire surveys and were primarily for state and local governments and nonprofit organizations. The results of these studies assisted the organizations in accomplishing their missions. In addition, he co-directed 21 MSU Billings polls which were student-conducted telephone surveys. These surveys often involved political questions and the results were of interest to local, state, and national media, as well as political candidates. Dr. Floyd’s second approach to applied sociology was through a series of courses designed to assist students in understanding the basic dynamics of the family and the influence and importance their families have in shaping their lives. While teaching these courses, Dr. Floyd began to appreciate the difficulties single mothers experience in attempting to balance their time with their children, their time earning money, the time necessary to be successful at MSU Billings, and having a life. It was this understanding that formed the basis for this scholarship. Barbara Noble is a retired Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist and is married to Dr. Floyd. Barbara received her anesthesia training at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire. She practiced at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, providing anesthesia for open heart surgery, and in Nashville, Tennessee, providing anesthesia for vascular and thoracic surgeries. In 1992 she moved to Billings to be with Dr. Floyd. While in Billings she provided anesthesia service in Billings, Hardin, and Red Lodge. Barbara is well acquainted with the importance of higher education to a successful life and for a successful society. She understands the difficulties women and mothers face in securing funding for higher education, and she is very supportive of efforts to provide that funding. The first scholarship was awarded in academic year 2012-2013.