Edward C. (Ned) Matthews III of Sikeston is general partner of the E. C. Matthews Limited Partnership and his family farming operation. He has been involved with the Matthews businesses in southeast Missouri for more than forty years, serving in many roles, including officer and director of the Bank of Sikeston, and director of Amerifirst Bancorporation, Inc. and Matthews Cotton Company. He also served on the Board of Regents of Southeast Missouri State University. He currently serves as a managing partner of the Matthews Family Mineral Account, LLC. Matthews’ love of southeast Missouri history led to over six years of research that culminated in his book, Matthews: The Historic Adventures of a Pioneer Family, published in 2004 by Southeast Missouri State University Press. It was awarded the Pioneer America Society’s Fred Kniffen Book Award and the Missouri Humanities Council’s Governors Book Award.