UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State students majoring in Animal Science will receive first preference for a new scholarship endowed by an alumnus of the College of Agricultural Sciences.
Duane Norman, of Fulton, Md., created the H. Duane and Roslyn W. Norman Trustee Scholarship to support undergraduates in the college who have demonstrated financial need.
The Trustee Matching Scholarship Program maximizes the impact of private giving while directing funds to students as quickly as possible, meeting the urgent need for scholarship support. For Trustee Scholarships created through the end of For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students on June 30, 2014, Penn State will provide an annual 10 percent match of the total pledge or gift.
This level is an increase from the program's original match of 5 percent, and it is available only for new endowments of $50,000 or more. The University match, which is approximately double the endowment's annual spendable income, continues in perpetuity, multiplying the support available for students with financial need.
This is the second scholarship endowed by the Normans, who have 20 family members who are Penn State graduates. In 2012, Duane and his wife, Roslyn, created the H. Duane Norman and Roslyn W. Norman Scholarship in Animal Science, which is offered to an undergraduate who has an interest in dairy cattle breeding and genetics and/or who has excelled in the 4-H dairy program.
"The faculty and staff in the department are elated and most appreciative that Duane elected to endow a second scholarship for undergraduate students," said Terry Etherton, distinguished professor and head of the college's Department of Animal Science. "This support means a great deal to our students who are seeking support for their college education."
Norman, who grew up on a Jersey farm in Tioga County, Pa., received his bachelor's degree in agricultural science and industry and master's degree in dairy science from Penn State in 1964 and 1967, respectively. After earning his doctorate from Cornell University in 1970, he began working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service at its Animal Improvement Programs Laboratory in Beltsville, Md.
His USDA career spanned more than 41 years until his recent retirement as research leader. He currently is employed as the interim administrator for the Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding and is a member of the College of Agricultural Sciences Alumni Society Board of Directors.
This gift will help the College of Agricultural Sciences to achieve the goals of For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students. This University-wide effort is directed toward a shared vision of Penn State as the most comprehensive, student-centered research university in America.
The University is engaging Penn State's alumni and friends as partners in achieving six key objectives: ensuring student access and opportunity, enhancing honors education, enriching the student experience, building faculty strength and capacity, fostering discovery and creativity, and sustaining the University's tradition of quality. The campaign's top priority is keeping a Penn State degree affordable for students and families. The For the Future campaign is the most ambitious effort of its kind in Penn State's history, with the goal of securing $2 billion by 2014.