NCGA Scholarships Awarded

Five deserving young college students from all over the nation were awarded the first NCGA Academic Excellence in Agriculture scholarships, sponsored by BASF, at the Commodity Classic on Friday.

Ken McCauley, chairman of the NCGA, was pleased to announce and congratulate the recipients:

Jason Buss – University of Illinois
Lauren Schlosser – University of Missouri – Columbia
James Seitzer – University of Minnesota
Catherine (Catie) Simpson – Colorado State University
Josh Yoder – Ohio State University

Lauren, Jamie and Catie are pictured here with Adam Burnhams of BASF and Ken.

Catie, who is a graduate student at Colorado State University, spoke for the winners during a press conference. “I was extremely flattered and felt honored by the ag community when I heard I won the scholarship. As a graduate student, there aren’t a lot of scholarships that I’m eligible for. A lot of scholarships for grad students are not in ag. They are for areas of study like microbiology. This is near and dear to my heart to be recognized by BASF and NCGA with this scholarship. That’s (ag) where I came from and it makes me feel like I haven’t strayed too far from home.”

Ken says they received 80 applications for the five $1000 scholarships and they expect many more this year when the program continues with BASF’s sponsorship.