Trustee Scholarships Benefit Animal Science Students

Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences has received $100,000 to establish two Trustee Scholarships that will give first preference to undergraduate students majoring in animal sciences.

Friends and family of Henry and Dona Bergfeld, of Summitville, Ohio, have pledged $50,000 to endow the Henry L. and Dona A. Bergfeld Trustee Scholarship. Henry Bergfeld is a 1963 Penn State graduate in agricultural and biological sciences and received the Animal Science Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2005. In his 39 years as general manager of Summitcrest Farms: Ohio, Iowa and Nebraska, he has earned recognition for himself and Summitcrest in the Angus industry internationally.

Larry Hilgendorf has pledged $50,000 to establish the Larry E. Hilgendorf and J. Edgar Hilgendorf Trustee Scholarship, in memory of his father. Larry Hilgendorf is a 1956 Penn State graduate in animal industry, and spent 40 years with Hormel Foods, first in Iowa and then at the corporate office in Minnesota. He resides with his wife, Rose Ann, in Austin, Minn.

"I am elated that the donors elected to establish these scholarships," said Terry Etherton, head of the Department of Dairy and Animal Science. "This is a wonderful gesture that I and our students appreciate greatly."

Trustee Scholarships are designed to keep a Penn State education accessible to all qualified students, regardless of their financial means. Launched in 2002, the program has a unique matching component -- the University matches 5 percent of each gift annually and combines these funds with income from the endowment to increase the financial impact of the scholarship. The matching funds become available almost immediately to scholarship recipients.