News

The Ohio Soybean Council Foundation (OSCF) is pleased to announce the scholarship recipients for the 2021-2022 academic year.

This is the 14th year for the OSCF Scholarship Program, which was created to encourage undergraduate students to pursue degrees in one of the many academic fields that support the future of the soybean industry including agriculture, business, communication, economics, education, science and technology, as well as to support ongoing graduate-level research. Since 2008, the OSCF scholarship program has awarded over $400,000 in scholarship funds to students studying agriculture or a related field at Ohio colleges or universities.

Undergraduate scholarships of $3,000 each were awarded to Olivia Blay, Cora Dorman, Jonathan Hoorman, Mekenzie Jolliff, Lindsey Okuley, Grace Praisler, and Holly Schmenk. The annual $5,000 Bhima Vijayendran Scholarship, named in honor of a Battelle research scientist who has made tremendous contributions to the soybean industry, was awarded to Alec Bollinger. The Robinson W. Joslin Scholarship was awarded to Jacob Wuebker. The annual $3,000 scholarship was created to honor a long-time leader in the soybean industry both in Ohio and nationally, who passed away in May 2016.

Graduate scholarships of $2,500 were awarded to Fabiano Colet and Jomin Thomas. Carren Burkey and Stephen Riley also received graduate scholarships of $5,000 each.

“I want to congratulate our 2021-2022 scholarship recipients,” said David Clark, Warren County soybean farmer and scholarship selection committee member. “Each of these students will have a tremendous positive impact on our industry.”

Undergraduate Winners

Olivia Blay of Mogadore, Ohio, is a junior at The Ohio State University studying accounting and agriculture business.

Alec Bollinger of Sycamore, Ohio, is a sophomore at Marietta College studying environmental and petroleum engineering.

Cora Dorman of Croton, Ohio, is a junior at The Ohio State University studying agribusiness and applied economics.

Jonathan Hoorman of Jenera, Ohio, is a junior at The Ohio State University studying agribusiness and applied economics.

Mekenzie Jolliff of Kenton, Ohio, is a freshman at Wilmington College studying agriculture education.

Lindsey Okuley of Wapakoneta, Ohio, is a sophomore at The Ohio State University studying agricultural communication.

Grace Praisler of Medina, Ohio, is a sophomore at The Ohio State University studying animal biosciences.

Holly Schmenk of Leipsic, Ohio, is a junior at The Ohio State University studying animal science and agribusiness and applied economics.

Jacob Wuebker of Versailles, Ohio, is a junior at Wright State University studying agricultural business.

Graduate Winners

Carren Burkey is pursuing her doctorate in molecular biology and biochemistry at Bowling Green State University. Burkey’s research involves using enzymes to optimize soybean meal for aquaculture feed.

Fabiano Colet is pursuing a masters degree in horticulture and crop science at The Ohio State University. His research focuses on measuring the interaction between seeding rates and planting dates to find the ideal planting situation.

Stephen Riley is pursuing his doctorate in polymer engineering at the University of Akron. His research concerns using pyrolyzed soybean hulls as a filler material for electrically-conductive adhesives in the electronics and electronics packaging industries.

Jomin Thomas is pursuing his doctorate in polymer engineering at the University of Akron. His research concerns molding automotive and aerospace materials using soybean oil and hulls.