Dr. Ken Nimrick Scholarship

Dr. Kenneth O. Nimrick, better known as Ken, was a regular guy with a smile and twinkle in his eye. He served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War being stationed at Ft. Knox, KY and later was commanding officer at the National Guard Armory in Monmouth, IL. He farmed for over 40 years near Stronghurst and held a PhD in Ruminant Nutrition from the University of Illinois where he was a member of Nabor House Fraternity. He taught Aninial Science at Western Illinois University for 15 years where he supervised the WIU beef herd and Performance Tested Bull Sale, coordinated the Western Illinois Grazing Conference and chaired the WIU agriculture field lab.

Ken was speaker at numerous grazing conferences regarding economics of grazing stocker cattle as a sustainable alternate to row crops. In 2006 he received the Beeflmprovement Federation Commercial Producer of the Year Award, a first for tlie state of Illinois. He also received the Ag Service Award for his support and service to the Warren Henderson Farm Bureau. In 2015, he received the Tri County Cattlemen’s Association “Beef Backer” Award.

He was a member of the American Society of Aninial Science, Society for Range Management and National Cattlemen’s Association, president of the Pork Producers, and a 35 year member of tlie board of directors of the Bank of Stronghurst. He was a former VP of Stronghurst Mutual Insurance, Secretary of the steering committee for tl1e University of Illinois Western Illinois Research and Development Center and served on ilie board of directors for Farm Business Farm Management.

Ken was a founding member and elder of Crossroads Community Church of Burlington, IA. He played slow pitch softball for the church league and was a coach for girls T-ball and softball. Ken received the Outstanding Teacher of the Year several times during his tenure at WIU. He enjoyed the students and was interested not only in tlieir academic performance but also in them as individuals.

CRITERIA:
Ag major pursuing a career in animal science, as explained in essay
Undergraduate with 60+ credit hours earned at time of disbursement
Mininium GPA of 3.0
Must submit resume with application
Preference will be given to student interested in beef and/or grass/forage management.
US Citizen
Demonstrated leadership and community service will be considered.
Essay explaining why you are pursuing a careet in animal science