National Dairy Board Awards Scholarships to 12 College Students

The dairy checkoff has awarded 12 academic scholarships to students pursuing degrees with a focus on dairy and demonstrating strong potential as future industry leaders.

The National Dairy Promotion and Research Board (NDB), through Dairy Management Inc. – which manages the national dairy checkoff – annually awards $2,500 scholarships to 11 students. In addition, the NDB awards a $3,500 James H. Loper Jr. Memorial Scholarship to one outstanding scholarship recipient.

Eligible majors include journalism, communications/public relations, marketing, business, economics, nutrition, food science and agricultural education. Criteria include academic achievement, career interest in a dairy-related discipline and demonstrated leadership, initiative and integrity.

Sienna Mahaffy, a student at Oklahoma State University majoring in business administration, has been named the 2026-2027 James H. Loper Jr. Memorial Scholarship recipient.

Students earning $2,500 scholarships are: Trell Amoss (Oklahoma State University), Cassie Bohnert (Iowa State University), Campbell Booth (University of Minnesota), Eliza Dugan (West Texas A&M University), Sara Kennedy (Pennsylvania State University), Keegan Medeiros (California State University, Monterey Bay), Nicholas Needham (University of Wisconsin-Madison), Ella Raatz (University of Minnesota), Elle Ruffner (Iowa State University), Taylor Thigpen (University of Notre Dame) and Kelsey Timp (Iowa State University).

For more information on how the checkoff is driving sales and building trust in dairy, visit www.dairycheckoff.com.