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Kansas State University

Department of Geography Scholarships

 

Through the generous support of alumni, faculty, and friends of geography, the Department of Geography annually recognizes outstanding undergraduate and graduate student achievement by awarding several financial scholarships and awards, including the Huber Self Geography Scholarship, William D. Grimm Memorial Scholarship, LeBlanc Outstanding Undergraduate Major Award, National Council for Geographic Education Excellence Scholarship, H.L. "Sy" Seyler Undergraduate GIScience Scholarship, White Geography Graduate Teaching Assistant Excellence Award, Rumsey Bissell Marston Scholarship, Graduate Student Leadership Award, and the Mary Dobbs Outstanding Department Citizen Award.

Descriptions of these scholarships and awards, along with the distinguished list of past winners, can be found below.  Additional information, application forms, and submission deadlines can be found on our Download Forms page.

 

Huber Self Geography Scholarship

 

The Self Scholarship is supported by alumni and friends of the Department of Geography and is bestowed in the name of Professor Emeritus Huber Self.  Professor Self retired in 1980 after having devoted more than 33 years of his professional life to the advancement of geography at KSU.  He has authored textbooks and atlases on the Geography of Kansas and numerous articles in professional journals.

2008 Nicole Wayant   1994 John McKenzie
2007 Nicole Wayant   1993 Jason Sheeley
2006 Iris Wilson   1992 Corey Werner
2005 Clancy Jensen   1991 Aaron Bohrer
2004 Matthew John   1990 Craig Walters
2003 Bradley Hammerschmidt   1989 Craig Hoffman
2002 Bradley Hammerschmidt   1988 Margaret Clark
2001 Ryan Caviglia   1987 Janice Hanger
2000 Tiffany Dean   1986 John Turner
1999 Mary Dobbs   1985 Virgil Wiebe
1998 Stacy Meredith   1984 Karl Forge
1997 Scott Yungeberg   1983 Daniel Hammel
1996 Matthew Barnes   1982 Jane Johnson and Johnna Jones
1995 Terra Lockhart   1981 Stanley Wilds

 

William D. Grimm Memorial Scholarship

 

The William D. Grimm Memorial Scholarship is given to an undergraduate geography major.  The award honors William Grimm, a 1986 Kansas State geography major, who was killed in action on January 31, 1991, during the Persian Gulf War.

2008 Jake Galyon   2000 James Clark
2007 Rex Robichaux   1999 Stacy Meredith
2006 Clancy Jensen and Iris Wilson   1997 Bonnie Linxwiler
2005 Sean Winkler   1996 Brian Smith
2004 Rorik Peterson and Kortney Steinhurst   1995 Chris Henrie
2003 John Eddy and Derek George   1993 Jennifer Barmann
2002 Fletcher Jacobs and John Persley   1992 Aaron Bohrer
2001 Andrew Elmore      

 

LeBlanc Outstanding Undergraduate Major Award

 

An annual award to the outstanding undergraduate geography student of the year.  This award is made possible through the generosity of Leonard LeBlanc, III, who earned a B.S. in Geography in 1973.

2008 Iris Wilson   1992 David Howard
2007 Hannah Wilcox   1991 Malcolm Ponte
2006 Lance Noll   1990 Chris Jones
2005 Rorik Peterson   1989 Barbara Houser
2004 Will Breitkreutz and Brad Hammerschmidt   1988 Todd Stell
2003 Fletcher Jacobs   1987 Todd Stell
2002 Tiffany Dean   1986 Eric Peterson
2001 Kristen Reed and Jeffrey Zimmerman   1985 Loretta Siltman
2000 Kristen Reed   1984 Daniel Hammel
1999 Stacy Meredith   1983 Johnna Jones
1998 Scott Yungeberg   1982 Stanley Wilds
1997 Chris Welchhans   1981 Cynthia Rolph
1996 Jennifer Radcliff   1980 Steve Sexton
1995 Jason Sheeley   1979 Dean Andrew
1994 Anthony Filippi   1978 Lois Hinson
1993 Christian Knight   1977 Theodore Grossardt

 

National Council for Geographic Education and Association of American Geographers Excellence Scholarship

 

An annual award presented to the senior undergraduate geography student earning the highest grade point average.

 

2008 Hannah Wilcox   1997 Terry Harris
2007 Lesley Ostmeyer   1990 Corena Sanders
2006 Lance Noll   1989 Lloyd Johnson
2005 Matthew John   1988 Bryan Tucker
2004 Kimberly Cope   1986 Virgil Wiebe
2003 Tiffany Dean   1985 Loretta Siltman
2002 Tony Davis   1984 Jane Johnson
2001 Kristen Reed   1983 Johnna Jones
2000 Stacy Meredith   1980 Steve Sexton
1999 Christopher Marsh   1979 Dean Andrew
1998 Dustin Heder      

 

H.L. "Sy" Seyler Undergraduate GIScience Scholarship

 

The Seyler Undergraduate GIScience Scholarship, supported by alumni, friends, and faculty of the Department of Geography, is the newest undergraduate scholarship and is bestowed in the name of emeritus faculty member H.L. "Sy" Seyler.  Dr. Seyler retired in 2000 after having devoted nearly three decades of professional service to the advancement of both geography and geographic information science at Kansas State University. 

In addition to publishing numerous articles in academic journals, his teaching touched the lives of a generation of geographers and geographic information system (GIS) professionals across the nation.  Dr. Seyler was a GIS pioneer in the State of Kansas and was a driving force behind the creation of the successful Geographic Information Systems Spatial Analysis Laboratory (GISSAL) at Kansas State University.

2008 Nicole Wayant   2006 Clancy Jensen
2007 Iris Wilson      

 

White Geography Graduate Teaching Assistant Excellence Award

 

This annual award, formerly known as the Distinguished Graduate Assistantship Award, is presented to the geography graduate student for outstanding performance as a teaching assistant. 

2008 Sumo Reddy   1998 Eric Parr
2007 Keela Andrews and Rorik Peterson   1997 Thomas Schafer
2006 Larry Scott Deaner   1996 Brian Wardlow
2005 Will Breitkreutz   1995 Bradley Rundquist
2004 Tracy Brown and Misty Gruener   1994 Alex Diniz
2003 John Archer and Nathan Kettle   1993 Rich Lissitschenko
2002 Mary Dobbs and Nathan Kettle   1992 Randy Rose
2001 Johnny Coomansingh   1990 Tom Mettille
2000 Luke Marzen   1989 Bryan Tucker
1999 Nancy Leathers      

 

Rumsey Bissell Marston Scholarship

 

The Rumsey Bissell Marston Scholarship was established to support graduate students in Geography at Kansas State University who are pursuing theses or dissertations centered in physical geography.  The scholarship honors the memory of R.B. Marston, a lifelong educator, who attributed his achievements to hard work, a positive outlook, self-confidence, and effective mentoring.  Projects must involve a significant level of well-conceived fieldwork.  Preferably, the project should explore one of the following two themes: 1) separate human effects on the environment from changes that would have occurred without human interference; and/or 2) explain the integration between geomorphology, hydrology and other biophysical processes.   The lack of other sources of direct financial support for the student’s thesis/dissertation will also be considered. 

2008 Ben Meade (Kansas State Univ)   1996 Sarah Marshall (Univ of Wyoming)
2007 Nicholas Graf (Kansas State Univ)   1995 Kevin Bayer (Univ of Wyoming)
2005 Ranbir Kang (Oklahoma State Univ)   1994 Kevin McNamara (Univ of Wyoming)
2004 Chris Adcock (Oklahoma State Univ)   1993 Jay Newton (Univ of Wyoming)
2003 Dale Splinter (Oklahoma State Univ)   1992 David Wick (Univ of Wyoming)
2002 Chris Neel (Oklahoma State Univ)   1990 Jack Mills (Univ of Wyoming)
2001 Barbara Pickup and Jerrod Smith (Oklahoma State Univ)   1989 Marjorie Varuska (Univ of Wyoming)
2000 Randa Hope (Oklahoma State Univ)   1988 Larry Dolan (Univ of Wyoming)
1999 Robin Gray and Andy Massey (Univ of Wyoming)   1987 Allen Miller (Univ of Wyoming)
1998 Jon Ferree (Univ of Wyoming)   1986 Marc Gillespie (Univ of Wyoming)
1997 Doug Norsby (Univ of Wyoming)      

 

Graduate Student Leadership Award

 

An annual award established in 2002 to recognize geography graduate students for their professionalism, dedication, and leadership during the past academic year.

2008 Rhett Mohler and Tom Vought   2004 Ryan Reker
2007 David Koch   2003 Tracy Brown
2006 Mitch Stimers   2002 Gregory Vandeberg
2005 Vicki Tinnon-Brock and Tom Vought      

 

Mary Dobbs Outstanding Department Citizen Award

 

An annual award established in Spring 2006 to recognize the geography student whose actions during the past year best exemplify the spirit of the department and a willingness to give "110%".  This award was renamed the Mary Dobbs Outstanding Department Citizen Award to honor the memory of Mary Dobbs, a geography doctoral student, who passed away during the Fall 2006 semester.

2008 Sohini Dutt and David Koch   2006 Travis Smith
2007 Tom Vought