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   from the issue of January 26, 2006

     
 
Gift forges largest Ag Fellowship

 BY DAN MOSER, IANR NEWS SERVICE

A gift of $600,000 from the Bill and Helen Curtis estate creates the largest endowed fellowship fund for the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.

Income from the William J. Curtis Endowed Fellowship Fund provides fellowships for the college to recruit exceptional graduate students to study at the university.

The fund supplements existing graduate research or teaching assistantships with offers of $3,000 for qualifying students with a master's degree or $5,000 for students with a doctorate degree. The fellowships are awarded based on academic and scholastic achievement or promise.

"Fellowships such as the Curtis Fellowship allow the college to provide a benefit package to attract exceptional students to the college," said Jack Schinstock, associate dean. "To remain competitive with our peer institutions, it is important to provide potential graduate students with quality research programs and faculty while also providing a financial assistance package of equal quality."

Bill Curtis was born in Firth in 1900. He graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1938 with a degree in business administration and worked for the Veteran's Administration for 32 years. He was a Naval veteran of World War I and II.

His wife Helen studied music at the university for a short time and was a graduate of Sherwood School of Music in Chicago.

With the latest gift from the couple's estate, their lifetime giving to the University of Nebraska Foundation spans five decades, starting with a gift of $2.50 in 1969.

The Curtises, who were married in 1925, celebrated 66 years together. Their wedding in Lincoln made the news because they held the ceremony in the studio of KFAB radio station, which then was located in Lincoln. They broadcast the ceremony so Helen's father could hear the wedding in California.


GO TO: ISSUE OF JANUARY 26

NEWS HEADLINES FOR JANUARY 26

Weather pushes landscape services into spring mode
Combined Campaign charts continued growth
Gift forges largest Ag Fellowship
Museum offers fossil days, disaster events
Series outlines ways to better serve students
Campus research helps develop new decorative millets
Engineering opens year with new lab celebration
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Huskers tops in Big 12 exhausted eligibility rate
Publication features UNL bio laboratory

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