NPPC Announces This Year’s Winners of Annual Scholarships at National Pork Industry Forum

Mar 13, 2023

The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) announced 12 scholarship winners today at its annual business meeting — the National Pork Industry Forum. The Lois Britt Memorial Pork Industry Scholarship and the Neil Dierks Scholarship were awarded to college students pursuing careers in the U.S. pork industry.

“We want to recognize these outstanding college students and their commitment to the U.S. pork industry,” said outgoing NPPC President Terry Wolters, a producer from Pipestone, Minnesota. “Through the Lois Britt and Neil Dierks scholarships, we are creating a talent pipeline for the next generation of industry leaders.”

The 2023 winners of the $2,500 Lois Britt Memorial Scholarship are:

Kirby Cook, Iowa State University
James DeRouchey, Kansas State University
Joseph Halbur, South Dakota State University
Molly Jones, North Carolina State University
Leah Marek, Iowa State University
Kyra Schenk, South Dakota State University
Keegan Sheiss, Purdue University
Karmen Sperr, South Dakota State University
Elizabeth Staggs, Purdue University
Elizabeth Thome, University of Minnesota

The Lois Britt Memorial Pork Industry Scholarship program, sponsored by CME Group and the National Pork Industry Foundation, is awarded to undergraduates in a two-year swine program or a four-year college of agriculture program. The scholarship program was introduced in 1990 and later renamed in 2006 in memoriam of Lois Britt, former NPPC board director. A lifetime supporter of agriculture, Britt spent 34 years with the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service and finished her career after 15 years with Murphy-Brown LLC (now Smithfield) doing public and government relations. She was inducted into the NPPC Pork Industry Hall of Fame and the North Carolina Pork Council Hall of Fame and was awarded the North Carolina 4-H Lifetime Achievement Award, among many other achievements.

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That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.