Dec 19, 2017

Educator Looks to Create Ferriss Horticulture Scholarship Fund

Editor’s Note: Chad T. Miller, associate professor in the Department of Horticulture and Natural Resources at Kansas State University, is working to establish a new scholarship fund in honor of Terry Ferriss, retired professor at the University of Wisconsin — River Falls, where Miller is an alum.

The scholarship fund would be nationally administered through the American Floral Endowment (AFE).

The fundraising goal is $50,000 to provide a $2,000 annual scholarship.

Establishing the Ferriss Horticulture Scholarship Fund

By Chad Miller

Terry Ferriss, retired from University of Wisconsin — River Falls (UWRF) in the  2015 after 36 years.  A distinguished teacher, leader, and scientist in the horticulture industry, Terry accomplished many milestones during her tenure at UWRF.  She was the first tenured female faculty member in the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (CAFES), first woman to serve as the Plant and Earth Sciences Department chair and as an associate dean for CAFES.

Terry was dedicated to ensuring student success through her teaching and advising. She engaged students not only in the classroom, but also through undergraduate research opportunities and with educational trips to experience the industry first hand.

Terry was always very keen on assisting students in finding and applying for scholarships, along with providing letters of recommendation. She was a strong advocate for student internships and she served as the director of the CAFES internship program, and as a faculty advisor on the American Floral Endowment Vic & Margaret Ball Intern Scholarship committee for 14 years.

She was committed to developing future industry leaders and was an acknowledged horticulture industry visionary and leader. Terry served in many capacities in the industry, regionally and nationally. She was active with the Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Association, along with the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS) in which she was instrumental in development and implementation of a national horticulture professional certification and chaired the board.

Her contributions have been recognized by ASHS, in which she received the Outstanding Undergraduate Horticulture Educator Award and the Fellows Award. She also received the USDA National Excellence in Teaching Award, the Society of American Florist’s Alex Laurie Award and the American Horticulture Society’s Teaching Award.

Considering the lasting impact Terry has had on her students and for the industry as a whole, I believe a great way to honor her is by establishing a horticulture scholarship in her name. In fall 2017, I initiated the Terry and Ron Ferriss Horticulture Scholarship.  The scholarship will be set up and administered through the American Floral Endowment.

For many years, AFE has maintained and administered scholarship and internship programs, such as the Vic and Margaret Ball and Mosmiller Scholarships, along with a broad undergraduate horticulture scholarship program. Ferriss was very involved and supportive of the AFE for many years through her tenure.

The annual scholarship will be awarded to a junior or senior with a demonstrated career interest in floriculture who is majoring in horticulture, plant science or a closely related field.  Preference will be given to students interested in commercial greenhouse production of non-edible crops, research related to the production, physiology or breeding of floriculture crops, and/or the sales and marketing of floriculture crops and has a GPA of 2.6 or greater.

To provide an annual scholarship of $2,000, an endowment fund of $50,000 needs to be established.  Thus, I am asking you to kindly consider a contribution, to help establish and support this scholarship. There is a great start to the fundraising campaign for the scholarship. Through generous donations, including a leadership gift from Ball Horticultural Company, we have already raised over $16,000!

This is a great opportunity to pay it forward. Establishing and implementing a scholarship will also be one additional incentive to attract and retain quality horticulture undergraduates, with the significant concern about decreasing undergraduate horticulture student enrollments.

There are two ways to contribute to the establishment of this scholarship; through a one-time contribution or a continuing monthly contribution that can be made online at http://endowment.org/donate-to-afe/

Contributions also can be sent  to The American Floral Endowment, 1001 N. Fairfax St., Suite 201, Alexandria, VA 22314.

It is important that you clearly indicate in the “Pledge Designation” that you would like your contribution to be applied to the Terry and Ron Ferriss Horticulture Scholarship.

All contributions are tax-deductible and you will receive formal documentation of your charitable donation.

I appreciate your consideration in contributing to this important endeavor.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me at ctmiller@ksu.edu or 785.532.1416 or with Debi Chedester, executive director at the American Floral Endowment at dchedester@afeendowment.org or 703.838.5211).