When Kathy Rennick ’76 came to Illinois State University, she became hooked on research. Professor Emeritus Dr. Clarence Moore included Rennick in a dairy research project, which helped launch her research career. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in animal science and chemistry, Rennick earned a master’s degree in ruminant nutrition from Iowa State University. She later accepted a position with the United States Department of Agriculture at its Peoria-based National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research.
Longtime supporters of Illinois State, Kathy Rennick and husband John Rennick ’78, a former accountant, decided to expand their impact when they retired. The couple created two endowments to support undergraduate accounting students and graduate agriculture students.
Agriculture Department Chair and Associate Professor Dr. Fanson Kidwaro said the Kathy and John Rennick Graduate Research Scholarship is unique in its support of graduate students.
“This is a great incentive and opportunity to our graduate students who are very excited to engage in productive scholarly activities that will contribute to the body of agricultural science,” said Kidwaro, who plans to award the first scholarship during the 2022-23 academic year. “We are very grateful to Kathy and John Rennick for their vision and valuable support of our graduate program.”
The Rennicks hope their scholarships will offset expenses for students facing growing education costs. “My idea was a scholarship for agriculture graduate students to use for research, travel to conferences, or laboratory costs to further their research opportunities, thereby helping with the costs of research,” said Kathy Rennick.
