WOOSTER, Ohio Julia Finer and Mary Mitsch have received the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Centers (OARDC) 2006 Family Scholarship Awards.
Finer, daughter of John and Kim Finer of Wooster, is a sophomore chemical engineering major at Purdue University. She has accepted a five-semester cooperative-education position with the Lyondell/Equistar chemical company, Houston; participates in Purdues Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) program, working with a local elementary school; and with OARDC has been both a volunteer and a summer student researcher.
Her father is a professor in the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science at Wooster.
Mitsch, daughter of Bill and Ruthmarie Mitsch of Columbus, is a freshman in the School of Architecture at the University of Notre Dame. She was a valedictorian and a National Merit Commended Scholar at Bishop Watterson High School, Columbus; earned the schools Sister Ursula Marie Wagner Math Recognition Award in 2003 and its Academic 4.0 Award four straight years; is a state-ranked champion horseback rider; and is a member of Notre Dames Equestrian Team.
Her father is Distinguished Professor of Environment and Natural Resources in Columbus and is the director of the Olentangy River Wetland Research Park.
OARDC Associate Director Dave Benfield presented the $500 awards on behalf of the OARDC Family Scholarship Selection Committee in a luncheon ceremony in Wooster.
Private donations to Ohio State Universitys Campus Campaign fund the awards, which go each year to two dependents of OARDC employees.
OARDC, with faculty and staff in Wooster and Columbus plus 10 outlying research stations, is the research arm of Ohio States College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
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Editor: Photographs of Julia Finer and Mary Mitsch are available from Ken Chamberlain, (330) 263-3779, chamberlain.1@osu.edu.