TAIA will award the Dick Laursen Memorial Scholarship based on the applicant’s qualifications. Scholarships will be available to registered, full-time students either entering college or continuing a college education. Graduate students are also eligible. A recommendation from a TAIA member would be beneficial but is not mandatory. Scholarship funds will be given to the student's selected college to use towards enrollment expenses.
The Dick Laursen Memorial Scholarship was created in honor of Dick Laursen, a life-long irrigation specialist. Dick was born in 1942 into a Nebraska ranching/farming family. He began his career as a purchasing agent for a pivot manufacturer; then moving on to Rain Bird Ag before partnering to open SWISH, Inc., an irrigation company. With his partners, Dick spent the rest of his life building SWISH, until his death in 1998.