Thayer, Mo., Student Selected for Jim and Betty Sloan Agriculture Scholarship
JONESBORO – Brittany Hirsch of Thayer, Mo., has been selected as the 2022 recipient of the Jim and Betty Sloan Scholarship in the College of Agriculture at Arkansas State University.
As she explained to the scholarship selection committee, she has a "lifelong career goal" of becoming a large animal veterinarian and returning to her hometown to open her own practice.
Hirsch is working on a double major in animal science and biological sciences. She expects to graduate in May 2024.
The scholarship provides $2,000 per semester for four semesters as long as she maintains a minimum GPA. Mason Laws of Cabot, the 2021 recipient, will continue to receive scholarship funds during his senior year.
Hirsch is the daughter of Larry and Betty Hirsch and a 2020 graduate of Thayer High School, where she earned 23 college credits before enrolling at A-State.
While in high school, she also earned the American FFA Degree, based on her award-winning record of raising and showing special breeds of beef cattle. The honor is the highest bestowed by the national student organization, an honor for which she was also recognized by the Missouri House of Representatives.
She has also been a learning group leader in the A-State peer-to-peer tutoring program known as Learning Commons. Hirsch interns at SMART Reproductions, a Jonesboro company specializing in the worldwide export of sheep and goat semen and embryos.
The scholarship was first established with the Arkansas State University System Foundation in 1979 by the Craighead County Farm Bureau in memory of Jim Sloan, a Jonesboro native who served for 10 years on the Arkansas Farm Bureau board of directors.
After Jim's death at age 56, his widow, Betty, continued his stewardship of the family land holdings and made her own mark as a community volunteer. She received a Distinguished Service Award from the College of Agriculture in 1992 and was inducted into the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame in 2007. When she died in 2014, her name was added to the scholarship.
The couple's six children continue to support the endowment. Two of them, John Sloan and Kitty Sloan, serve on the selection committee along with Jeffrey Tubbs, president of the Craighead County Farm Bureau.
For information on this and other College of Agriculture scholarships, contact CofA@AState.edu.
