Scholarship helps first-year students

Agriculture

A fourth-generation farmer from Lochiel in the State's mid-north has been announced as the inaugural recipient of a prestigious scholarship named in memory of a great South Australian.

Eighteen-year-old University of Adelaide student Brendan Wallis has been awarded the Trevor Dillon Agronomic Roseworthy Study Scholarship.

The Dillon Scholarship will provide Mr Wallis with full residential support at the University's Roseworthy Campus, where he is undertaking his first year of study in the Bachelor of Agriculture degree.

The Dillon Scholarship has particular significance because it focuses on providing assistance to agricultural students during their crucial initial period of tertiary study at Roseworthy, said the Co-patron Chairman of the Roseworthy Campus and Student Fund, the Hon. Dr Bruce Eastick AM.

"This first year away from home, thrust into a different study environment, is a make-or-break time that can set the foundations for an entire lifetime career in agriculture," Dr Eastick said.

"Our aim is to enable a young person to take the first step in the long personal journey to become a professional contributor to the future of our agricultural sector."

The scholarship - supported by South Australia's rural sector - is named in memory of Trevor Dillon, one of the State's most respected and high-profile advocates for excellence in farming practice over a period of five decades.

Story by Dale Manson