“The greatest thing a scholarship gives you is the ability to get involved in helping your department,” says MSU senior Julia Brantsen about receiving a scholarship from the G. Malcolm Trout Fund and her involvement in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition.
Brantsen served as president of the Food Science Student Club in 2011; a demanding job since the 50-member group meets weekly, typically with invited industry representatives. Brantsen, who works in the lab of Associate Professor John Partridge, also completed two internships and took advantage of an intensive Study Abroad experience in international food law in Europe. She plans to pursue graduate school and hopes to land a position in product development or quality control.
“My experience in the department has been invaluable. I can’t imagine being better prepared than I am,” she says, “But I wouldn’t have been able to do what I have without scholarship support.”
The scholarship fund honors G. Malcolm Trout, a giant in Michigan State’s history, known for his pioneering research on the homogenization of milk conducted during his nearly 50 years on the MSU faculty. MSU’s Food Science Building was renamed the G. Malcolm Trout Food Science and Human Nutrition Building following Trout’s death in 1990.
“Professor Trout is a legend,” Brantsen says. “I was very excited to be chosen for this honor.” The G. Malcolm Trout Endowment, first created in 1982, provides scholarships to Michigan students in three departmental majors, Food Science, Dietetics and Nutritional Sciences; and a visiting scholar/ lectureship. A Trout Council within the department is active in continuing to develop the fund, now valued at more than $700,000, to carry on Trout’s legacy and learning.
Brantsen plans on being a part of it. “I definitely plan on being active as an alumna,” she says. “I put too much in to leave it all behind.”
For information on making a gift to the G. MalcolmTrout Fund, contact Associate Director of Development Kate Powers at powers@msu.edu; (517) 355-9547.