NPPC Celebrates Future Leaders with Annual Scholarship Awards at National Pork Industry Forum
ORLANDO, Fla., March 14, 2025 — The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) proudly announced the recipients of the 2025 Lois Britt Memorial Pork Industry Scholarship and Neil Dierks Scholarship at the National Pork Industry Forum. Sponsored in partnership with CME Group and the National Pork Industry Foundation (NPIF), these awards recognize exceptional university students dedicated to advancing careers in the U.S. pork industry and shaping its future.
“These scholarship recipients embody the future of our industry,” said Lori Stevermer, outgoing NPPC president. “During my years of service with NPPC, I’ve witnessed the difference we can make by speaking up and championing the pork industry. These young leaders share that same passion and determination, inspiring confidence in their ability to meet challenges and embrace opportunities. NPPC is proud to invest in these talented individuals who will shape a stronger, more resilient future for us all.”
“We are very pleased with our long-standing partnership with NPPC to support hard- working students through scholarships,” said John Ricci, Managing Director and Global Head of Agricultural Products at CME Group. “This year’s recipients are the future leaders of the U.S. food system, and we congratulate them on their achievements and look forward to following their success.”
The 2025 winners of a $2,500 Lois Britt Memorial Pork Industry Scholarship are:
- James DeRouchey – Kansas State University
- Graca Goettsch – Iowa State University
- Georgia Horosky – Wilmington College
- Victorria Meylor – University of Wisconsin – Platteville
- Riki Nardiello – Texas A&M University
- Harper Parson – Texas A&M University
- Elizabeth Staggs – Purdue University
- Jackson Sterle – Iowa State University
- Olivia Stodghill – Iowa State University
- Elizabeth Thome – University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
The Lois Britt Memorial Pork Industry Scholarship program, sponsored by CME Group and NPIF, is awarded to undergraduates in a two-year swine program or a four-year college of agriculture program. The scholarship program was introduced in 1990 and renamed in 2006 in honor of Lois Britt, a former NPPC board director. A lifetime supporter of agriculture, Britt spent 34 years with the North Carolina Cooperative Extension and finished her career after 15 years with Murphy-Brown LLC (now Smithfield) in public and government relations. She was inducted into the NPPC Pork Industry Hall of Fame and the North Carolina Pork Council Hall of Fame and was awarded the North Carolina 4-H Lifetime Achievement Award, among many other achievements.
The 2025 winners of a $5,000 Neil Dierks Scholarship are:
- Gabrielle Doughan – Iowa State University
- Katlyn McClellan – South Dakota State University
The Neil Dierks Scholarship, founded in 2021 and sponsored by NPIF, is awarded to current or applied-for-acceptance graduate students in a swine program. Dierks served as NPPC’s CEO for 20 years. Retiring in December 2021 after 31 years with NPPC, Dierks made countless lasting contributions to the U.S. pork industry and established NPPC as a top-tier advocacy organization and the global voice of the U.S. pork industry. He was inducted into the NPPC Pork Industry Hall of Fame in 2022.
To learn more about the application process, please visit: https://nppc.org/get-involved/education-programs/.
2025 Lois Britt Memorial Pork Industry Scholarship Winners
2025 Neil Dierks Scholarship Winners
###
The National Pork Industry Foundation is a 501(C)(3) whose mission, since 1984, is to support programs that help create productive and responsible individuals dedicated to advances in the pork industry. It encourages and supports collaboration — connecting students with persons and systems — to maximize and sustain educational opportunities that provide insight into pork industry careers. Opportunities include foundation programs conducted in an objective, scientific manner, as well as specific research and education that may be requested by interested third parties.
As the world’s leading derivatives marketplace, CME Group (www.cmegroup.com) enables clients to trade futures, options, cash and OTC markets, optimize portfolios, and analyze data — empowering market participants worldwide to efficiently manage risk and capture opportunities. CME Group exchanges offer the widest range of global benchmark products across all major asset classes based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural products and metals. The company offers futures and options on futures trading through the CME Globex platform, fixed income trading via BrokerTec and foreign exchange trading on the EBS platform. In addition, it operates one of the world’s leading central counterparty clearing providers, CME Clearing.
NPPC is the global voice for the U.S. pork industry, protecting the livelihoods of America’s 60,000+ pork producers who abide by ethical principles in caring for their animals, in protecting the environment and public health and in providing safe, wholesome, nutritious pork products to consumers worldwide. For more information, visit www.nppc.org.