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July 12, 2022
A 2017 Northwest Missouri State University alumna is the first namesake of a newly established scholarship program that is helping businesses celebrate hard-working employees while connecting students with those businesses and employees.
Through the Northwest Foundation, the Triumph Foods - Morgan Miller Bearcat Builder Scholarship will be awarded during the upcoming academic year to an outstanding Northwest student studying animal science.
Northwest and Triumph Foods recently named Morgan Miller as the first namesake of a University scholarship program to help businesses celebrate employees and connect them with students. Left to right are Dr. Emily Arkfeld, director of research, innovation and technical services at Triumph; Miller and Dr. Barry Wiseman, senior director of research and development at Triumph. (Submitted photo)
The scholarship honors Morgan Martin Miller, who has been employed at Triumph in St. Joseph, Missouri, since graduating from Northwest with her bachelor’s degree in animal science and biochemistry. Today, she is a lab manager with the company and oversees a team of lab technicians who conduct microbial and chemistry testing.
“As one of the largest employers in the area, Triumph Foods wants to support further education in our region, whether four-year, two-year or technical school,” Mishael Barton, the company’s communications manager, said. “We know a large percentage of the graduates from Northwest stay in the area and find careers.”
Founded in 2006 in St. Joseph, Triumph Foods is one of the only producer-owned pork processors in the United States, processing more than 5 million hogs annually. It employs more than 2,400 people, including several Northwest graduates, and wants to continue building relationships with the University and its students.
As “a rising star within the organization,” Miller exemplifies the profession-based skills Northwest graduates bring to organizations, Barton said. “Morgan embodies what we believe this scholarship represents. It was a very easy choice.”
After connecting with Triumph at a Northwest Career Day, Miller began work with the company as an intern. Since graduating from Northwest, she has continued to advance at Triumph as well as in her education, completing a master’s degree from Kansas State University in 2019. Additionally, she recently had her first-peer reviewed paper, “Salmonella is Present in Multiple Lymph Nodes of Market Hog Carcasses at Slaughter,” published in Food Protection Trends.
Miller’s coworkers surprised her with the scholarship announcement in April by setting up what she thought was a planning meeting. When Miller arrived, however, her supervisors informed her of the scholarship and presented her with a certificate.
“It’s really awesome that Triumph chose to participate and thought of me for their inaugural scholarship,” Miller said. “Northwest works so hard to get their students scholarships. I benefited from them when I was there, so I know a lot of students really rely on scholarships. It’s great that Triumph recognizes that and is able to give back.”
A native of Lancaster, Kansas, Miller says she selected Northwest to pursue her higher education because of the University’s welcoming environment. In addition to being a part of the Honors Program, she was active in the Sigma Alpha professional agricultural sorority and Block and Bridle, an organization for students interested in animal science.
“The atmosphere of Northwest is incomparable to anything else,” she said. “It’s not just about teaching you theoretical things. It’s preparing you for life beyond college and preparing you for a career. A lot of the hands-on things that we got to do in our ag classes and in our science classes and labs definitely helped give me the theoretical background and be ready to implement it in the real world.”
The Bearcat Builder scholarship program encourages companies to recognize a Northwest graduate who is employed or associated with the organization by naming a scholarship in their honor for a year.
By donating $1,000 to Northwest’s Bearcat Builder scholarship fund, businesses and organizations provide a scholarship to a Northwest student who demonstrates high campus engagement in a discipline of the donor’s choosing while honoring a Northwest graduate they employ.
In addition to helping businesses and organizations celebrate and retain employees who are Northwest alumni, the program provides Northwest students with a valuable opportunity to network with other employees.
For more information about the Bearcat Builder scholarship program, contact Jill Brown, Northwest’s director of corporate relations, at jillb@syria-events.com or 660.562.1642.
