Greg Graham Memorial Scholarship & Peter Connor Book Award
2023 Applications are currently open. Click here to apply. Before applying check eligibility criteria below.
Applications close Friday 10th February 2023. Interviews will be conducted the week commencing 14th February and the successful applicants announced 24th February.
The Greg Graham Memorial Scholarship (GGMS) is valued at $10,000 and
$3,000 for the Peter Connor Book Award. Since the awards were first introduced in 2001, over 40 agriculture students have benefited from
the generosity and foresight of SunRice, Rice Research and rice industry
supporters. In response, most of these students have returned to our
communities and farms with leading edge knowledge to help strengthen and
rejuvenate our agricultural industry.
This financial support helps alleviate financial pressures,
purchases the bulk of textbooks, and facilitates greater focus on university
study. It also enables students to move away from home and study at a time when otherwise this may not be possible, particularly during drought years and other times of
hardship.
The scholarships have the following eligibility criteria:
- Applicants must be the child/grandchild or nominated employee* of:
- A current financial member of RGA and/or,
- an A-Class share holder and/or,
- a grower who has grown rice in the last 3 years including C22.
- Applicants must be in their second or successive year of studying an agricultural focused and/or industry related course at an Australian tertiary institution; and
- Applicants need to demonstrate a commitment to the rice industry.
- Recipients of the Peter Connor Book Award are eligible for GGMS.
- Recipients of the Jan Cathcart Scholarship are ineligible for the GGMS.
- Recipients who have previously been awarded a GGMS are ineligible for the Peter Connor Book Award.
*a nominated employee must have worked within the rice farming business for more than 6 months.
A
bit of background about the scholarships…
The scholarships are named after two past leaders of the rice industry.
The
Greg Graham Memorial Scholarship (GGMS) was set up to assist the agricultural
education of members of the Ricegrowers’ Association; or their family, to assist in studying a full-time,
agriculturally-based course at any Australian tertiary institution.
The
Peter Connor Book award was introduced at the same time; in conjunction with
the Greg Graham Memorial Scholarship, to the runner-up for
the purchase of books.
Greg Graham was president of the RGA in 1983
and had served as Secretary of the Deniliquin Branch of the RGA, was Chairman
of the Southern Riverina Irrigation Districts Council, a Councillor for the
Shire of Murray and a Member of the Murray Region Development Board. He was also one of the driving forces behind
the establishment of the NSW Irrigators’ Council. Greg had a great admiration and confidence in
the future of young people and this scholarship recognises the dedication,
commitment and humility of this good man.
Peter Connor was a leading rice grower in the
Coleambally district and served as Vice President of the Coleambally Branch and
delegate to the RGA’s Central Executive between 1975 and 1982. Peter was also a Director of the Ricegrowers’
Cooperative Mills Ltd.
The Scholarship was not available in 2008, but
in 2009 it resumed with the generous support of the McCaughey Memorial
Institute and Rice Research Australia Ltd.