William McGeachin Memorial Scholarship

Scholarships Given

  • Typically 5 per year

Set up by Betty McKee to honor her father, the late William McGeachin, this fund is for undergraduates demonstrating academic excellence and financial need. McGeachin was an engineer for the Lincoln gas company, a 1903 graduate of the University of Nebraska and a native of Orleans in Harlan County.

He demonstrated a live-long commitment to resource conservation and the beauties of nature through various state and community projects and by passing these passions on to his children.

Two significant contributions were as a major lobbyist for passage of the Highway Beautification Act in Nebraska, which banned billboards within 600 yards of the Interstate and made the state eligible for additional federal conservation funding; and a statewide tree-planting program for fifth-graders that was adopted by various communities.

McGeachin Wove Environmental Protection into Every one of his Teachings

When Betty McKee thinks about her father, what she remembers most is how he taught his children about the importance of protecting the environment. Having lived through the Dust Bowl years, William McGeachin would point out shelterbelts and other conservation practices whenever the family traveled.

"He wove environmental protection into every one of his teachings. I think that it's important to encourage such lessons," she said. "My dad was a very intelligent, caring person. He grew up in Orleans in Harlan County and lived there being in touch with nature."

In memory of her father, and to support lessons both her parents taught, as well as the kind of work she sometimes did as a state senator's aide in Illinois, McKee established the William McGeachin Memorial Scholarship Fund for the School of Natural Resource Sciences. The fund is for undergraduates majoring in natural resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln demonstrating academic excellence and financial need.

A 1903 graduate of UNL, McGeachin worked most of his professional life as an engineer for the Lincoln gas company. But conservation was his avocation and his love. Among his lasting legacies is the state Highway Beautification Act. This act established a ban on billboards within 600 yards of the U.S. Interstate Highway. In addition, if the state passed the law, a percentage of federal highway funds were to be used for beautification along the interstate. Signed into law in 1960, the bill took much persistence on her father's part during the 1950s, McKee said.

"He contacted each legislator individually every year until the bill passed. He considered the passage of this act to be one of his most significant achievements," she said. McGeachin's work for this and other beautification projects earned him the highest award given by the Garden Club of Lincoln and the Federated Garden Clubs of Nebraska: the President's Citation for Distinguished Service to Horticulture.

Another little-known legacy is a tree-planting program for fifth graders in Nebraska's elementary schools. After retiring, McGeachin began this program in 1954. Students were given trees to take home and plant. Six years later, the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce adopted the program and instituted it in all Lincoln elementary schools.

"He just had a lot of ideas about conservation," she continued, "things that hadn't been pursued. He also loved hunting and fishing."

McKee, a 1941 graduate of the University of Nebraska, established the McGeachin Memorial Scholarship shortly after the creation of the SNRS in 1997. A University of Nebraska Foundation staff member visited her about a gift as the university was just setting up the school, and the scholarship seemed like the right way to contribute, she explained.

"It was like an epiphany, to set up this scholarship," she added. "I'm sure that there are still a few people who remember what my father did for the environment, but the quiet heroes are often forgotten. This is my way to help others remember Bill McGeachin."

Opportunities for Giving

Information about giving to this and other funds can be found at the NU Foundation web site.

Award Winners

YearRecipients
2023 - 2024
Stephanie Chermok
Cayden Glant
Samuel Gyhra
Anna Newcome
2022 - 2023
Samuel Gyhra
Page Nippert
Maddie Rawlings
Cindy Vasquez
2021 - 2022
Kaitlyn Dozler
Figs Ju
Kate Nelson
Elizabeth Simcox
2020 - 2021
Monique Candelas
Leah Cheney
Sophia Gobber
Le Phuong Minh Tu
2019 - 2020
Monique Candelas
Kaitlyn Dozler
Jacob Kruckenberg
Phuong Minh Tu Le
Matthew Schaaf
Hayden Wall
2018 - 2019
Sydney Brewer
Michael Darling
Evan Laible
Brittni McGuire
Alec Weisser
2017 - 2018
Quade Brees
Abigail Gramlich
Bethany Hollman
Evan Laible
Jasmine Mausbach
2016 - 2017
Avery Dresser
Bethany Hollman
Brooke Mott
Lindsay Ohlman
James Rutledge
2015 - 2016
Cassie Cichorz
Benjamin Heusinkvelt
Katherine Lagerstrom
Elizabeth Lutz
Zachary Schafer
2014 - 2015
Jason Feldman
Jessie O'Connor
Ellen Paige Dolph
Zachary Schafer
Charrissa Zuerlien
2013 - 2014
Paige Dunkle
Michelle Dvoracek
Jessica Hansen
Kayla Tarr
2012 - 2013
Reed Brodersen
Amanda Burau
Michelle Dvoracek
Derek Mettenbrink
Jessica Powell
Zachary Schafer
2011 - 2012
Katherine Boone
Josiah Dallmann
Zachariah Douglas
Jacob Linderholm
Brian Prusa
Lindy Rauscher
2010 - 2011
Ben Beckman
Michael Boden
Katherine Boone
Jeremy Grauf
Sarah Moy
Lisa Zilli
2009 - 2010
Samantha Bray
Dillon Dittmet
Sarah Moy
Lindy Rauscher
Lisa Zilli
2008 - 2009
Julia DeWilde
Dillon Dittmet
Lindsay Fischer
Kelly Kappen
Danielle McNeil
Jessica Milby
Michaela Wolf
Colleen Zajac
2007 - 2008
Lars Anderson
Scott Harter
Trevor Hefley
Kelly Kappen
Jessica Milby
Colleen Zajac
2006 - 2007
Todd Burda
Scott Groepper
Trevor Hefley
Jessica Milby
Dane Peterson
Nick Sell
Brian Smith
Rich Wilson
2005 - 2006
Nathanial Kroeten
Landon Pierce
Lindsey Richters
Robert Sheeder
Rebecca Sikes
Rich Wilson
2004 - 2005
Joe Crandell
Landon Pierce
Lindsey Richters
William Score
Stacey Stricker
Ryan Walrath
2003 - 2004
Nicholas Dobesh
Michael Gillian
Jessica Schell
Ryan Walrath
Rich Wilson
2002 - 2003
Anthony Barada
Chad Brock
Delia Buerstetta
Neil Martinsen
Travis Shepler