NARA launches Owen Vickers Memorial Scholarship

The North American Renderers Association has launched the Owen Vickers Memorial Scholarship, a new annual award honoring T. Owen Vickers Sr., a longtime industry leader at Birmingham Hide & Tallow Co. The scholarship will provide one student with $2,500 per year for two years, for a total of $5,000, and is open to students accepted to or enrolled in a college, university, or trade school in the U.S., Canada, or Mexico. NARA says the program is meant to support students interested in rendering, sustainability, agriculture, animal nutrition, food systems, and the circular economy. The association’s scholarship page lists a June 19, 2026, application materials deadline and a July 19, 2026, submission deadline, an apparent discrepancy that applicants will likely want clarified directly with NARA. (nara.org)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, especially those working in nutrition, food animal practice, public health, and sustainability-adjacent roles, the scholarship is another sign that rendering groups are trying to build a stronger workforce pipeline around animal byproducts, feed ingredients, and circular-economy systems. NARA has increasingly framed rendering as part of waste reduction, animal feed and pet food production, and broader sustainability efforts, including through its first scholarship launched in 2025 and its export and market-development work. That makes this more than a memorial announcement; it’s part of a longer push to raise the profile of rendering in agriculture and companion animal nutrition. (nara.org)

What to watch: Watch for NARA to clarify the application timeline and, later this year, name the first recipient under the new memorial scholarship. (nara.org)