Random (Rahyne) Bolda, a second-year student at Kansas State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, was awarded the David A. Schoneweis Scholarship during the American Association of Swine Veterinarians Annual Meeting held in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The children of the late Dr David Schoneweis established a scholarship in his memory to benefit swine-interested students from Kansas State University (KSU) and Oklahoma State University (OSU). The $1000 scholarship is awarded to a student or students from KSU or OSU who participate in the student oral or poster presentations during the AASV Annual Meeting, based upon a selection rubric prepared with the oversight and approval of the Schoneweis family.
Bolda presented her research, "Identifying pathways of entry of African swine fever virus into sow farms and potential improvement in biosecurity to prevent viral entry," during the AASV Student Poster Session. She was one of 21 students presenting a poster.
Dr Schoneweis was born in Clay Center, Kansas and earned his doctor of veterinary medicine from Kansas State University in 1956. He served two years in the Army Veterinary Corps before teaching clinical sciences at Oklahoma State University for six years. After two years in private practice in Lawrence, Kansas, he joined the KSU College of Veterinary Medicine faculty in 1966, where he received his master’s degree in surgery and medicine in 1971 and taught food animal medicine for 30 years. Dr Schoneweis was a charter member of the American Association of Swine Practitioners (AASP) and served on the association’s board of directors in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 1997, he received the AASP Meritorious Service Award for his lifetime of support for the association and in recognition of his work with students as a professor of food animal medicine at KSU and OSU.
Thankful for the scholarship, Bolda said, "I am both thrilled and honored to have been selected for this scholarship. It is a privilege for my work to be acknowledged and my deepest thanks to the family of Dr David Schoneweis."