Dewanz gift establishes new Land Grant Legacy Scholarship Fund

July 12, 2017 — It’s about perfect timing. Karen (Swanson) Dewanz ‘83 came to the University of Minnesota ready to pursue chemical engineering, but it didn’t take long for her to realize she could better follow her passion in natural resources as a resource economics major in the Department of Applied Economics. It turned out being one of her better life choices for a number of reasons, not least of which was that it led to meeting agricultural engineering technology major Charles (Chuck) Dewanz ‘85 during a broomball game.

Chuck and Karen pursued their careers and raised a family, and throughout 20 years working in manufacturing, Chuck harbored his life-long dream of becoming a farmer. Finally, the timing was right. Money was saved and an 80 acre farm near Windom, Minn., was purchased, with the option to lease an additional 160 acres. That was 11 years ago.

“We were lucky that things came together the way did,” says Dewanz. Now both work on and off the farm, with Karen making the weekend commute from CFANS and Chuck also working for Fairland Management.

The timing was also right when it came to supporting CFANS with a gift to the new Land-Grant Legacy Scholarship. “We’d been looking at the best way to give back to CFANS, and when the scholarship was announced, we knew it was the perfect fit. This was a way we could be a part of securing the scholarship’s future and a way to help other CFANS students realize their dreams.”