Dufresne Foundation Engineering Scholarship
to Benefit Montana High school graduates
The College of Engineering (COE) has received a $100,000 gift from the Dufresne Foundation in Great Falls. When the Dufresne Foundation decided to sunset its giving and to distribute its assets to charitable and nonprofit organizations in Montana, it sought to make gifts that would continue to give. For the COE this means a permanent endowed scholarship to support students from Montana high schools who go on to study engineering at MSU. The Dufresne Foundation also wanted to challenge other Montana organizations and individuals to support the “Putting Students First Scholarship Campaign.” Dufresne Scholarships will ultimately be awarded to worthy engineering students who are at least sophomores, who graduated from a Montana high school and who have a cumulative GPA in the 3.0 to 3.25 range.
Fred and Bertha Dufresne started farming east of Great Falls in 1918 and built their 1,500-acre farm into one of the most productive in the Golden Triangle. After Fred’s death in 1958, Bertha formed a foundation and began her charitable giving. After her death in 1972, the farm went to the established foundation. In 2002 the Dufresne Foundation was the 25th largest benefactor in the state of Montana.
The group of directors who ran the giving program for Dufresne made annual gifts to worthy organizations for many years. In 2003 they began to consider sunsetting the foundation and making permanent (endowment) gifts to a select group of beneficiary organizations. Among these were a church, a historical society, a rescue mission and an art museum — as well as benefiting MSU’s College of Engineering. MSU engineering alumnus Bradley B. Talcott, ’79 CET, was instrumental in working with the university and the Dufresne Foundation on this gift to benefit engineering students.
“Bertha was very supportive of education and the opportunities that a good education provided,” said Talcott. “The College of Engineering gift fits that bill very well.”

The first Dufresne Foundation Scholarship will be available for the 2005–2006 academic year.

For more information about the Montana State University Foundation, please visit their website at www.montana.edu/foundation.