George F. Sorn Scholarship
The Foundation recognizes that employees — and by extension their families — are the foundation of any agricultural enterprise. In 2007, it established the George F. Sorn Scholarship to help children of farmworkers realize their dreams of a college education. The scholarship benefits deserving high school graduates who are children of employees in the state’s specialty crop industry. A leading authority on farm labor, George F. Sorn led FFVA’s labor division for 17 years. He then served as FFVA’s vice president and general manager from 1984 until his retirement in 1992.
This year, there were a number of outstanding applicants for the George F. Sorn Scholarship. Congratulations to 2025 winner Vanessa Sales-Ramirez!
Awards
$3,000 is awarded annually.
The application period is closed.
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Scholarship Cover Letter
Scholarship Application
Mike and Karen Stuart Scholarship
A focus of FFVA and its foundation is to identify and develop leaders to be strong advocates for Florida agriculture and help foster a pipeline of talent in the industry. In an effort to instill passion for the agriculture industry, engage with a new generation of young leaders and foster a workforce dedicated to the future of Florida agriculture, FFVA created the Mike and Karen Stuart Scholarship.
The scholarship encourages and supports incoming juniors through graduate program students who are currently pursuing or intend to pursue a career in the specialty crop industry. Applicants may be interested in either production agriculture (growing, shipping, packing) or the allied industry (fertilizer and crop protection, equipment, food safety, sales and marketing, etc.). The scholarship is in recognition of the devotion and many years of service to the specialty crop industry that Mike and Karen Stuart provided.
Congratulations to the 2024 scholarship recipients, Emma Putnam and Alex Fast!
Emma Putnam is a junior at the University of Florida, pursuing a degree in agricultural communication. Following her graduation in 2026, Emma hopes to utilize her degree by seeking a role within an agricultural organization where she can support Florida farmers at the governmental level. Ultimately, Emma aspires to become an agricultural lobbyist, combining her interests in agriculture and politics.
Alex Fast is in his first year of a Ph.D. program at the University of Florida, where he is studying plant pathology. His studies have led him to internship roles at Native Fresh and Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience, and research assistant roles at the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center and UF Department of Plant Pathology. Alex aspires to leverage computational biology and molecular biology to create a two-pronged approach to reducing diseases affecting Florida crops.
Awards
$2,000 per recipient
The 2025 Stuart Scholarship application period has closed.
Scholarship Requirements
Scholarship Application
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