Nordson ICS - 2020 PCI-Nordson Ken Kreeger Scholarship Award
Posted on Wednesday, September 30, 2020
Nordson is proud to give back to the local communities in which they serve. They partner with the Powder Coating Institute (PCI), a non-profit organization that represents the North American powder coating industry.
PCI and Nordson renamed an existing $5,000 scholarship in 2018 to honor Ken Kreeger, who had more than 40 years of powder coating experience. Ken was an advocate and mentor to many individuals within the powder coating industry. He was inducted into the PCI Hall of Fame on his first nomination. The PCI/Nordson Ken Kreeger scholarship is funded by the Nordson BUILDS Scholarship program. The program was established to lessen the financial cost associated with post-secondary education for students who live near their facilities within the United States. The qualifying students must attend a trade school, community college or university for a major related to manufacturing.
On Wednesday, September 23 the PCI/Nordson Ken Kreeger scholarship was presented to Dakota Weinman in front of a socially distant, Nordson University powder coating classroom. Dakota Weinman is a senior at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH, double majoring in mechanical and aerospace engineering. Dakota is a well-rounded student athlete, dedicating his time to the varsity swim team, he is Vice President of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Ohio Rho, and the CWRU Wakeboarding club. As of last semester he had earned a 3.29 cumulative GPA and is described as an “exceptional leader” by Michael Dolsak, Vice President of Health Sciences Development at Case Western. Dakota has completed two internships and hopes to eventually learn more about powder coating.
During the award ceremony, they were honored by the attendance of Ken Kreeger’s wife, Kathy Kreeger, and one of his three sons, Erik Kreeger. Greg Dawson, senior sales manager for powder; Sue Ivancic, sales administrator and PCI board member; and Teddy Piepkow, powder sales manager were also on hand to present the award to Dakota.
As the award was being presented, Greg Dawson, shared a few powerful quotes from Mr. Kreeger himself, to not only motivate the students in the classroom, but to also show the audience how impactful his friend was to the entire powder coating industry. Greg stated, “Ken was known as the ‘Powder Pope’ to most and an incredible mentor to me throughout my career. Ken’s philosophy was simple, he had four rules to live by:
Be better today than yesterday.
Learn one new thing every day.
Take what you learn and share it.
Knowledge is power, sharing your knowledge is your legacy.”
They are honored that Ken Kreeger’s lessons and legacy can live on through this award. If you have a potential recipient in mind, encourage them to visit the Powder Coating Institute Scholarship Program web page to learn how to apply.