Burlington man wins Rotary scholarship, will renew Swedish roots
A member of a longtime farming family is going to study in Sweden this August, thanks to the Elgin Breakfast Rotary Club.
Burlington Central graduate Tyler Strom, who is now a senior at Iowa State University, won a $23,000 Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship this fall, and is going to Lund University in Sweden.
Strom, who grew up in Burlington, is hoping he becomes one of the 30 students selected for the university's graduate program in environmental studies and sustainable science.
"I was thrilled and humbled to receive this scholarship," said Strom, who is wrapping up his major in agricultural business and economics.
"Some of my friends at Iowa State were successful in receiving one and suggested I do the same through my home district back in Elgin."
The aspiring environmentalist, who developed his interests with the Central Wranglers 4-H Club while in high school, met with members of the Elgin Breakfast Rotary Club this past summer. He went through several rigorous interviews before receiving word he'd earned the scholarship.
Rotary's northeast Illinois district awarded only seven of the scholarships this coming academic year. Stipends range from a high of $23,000, to other cultural scholarships of $6,000 to $15,000, said Sandra Urban, coordinator of scholarship programs for the Rotary Foundation.
"If the awardees stay in touch with their host Rotary Club and eventually become a member, there is untold value in these scholarships," said Urban.
"Students bring back with them a wealth of knowledge, which can help their home clubs build partnerships and increase their awareness of needs in other countries."
Even without the scholarship, Strom said he would have pursued a graduate degree in environmental sciences somewhere in the United States.
He is in good company. Hailing from four generations of family farmers who once ran a 2,000-acre operation near Route 47 in rural Burlington, all of Strom's family is working in, or toward, careers involving the environment. His father, Leland Strom, is a board member of the Farm Credit Administration who spends most of his time in Washington D.C. His brother lives in DeKalb and is pursuing a doctorate from Northwestern University in high energy physics. His sister works for the National Wildlife Research Center in Colorado.
"Everyone from my family was very excited about the scholarship," said Strom. "They are already making plans to visit Sweden while I'm there."
Family patriarch Axel Strom emigrated from Sweden and bought the homestead and land in 1915. Three of Tyler Strom's great-grandfathers were farmers, and one built farm structures. The original farm is about 200 acres now. Another 170 acres of the homestead are now a part of an agricultural easement, meaning the land is forever reserved for agricultural use.
Strom said his strong Swedish roots were one of the reasons he decided to pursue a degree there.
"The country is great," said Strom, who visited the country in 2001.
"People are very friendly."
• Mark Billings can be reached by mail at Daily Herald, 385 Airport Road, Suite A, Elgin, IL 60123, by fax at (847) 608-0849, or e-mail foxvalley@dailyherald.com.