Ideas: Spring 2008

2008 Harding Scholars Share Entrepreneurial Spirit

This year’s J.M. Harding Memorial Scholarship winners both dream of opening their own business someday.

OPPD awarded the 2008 scholarships to University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) student Dakota Kelley, a junior in the College of Engineering and Technology, and Tara Ryan, a sophomore in the College of Business Administration at Creighton University.

“Mechanical engineering has always interested me,” said Kelley, who would like to open a mechanical, electrical and plumbing business someday. “Although I have been away from his direct influence, my grandfather owns his own heating and cooling business in Michigan. I also have an interest in energy production and energy transfer. That’s what I plan to focus on with my senior and graduate research projects.”

Majoring in architectural engineering, Kelley expects to patent at least two significant contributions to the architectural engineering industry during his career.

Kelley belongs to the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) student chapter and the Emerging Green Builders. He is a member of Alpha Sigma Lambda and ISI national honor societies, and he has a 3.98 grade point average. He works at the Marriott Reservation Center.

Kelley and his wife, Stephanie, have a 1-year-old son, Nathan.

Ryan, a sophomore majoring in management, has her sights on owning a psychology practice.

“Entrepreneurship is a dream,” said Ryan. “I’m focused on being my own boss and running a business.”

To reach that goal, Ryan will get her degree in finance, accounting or management, with a minor in psychology.

While attending Bellevue West High School, Ryan was active in DECA – a marketing, management and entrepreneurship organization – and she returns to help run events. In her first year at Creighton, she and a fellow student started a chapter of Delta Epsilon Chi, a college branch of the organization.

Ryan maintains a 3.79 grade point average, and she is a participant in the Anna Tyler Waite Leadership Scholars Program. She has a marketing internship at the Metropolitan Area Planning Agency, and works at the Upstream Brewing Company in the Old Market in downtown Omaha. 

Ryan is the daughter of Kathy Ryan of Omaha and Scott Ryan of Missouri Valley, Iowa.

These scholarships are funded by proceeds from the J. M. Harding Award of Excellence luncheon and the annual Warren R. Swigart Golf Tournament.