Austin E. Knowlton Foundation Endowed Memorial Scholarship
About the Scholarship
In 2021, Muskingum University received a generous grant to establish The Austin E. Knowlton Endowed Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship is designed to aid students majoring in a STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) discipline or related field. Preference is given to full-time, first-year students from Ohio.
The scholarship is awarded annually, is renewable for four years, and may be up to $4,000.
There is no separate scholarship process. Candidates meeting the criteria cited are automatically considered upon admission to Muskingum University.
About Mr. Austin E. Knowlton
Throughout his lifetime, Mr. Austin E. Knowlton, also known as “Dutch”, helped build and shape thriving communities.
Mr. Knowlton was the owner and Chairman of the Knowlton Construction Company, an organization started in Bellefontaine, Ohio in 1937. Dutch and his company were responsible for over 600 significant construction projects throughout Ohio and the Midwest, including school buildings, hospitals, libraries and post offices.
An avid sportsman, he was an original founding partner of the Cincinnati Bengals, where he served as Chairman. He also held a major ownership interest in the Cincinnati Reds for many years. He had a lifelong passion for saddle-bred horses and was a trustee of the Little Brown Jug Society for harness racing in Delaware, Ohio.
Mr. Knowlton was a 1927 graduate of Bellefontaine High School in Logan County, Ohio and The Ohio State University, class of 1931, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Architectural Engineering. As a philanthropist, Mr. Knowlton was a benefactor of the Ohio State School of Architecture, which is named in his honor.
In 1981, inspired by his success made possible by the education he received, Mr. Knowlton established his namesake Foundation to empower future generations of students and to support the institutions dedicated to educating them.
His lifelong passion for sports and horses is reflected in the work of the Foundation, from funding a football stadium at Augustana College to a grant that supported the development of a state-of-the-art equine center to facilitate hands-on learning at Otterbein University.
Today, through the Foundation, Mr. Knowlton’s beneficial impact on communities throughout the Midwest continues, by helping to prepare future generations of leaders.