Kidder Scholarship recipient Samantha Cioni
With both her education from the university and her recently awarded scholarship from the H.E. “Doc” Kidder Memorial Trust, one West Virginia University alumna will be better prepared for her future in veterinary medicine.
This year’s Kidder recipient is Samantha Cioni, an animal and nutritional sciences student in the Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design. She will receive $10,000 each year of her education at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Long Island University where she was selected to attend.
For 30 years, the Trust has provided students with thousands of dollars for each year of their post-baccalaureate instruction.
“It feels really good to have people believe in me and know that they wanted to give that to me,” Cioni said. “It’s something I wasn’t expecting and it really does help a lot.”
Cioni, originally from Colonia, New Jersey, completed the credit requirements for veterinary school in only three years while also a member of the WVU Honors College.
The Davis-Michael Scholar was involved in the WVU Western Equestrian Team; Gamma Sigma Delta, where she was named the GSD Outstanding Junior for 2022; Mountaineer Maniacs; the National Society of Leadership and Success; and the WVU Pre-Veterinary Club where she served as treasurer this past year.
She has worked in an emergency animal hospital in New Jersey during the summers of her undergraduate education. She plans to pursue emergency and critical care veterinary medicine because of the fast-paced environment and seeing new cases each day.
“It’s also important to know that people want you to get higher education and they want to help you get the higher education,” Cioni said. “That’s something special.”
The average cost of veterinary school is more than $200,000 in total.
The memorial trust honors the late H.E. “Doc” Kidder, professor emeritus of animal and veterinary sciences in the Davis College. He had a distinguished career at WVU as a researcher and educator, serving from 1954 to 1988. After his death in 1989, his will created the trust to support Davis College students in their graduate or professional education. Selection is based on academic performance with added consideration for leadership and financial need.
The Kidder Trust is under the stewardship of the WVU Foundation, the nonprofit corporation that solicits and administers private donations on behalf of the University.
The Davis College is also home to the Davis-Michael Scholars Program, a challenging track that prepares students for continued education in medical professions and the sciences.