Jim
Jim McDonnell, The Fishing Professor, was a committed community leader and successful teacher and girls coach in the Clay Central School system for 35 years. Jim had a prolific career in coaching girl’s sports at Clay Central. He was a member (for 10 years) of the Girls Basketball Advisory Board, was a Jerry Golden award winner, a member of the Northwest Iowa Coaches and Officials Association Hall of Fame in 1982, and the Iowa Girls Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2012.
He also held true to his outdoor passions throughout his life, including fishing, hunting and trapping. He started the Iowa Great Lakes Fishing Club and was still serving as its President after 44 years. He was inducted into the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame in 2020. He had extensive knowledge of the outdoors and was an active outdoor writer for numerous newspapers, as well as an avid outdoor expert on both national and local television and radio programs. He ran a successful fishing guide business for 44 years on the Iowa Great Lakes.
The Fishing Professor
Application Process
The Jim McDonnell Memorial Scholarship will be given to a student or students who are seeking a career in either a Conservation or Wildlife field, or a Teaching field.
The amount of the scholarship(s) are dependent on the number of applicants and scholarships awarded, minimum of $500.00 each.
They will be given after completion of the first semester, paid directly to the student C/O the college or university. The participant(s) will be chosen by a committee. This scholarship is sponsored by The Jim McDonnell family. The guidelines are as follows:
Scholarship should be based on need and the student as a whole, not on academic achievements alone.
Participant must be accepted to either a 2 or 4 year accredited college or university.
Participant must be a high school senior in good standing in both school and community.
Application
Previous Recipients
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Anissa Bush
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Trenton Mart
“Winning the Jim McDonnell scholarship means the world to me as a young man trying to make a difference in the conservation community. I plan on using every last penny to prepare myself to better the wildlife and habitat of the great state of Iowa.”
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Henrik Gustafsen
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Gracelin Dahlhauser
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Amy Martin
Minnesota Bound
Wild Game
Iowa Turkey Hunt
Support the Scholarship
Support the Scholarship
To support the Jim McDonnell Memorial Scholarship and contribute to the legacy of Jim McDonnell's dedication to education and the outdoors, donors can make monetary contributions directly to the scholarship fund.
Your generous tax-deductible donations will help aspiring students pursuing careers in Conservation, Wildlife, or Teaching fields achieve their academic goals. Donations of any amount are greatly appreciated and will directly impact the lives of deserving high school seniors, ensuring they have the financial support needed to pursue higher education.
Together, we can honor Jim McDonnell's memory by investing in the future of passionate individuals who share his love for nature and education. Thank you for your support in making a difference in the lives of promising students.