Parents of late APSU student establish the Tyler Head Agriculture Memorial Endowment

Tyler Head "had a genuine love of agriculture," according to his father.

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Tyler Head, an agriculture student at Austin Peay State University, passed away on Feb. 3, 2012. He was just 20 years old. In May of that year, his parents, Chuck Head and Gina Head Hieber, made a gift to the APSU Foundation, establishing a pass-through scholarship to honor his memory. Now, after creating a local event to fund the scholarship, and with the assistance of their family and the community, Tyler’s parents have collected the necessary funding to endow the scholarship. The Tyler Head Agriculture Memorial Endowment will support APSU students for years to come.

In accordance with University policy, the Agriculture Scholarship Committee will determine the scholarship recipients from a competitive group of applicants. To qualify, students must be freshmen enrolled full-time with a major in Agriculture and a 2.85 GPA. A minimum ACT score of 21 is also required. Students must be residents of Robertson County or Hardin County to apply.

“My son, Tyler Jackson Head, was a hardworking young man who loved to make his friends laugh,” Chuck Head said. “He had an infectious smile and a way of making friends with everyone, from younger kids to 80-year-old farmers. He had a genuine love of agriculture and the work ethic that it took to succeed in that career. In his junior year of college, he was already working multiple jobs and raising his own herd of cattle when he was killed by an impaired driver on his way to class. We started the Tyler J. Head Agriculture Scholarship to ensure that Tyler will always be remembered. We want to promote agriculture as a career by supporting students who have the same passion for it that Tyler had. Agriculture was in Tyler’s roots and it was a big part of his plans for the future. He knew that agriculture was and always will be essential to our way of life.”

“The goals of the Tyler Head scholarship are to encourage new generations of students to go into farming, to increase the number of people graduating with degrees in agriculture and to keep Tyler’s tenacity and love of farming alive as the years go by,” Gina Head Hieber said. “We appreciate the communities of Springfield and Robertson County for supporting us when Tyler was killed, and for participating in the annual Tyler J. Head Memorial 5K race that has enabled us to get the Tyler Head Agricultural Scholarship to the endowment stage.”

Endowments are permanently restricted funds managed by the Austin Peay State University Foundation. The amount of each scholarship award may vary and will be determined based upon the value of the endowment and the Foundation spending plan.

To support APSU fundraising initiatives, contact the Office of University Advancement at 931-221-7127.

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