Rural Legacy Endowment

Established in 2025, this scholarship honors three generations of a family with strong ties to Minnesota State University, Mankato, and roots in Southern Minnesota and Northern Iowa.

The family’s MSU legacy includes Delores, who attended for professional development in the 1980s, and her nephew Paul who visited her during night classes. Paul and Diane Hanson graduated with Computer Science degrees in the early 1980s. Diane’s parents, Richard and Artis Olson, earned Teaching degrees in the late 1950s. Dr. Jessica Hanson, Paul’s youngest daughter, graduated with a Biology degree in 2014, and her uncle Dr. Todd Hanson graduated with the same major in 1989; both are Optometrists. Additionally, Diane’s brother Neal Olson and his wife Marji met at MSU in the mid-1980s and graduated with degrees in Computer Science and Teaching.