Golf entrepreneur Walters creates veterinary scholarship fund

Kris Hill

Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2001 | 9:43 a.m.

In four years the Lied Animal Shelter will have a new veterinarian fresh from Kansas State University's vet school, thanks to a scholarship endowment funded by local animal enthusiasts Billy and Susan Walters.

The couple put up $250,000 to start the scholarship fund, which will be deposited in the Kansas State Foundation. Interest earned from the initial investment will pay for the scholarship in perpetuity.

The first recipient will be selected in April and will begin school this fall.

Students on the scholarship will spend a summer interning at the shelter and will return to Las Vegas to work for a year after graduation, Animal Foundation President Mary Herro said.

Recipients of the scholarship will be selected from the vet school's incoming class every three years.

Scholarship winners must have good grades, an interest in working at an animal shelter and financial need.

The Walterses wanted to support students and help animals after years of supporting the Animal Foundation.

Billy Walters, chairman and chief executive office of the company that operates three golf courses in the Las Vegas Valley, said that the couple has been blessed since they've moved to Las Vegas.

"We wanted to give back to the community, and this will make Las Vegas a better place to live," he said.

Representatives of Kansas State's veterinary school joined Herro and the Walterses to make the announcement Monday.

Recipients of the scholarship will have opportunities to focus on shelter animal care, Ralph Richardson, dean of Kansas State's college of veterinary medicine, said.

"Hopefully they will emerge as national leaders in the veterinary aspects of humane animal care," he said.