The Department of Sociology and Criminology in Penn State’s College of the Liberal Arts has created a scholarship fund in honor of slain state trooper and Penn State graduate Cpl. Bryon Dickson. He was laid to rest last year after he was ambushed outside police headquarters last September.

The goal of the scholarship is to raise at least $50,000 to create an endowment that, when fully funded, will provide an annual $2,250 scholarship to a hard-working and talented criminology undergraduate major.

Dickson graduated from Penn State in 2003 with a degree in administration of justice and a minor in sociology. Similar to many Penn State graduates, he met his wife Tiffany while studying at Penn State Worthington. They married in August 2004, three years before Dickson made the decision to join the Pennsylvania State Police.

“The whole Penn State community, and our department in particular, was deeply affected by the death of Corporal Bryon Dickson,” John Iceland, head of the Department of Sociology and Criminology, said. ”He exemplified the best of our university, both in terms of his outstanding academic achievement and his dedication to service as a Pennsylvania State Trooper. This fund will help us remember him, and to provide opportunities to exceptional students who follow.”

Gifts to the Trooper Dickson Memorial Fund can be made by mailing a check made payable to The Pennsylvania State University with SCL7B to the memo line and sent to Kathie Alterio, Alumni Relations and Development, College of the Liberal Arts, 139 Sparks Building, University Park. Or by visiting this website.