Student Scholarship
John B. Lilja Undergraduate Scholarship
The Minnesota Government Finance Officers Association annually awards an undergraduate scholarship to a student(s) majoring in accounting at a college or university located in the State of Minnesota. Scholarships are typically awarded in the amount of $1,000.
The deadline for submitting an application for the scholarship is April 15th of the current year. If you would like to apply, please fill out this
application form, and submit to:
Cathy Shuman
505 Walnut Street - #1
Monticello, MN 55362
Scholarship Background Information
John B. Lilja for whom the scholarship is named, was an associate member of the MnGFOA from the early 1970s to the time of this death in 1994. His death was a loss to the MnGFOA and to the other professional organizations that he served so well.
John was a senior manager, specializing in government, education, and nonprofit industries at Deloitte & Touche from 1975 to 1993. Prior to that, John was the first certified public accountant to serve as the Deputy State Auditor for the State of Minnesota from 1971 to 1975. John was the first recipient of the MnGFOA’s Thomas J. Moran Award in 1981.
As an associate member of the MnGFOA, John was very active, serving as the chair of the Accounting and Financial Reporting Committee from 1980 to 1992. He was also active in the Association of Government Accountants, serving as president of the Minneapolis-St. Paul chapter in 1989-90. At the national level, John was a long-time member of the GFOA Certificate of Achievement Special Review Committee.
John touched many people as an educator. He authored numerous articles and was a frequent organizer of, and speaker at seminars on governmental accounting. He served as an instructor for North Hennepin Community College, the Minnesota Society of CPAs, and the MnGFOA.
While John was active at both the state and national levels, he will always be remembered for his efforts in making Minnesota one of the leading states (number of recipients) to receive the GFOA Certificate of Achievement in Excellence in Financial Reporting Award. As the chair of the Accounting and Financial Reporting Committee, John developed and presented the MnGFOA certificate update training session that is held each year in February.
John contributed numerous hours to the development and enhancement of governmental financial reporting in Minnesota. He was always willing to provide assistance to the members of his profession. The MnGFOA is proud of John and in 1994 dedicated the John B. Lilja Undergraduate Scholarship in his memory.
Recipients of the Scholarship
| 1989 |
Carl Thelen |
St. Johns University |
1,100 |
| 1990 |
Paul Fleissner |
Winona State University |
1,100 |
| 1991 |
Susan Dearholdt Kunze |
Bemidji State University |
1,100 |
| 1991 |
Richard Norvold |
University of St. Thomas |
500 |
| 1992 |
Lori Kloss |
Moorhead State University |
1,100 |
| 1992 |
Anthony Shelstad |
Mankato State University |
500 |
| 1993 |
April MacPread |
Moorhead State University |
1,200 |
| 1993 |
Todd Dittrich |
Winona State University |
800 |
| 1994 |
Greg Sticha |
St. Cloud State University |
1,000 |
| 1994 |
Fan Echo Huang |
Winona State University |
1,000 |
| 1995 |
Chad Semling |
Winona State University |
1,000 |
| 1996 |
Ann Block |
Mankato State University |
1,000 |
| 1996 |
Rebecca Hoese |
St. Cloud State University |
500 |
| 1997 |
(No Scholarship Awarded) |
| 1998 |
Sue Peng |
Winona State University |
1,000 |
| 1999 |
Danielle Scheff |
Augsberg College |
750 |
| 1999 |
Tanner Johnson |
Bemidji State University |
1,000 |
| 2000 |
Gina M. O’Neil |
Concordia College |
1,000 |
| 2001 |
Megan Davison |
University of Minnesota |
1,000 |
| 2002 |
Sheila Tjandra |
Minnesota State - Mankato |
500 |
| 2002 |
Becky Perotti |
Augsburg College |
500 |
| 2003 |
Bhavini Charadva |
University of Minnesota—Duluth |
1,000 |
| 2003 |
Lindsey Feuling |
University of St. Thomas |
1,000 |
| 2003 |
Michael Kuharski |
University of St. Thomas |
1,000 |
| 2003 |
Lisa Pearson |
College of St. Catherine |
1,000 |
| 2004 |
Christine Olsen |
Bethel College |
1,000 |
| 2004 |
Rebecca Klesk |
Bemidji State University |
1,000 |
| 2005 |
Jill Kimman |
St. Cloud State University |
1,000 |
| 2005 |
Samantha Lewis |
Gustavus Adolphus |
1,000 |
| 2005 |
Susan Wamstad |
Dakota County Technical College |
1,000 |
| 2006 |
Andrew Overby |
St. Cloud State University |
1,000 |
| 2006 |
Phuong Nguyen |
Inver Hills Community College |
1,000 |