John Dennis was born in 1941 in Wellington, while Renie Dennis was born in the UK in 1948 and emigrated to New Zealand on the steamship “Captain Cook” in 1951. The two met and fell in love in Tauranga in the late 1950’s, and after John’s father died, they took over the small family engineering business – growing it into the regional powerhouse J. E. Dennis Steel.

John and Renie shared a lifelong passion for education and were strong supporters of the alma matter of their grandson Cory, Otumoetai College. After John passed away in 2021 they generously donated a scholarship to continue in perpetuity to the Acorn Foundation, to allow a student from Otumoetai College the opportunity to pursue higher education who would not otherwise have had that chance because of hardships.

This scholarship will be $30,000 paid out over 3 years, and will be issued once every 3 years. It will be paid out in 2 lump sums each year, one at the beginning of the year, and one after the start of the second semester. Any winner must remain enrolled in full-time university study, and pass all their papers over the course of the scholarship to remain eligible.

A successful applicant will be an academically able and highly motivated young person who faces severe hardships that would potentially prevent them from studying at university. While this can include financial hardships, that is not the only type that will be considered by the scholarship committee.

Interested students can apply via Otumoetai College. Only students who have been students at the college for their Years 12 and 13, and are moving on to full-time tertiary education at an institute in New Zealand will be considered.