Ruth Denison Scholarship History

Ruth Denison Environmental Conservation Scholarship History

MBCA's $500 Ruth Denison scholarship is available through a generous bequest from Ruth Denison, a long-time supporter of the association.  Ruth Denison was the first Buddhist teacher in the United States to lead an all-women's retreat for Buddhist meditation and instruction.  Her center, Dhamma Dena Desert Vipassana Center, is located in Joshua Tree, California.  This bequest fulfills one of MBCA's longstanding goals to increase the organization's support of environmental education for local students who plan to attend a university or college and prepare for employment in careers related to environmental or conservation work.  You can learn more about her from this Hi Desert Star article written shortly after her death in 2015 or from this Ruth Denison Wikipedia page.


All three prior scholarship winners have been Yucca Valley High School graduates: Nicole Serrano (2017), Morgan Novak (2018), and Isabel Ortega, pictured in sequence below.