Mrs. Ellen L. Anderson is a native of Creston, Iowa. She graduated from the University of Iowa College of Nursing in 1948 and moved to Des Moines in 1950. Ellen worked in the nursing profession for more than 40 years. She was an occupational nurse in the early 1950's for Ford Implement Manufacturing Company, where she met her husband, Walter, and later served as a public health nurse. When she retired in 1983, she was an employee nurse with Central Life Assurance Company. She is very active in the community, volunteering at the VA Hospital, the VFW and the Salvation Army.

Mrs. Anderson established this scholarship in 1994 and is deeply honored to have the opportunity to aid nurses of the future.