Wilson Receives Nyquist Foundation Scholarship

The Thomas and Corinne Nyquist Foundation has announced the winner of its 22nd annual Robert and Ruth Nyquist Memorial Scholarship. The $500 scholarship is given each spring to a Bainville High School graduating senior or seniors to help with costs of college, trade or technical school specifically in fields relative to rural America with the hope that graduating Bainville students will choose to return and contribute to our community after their training.

This year’s winner is Rowan Wilson. He plans to study agribusiness at Bismarck State College, and the foundation board was impressed with his commitment to this as evidenced by the math, agriculture and business courses he has taken in high school, as well as his extensive related extracurricular activities. Board members think he will do well in his chosen field, and hope that he returns to work in our local area on the family ranch or in other agricultural business.

The scholarship is given in memory of Robert and Ruth Nyquist who were longtime members of the Bainville community, ranching 5 miles east of Bainville from the 1940s until the 1990s. Bob and Ruth were unable to have children of their own, and so devoted much of their adult lives to helping young people in the Bainville area as well as welcoming summer Fresh Air Kids from Chicago many summers.

The Nyquist Foundation is a 503(c) nonprofit family foundation started by Tom and Corinne Nyquist in 2004 to give small grants to local nonprofit or governmental organizations in eastern Roosevelt County where Tom grew up, and New Paltz, N.Y., where he and Corinne lived as adults. Bainville scholarships were added to memorialize Tom’s brother Bob and his wife the following year. An essay contest in Culbertson and Froid was added a few years later.

Daughter and current foundation chair Lynn Nyquist and her husband, John Nyquist, continue to ranch the Robert and Ruth Nyquist ranch east of Bainville.