Sept. 26, 2023

4 Iowa students receiving Butler, Faust scholarships

Northwest Missouri State University has again awarded scholarships this fall to four students in honor of two Atlantic, Iowa, natives with ties to the University.

Brianna Wilson

Sophie Dorsey

Dakota Oswalt

Clevi Johnson

Northwest’s Michael L. Faust Scholarship is awarded annually to incoming freshmen who are graduates of high schools in southwest Iowa with preference given to Atlantic High School graduates, while the C. Lee Butler Scholarship is awarded to an undergraduate or transfer student at Northwest with preference given to students who are graduates of high schools in Cass County, Iowa. Academic achievement and financial need are leading criteria for both scholarships.

Brianna Wilson, a junior elementary and special education major from Atlantic, is receiving the Butler Scholarship for the third consecutive year. She is the daughter of Renee and Jim Wallace and Mark Wilson.

Additionally, Sophie Dorsey, a freshman animal science major from Wiota, Iowa, is a recipient of the Butler Scholarship. She is the daughter of Brett and Stephanie Dorsey.

This year’s recipients of the Faust Scholarship are Atlantic natives Dakota Oswalt and Clevi Johnson. Oswalt, a freshman English education major, is the daughter of Nathan and Jessie Oswalt. Johnson, a freshman social media management major, is the son of Michella and Ben Bartholomew.

Faust, an Atlantic native and 1974 Northwest alumnus, retired in 2015 after a 36-year career of service to Peter Kiewit Sons’ Inc., a large construction and mining firm based in Omaha, Nebraska, where he was assistant to the chairman. He also managed the Peter Kiewit Foundation, led the company’s community relations programs and served as director of the Suzanne and Walter Scott Foundation and the Omaha Community Foundation.

Faust is a passionate supporter of Northwest and one of the Northwest Foundation Board’s longest-serving directors. He served as visiting dean of Northwest’s Melvin D. and Valorie G. Booth College of Business and Professional Studies during 2015-16.

Charles Lee Butler – or Lee, as he was known to friends and family – was born in 1902 in Fontanelle, Iowa, where he attended elementary and high school. He enrolled at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, for one year but dropped out to help support his family. After working in a Fontanelle bank, he moved with his wife, Florence, to Atlantic in the early 1930s to purchase a general lines insurance agency. He also served as secretary of the Cass Mutual Insurance Association, a county mutual fire and windstorm company. In addition, he was a member of the Board of Directors for Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Company for many years.

For more information about the Michael L. Faust Scholarship or C. Lee Butler Scholarship, or to make a tax-deductible gift to benefit the University, contact Northwest’s Office of University Advancement at 660.562.1248 or visit www.nwmissouri.edu/GiveOnline.