3 Iowa students receiving Faust scholarships

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

Northwest first-year students Thomas Leonard, a physical education major from Atlantic, and Dawsen Sorensen, a general biology major from Marne, Iowa, have been awarded the Michael L. Faust Scholarship for the 2024-25 academic year.

Additionally, Brianna Wilson, a senior elementary and special education major, received the E.G. and Mary Faust Scholarship for the second consecutive year.

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. The E.G. and Mary Faust Scholarship, which honors Michael L. Faust’s parents for their commitment to education and service in the Atlantic community, is awarded to graduates of Atlantic High School.

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 Kiewit Companies 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 in 2015 and 2016.

For more information about these scholarships 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.