Honors and Transition for Longtime BVU Trustees
Recent months have brought transition and honors for two longtime BVU Trustees: Cordell Peterson and Dr. Norman Nielsen.
BVU Salutes Longtime Trustee with Sir John Marks Templeton Honor
Buena Vista University has named Cordell Peterson '63 a Sir John Marks Templeton Life Trustee, and honor reserved for those who had a far-reaching impact on the life of BVU.
“We are indebted to Cordell Peterson in so many ways,” says BVU Interim President Brian Lenzmeier. “He’s a very successful alum, one who, through his work and leadership, has strengthened the reputation BVU enjoys across the Midwest and beyond. Then, consider his remarkable 21-year term of volunteer service with the BVU Board of Trustees, and the number of times he and Sandra have stepped up in their philanthropic efforts to improve our state-of-the-art facilities, academic programming, and our annual fund needs.
“Cordell continues to serve by offering paid internships for our students from the School of Business, providing for them needed experiential learning that puts them on the road to success,” Lenzmeier adds. “I can’t think of a more deserving recipient of the Sir John Marks Templeton Life Trustee honor than Cordell, who has impacted our University in innumerable ways.”
BVU Board Chair Reflects on Education, Service, and Gridiron Gratitude
Dr. Norman Nielsen reflected on all that Buena Vista University has meant to him on the eve of his stepping down as BVU Board of Trustees Chairman on June 30, thus concluding a remarkable eight-year tenure, one of the longest in recent BVU history. He will remain as a member of the Board of Trustees as Mike Pierce ascends to the Chairman’s role.
“I’ve had a wonderful time as the Chair and I’ve kept busy in that role,” says Nielsen. “It was extremely rewarding to see the Forum renovation through and watch as that project, along with a number of key initiatives in the Strategic Plan, helped bring about some enrollment gains as well as some new programs.”
Nielsen is anxious to see how future success stories play out across campus and for the hundreds of students BVU serves annually through its online, hybrid, and graduate school programs.