6 southwest Iowa students receiving Butler, Faust scholarships

Northwest Missouri State University awarded scholarships this fall to six first-year students from Iowa in honor of two Atlantic, Iowa, natives with ties to the University.

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.

Allison Spieker, an elementary education major from Massena, Iowa, is Northwest’s recipient of the C. Lee Butler Scholarship. She is the daughter of Chris and Shana Spieker.

Five students are receiving the Faust Scholarship. They are:

• Emily Carter, a biology major with an emphasis on biomedical science from Council Bluffs, Iowa; the daughter of Mitch and Brandi Carter
• Brianna Clemons, a speech and theatre education major from Red Oak, Iowa; the daughter of Joan Steinspring
• Kegan Johnson, an agricultural science major from Grand River, Iowa; the son of Traer Johnson and Dana Irving
• Ireland Palmer, an art education major from Shenandoah, Iowa; the daughter of Adam and Lynda Palmer
• Brice Phelps, an agricultural science major from Ellston, Iowa; the son of Jeremy and Donetta Phelps

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/alumni/.