University News

Nichols Named WIU's First Boren Scholar

August 29, 2018

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MACOMB, IL – A Western Illinois University senior will spend the Fall 2018 semester studying in Prague in the Czech Republic after being named a prestigious Boren Scholar.

At age 62, John Nichols, of Oneida, IL, is a non-traditional student in WIU's interdisciplinary studies program, and a member of the Centennial Honors College. He was awarded a $10,000 Boren Scholarship for the fall semester and is waiting to hear about funding to continue his studies, at Prague's Charles University, during the Spring 2019 semester.

Nichols will be studying the country's language and culture. He is the first WIU student to ever be named a Boren Scholar and one of only 230 worldwide awarded scholarships this year. This is the first year non-traditional students have been among those chosen for the award.

The scholarship is named after former U.S. Senator David L. Boren, of Oklahoma, who was the principal author of legislation that created the National Security Education Program. Boren also served as the president of the University of Oklahoma. Boren Scholarships are awarded to students interested in working in the national security arena.

Nichols' application for the Boren Scholarship began after he approached Centennial Honors College Dean Rick Hardy about applying for scholarly study opportunities, such as the Fulbright Scholarship.

"The Boren is one of the nation's most prestigious scholarships," said Hardy. "We looked long and hard to find the right applicant and someone who was willing to go overseas. This is impressive because one of our students is becoming an ambassador for the United States and John has the opportunity to share what this country does in terms of agriculture and environmental policy."

Nichols leaves for Prague Friday, Aug. 30 and will study there until at least January. If additional funding comes through, his study could be continued through the Spring 2019 semester.

After working as a cattle farmer in Knox County since 1975, Nichols returned to school at Carl Sandburg College (CSC) when he began having health problems several years ago. His cattle operation has presented challenges in terms of trying to find someone to help his wife, Becky, and the rest of his family take care of the responsibilities of the farm while he is in Prague.

"I enjoy learning," said Nichols. "My farm is big, but it is not big enough to support two families and I wanted to have something to fall back on so my son could slide in and take over the farm. A lot of my instructors at CSC got their master's degrees at Western and they have given me a lot of encouragement. This is an amazing opportunity."

Nichols became interested in attending Western after a faculty member from CSC brought several of the school's Honors students to Western through an articulation agreement Hardy was working on to allow high-achieving students to maintain their Honors status upon transfer.

"I was immediately impressed with John," said Hardy. "He is not just here to collect a degree or to take classes for the sake of taking them – he has never backed away from a tough course. We knew we wanted him in the Honors College because he has a wealth of knowledge and is a profound thinker."

When Nichols arrives in Prague, he will already know a handful of people. A foreign exchange student he and his wife hosted several years ago lives there and has agreed to help him learn the language.

Once Nichols completes his study in Prague, he will be required to complete a one-year internship for a national security agency in the U.S. He said he is also interested in pursuing a Fulbright Scholarship, as well as a master's degree at WIU in the future.

Nichols' family has a long historical connection to WIU. His wife's grandfather, Clarence Jones, received his degree in geography from Western in 1916, and later served as a professor of geography at various universities.

For more information on the Boren Scholarship, visit borenawards.org.


Posted By: Jodi Pospeschil (JK-Pospeschil@wiu.edu)
Office of University Communications & Marketing