GREENEVILLE — Tusculum University students seeking financial assistance to obtain a degree focused on special education will benefit from an endowed scholarship created by an alumnus in memory of his beloved wife, who also graduated from the higher education institution.
The June Ann Gieselberg Nyholm ’62 Endowed Scholarship Fund will serve as a powerful reminder of her 32-year career to serving as an elementary school special education teacher. Her husband, David, who established the endowment, taught fifth grade for two years before he pivoted to a career in insurance claims.
“I’m glad to be able to create this endowment to help students interested in the special education field achieve their degree with some financial assistance,” David Nyholm said. “I hope we attract even more students to that realm of teaching because it is an honorable part of the profession. I am also delighted to be able to pay tribute to my wife. Two individuals truly became one during our marriage.”
To celebrate the endowment, Nyholm recently returned to campus and met with Dr. David Cook, provost and vice president of academic affairs, and Edward Roberts, vice president of institutional advancement.
Nyholm said his wife became interested in serving as a special education teacher because of a friend of hers who was in that field of instruction. He thinks she watched the interaction taking place between student and teacher and decided that appealed to her. From his perspective, she enjoyed seeing the progress in special education students and felt she was playing a part in making that happen.
“Over the years, she became really close to her students — to the point where they were almost her like her biological children,” Nyholm said. “That was part of the reason she was so dedicated to it.”
The history with Tusculum
The couple met at Tusculum when they were freshmen — she came from Queens in New York, and he was from Pittsburgh. However, they did not start dating until they were seniors. They graduated in 1962 and married in 1963 after he enlisted in the Navy. They were married for 58 years and had two children and two grandchildren before she passed away in 2021.
Recalling what brought him to Tusculum, Nyholm said the university was a good fit financially. It also aligned with his faith because he was raised in the Presbyterian Church, with which Tusculum is affiliated, and became a deacon as an adult. He believes what his daughter says — that there are no coincidences — and says he and his wife were brought together for God’s purpose.
“Attending Tusculum is a life-changing experience that produces results not only professionally but in the development of a wide array of relationships,” said Dr. Scott Hummel, the university’s president. “We are pleased we were able to play a part in bringing David and June together and serving as a foundation for their lives past graduation. He is now using the joy of that time of life to pay it forward, and we appreciate his generosity.”
Nyholm has fond memories of his Tusculum years. He lived in Rankin Hall, which is now the headquarters for Tusculum’s athletic department, and his wife lived in Virginia Hall, which now has classrooms as well as several university offices.
Nyholm made many close friends during his Tusculum studies and has enjoyed reconnecting with them over the years. After Nyholm’s wife died, one of his classmates, Ed Cunio, who was a teacher, coach and mayor, touched base. That enabled the two men to reestablish their bond before his death. Nyholm also reflected on connecting again with another classmate, Tony Gaess, who had served on the Tusculum Board of Trustees, after about 40 years.
“It was like meeting your brother after 40 years,” Nyholm said. “It’s just the same. You’re right there again. It’s just amazing how that works.”
The power of endowments
Gaess created an endowment, and David Nyholm felt that would be an appropriate way to recognize and pay tribute to his late wife. Now, those funds will help the next generation of special education teachers positively affect children’s lives, just as June Nyholm did.
Roberts said Tusculum is grateful for the opportunity to help someone memorialize a special person through the creation of an endowment.
“Many individuals throughout Tusculum’s history have embraced this method of ensuring someone’s legacy continues to remain vivid well into the future,” Roberts said. “In the process of keeping that memory alive, those who establish endowments are empowering our students to accomplish their academic dreams. This philanthropy also profoundly impacts a community’s quality of life. We are thankful to David for recognizing how he can make a difference in a meaningful way.”
Further information about Tusculum’s special education program is available at https://site.tusculum.edu/bachelor-of-arts-interdisciplinary-studies-with-special-education-endorsement.