Alumni Award of Merit

The Alumni Award of Merit is an honor the college bestows on alumni who achieve outstanding success and are game changers in their career fields.

2026 recipient | Wendy Andrews Nielsen ’01

Wendy Nielsen19.jpg Since joining Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust in 2001, Wendy Nielsen has built a career spanning relationship banking, strategic marketing, employee experience and community engagement. As Senior Vice President, Director of Marketing and Experience and a member of CRBT’s leadership team, she leads marketing and brand strategy to help drive the bank’s overall strategic goals, while also helping strengthen the bank’s internal culture through values alignment, employee engagement and mission-driven communication. Her work supports CRBT’s continued strong growth and performance, including its standing as the #1 bank in Linn County and one of the highest performing banks in Iowa. Wendy was also among the first in Iowa’s banking industry to earn the Certified Diversity Professional credential and was instrumental in helping shape her organization’s inclusion efforts.

Beyond her work at CRBT, Wendy is deeply committed to serving the Cedar Rapids community. She currently serves on the boards of the Boys & Girls Club of the Corridor and the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation and is a member of the United Way Campaign Cabinet. Her past service includes the New Bohemian Innovation Collaborative (NewBoCo) & Waypoint boards, Metro North Rotary, the Coe College Alumni Council, Mercy Women’s Center Advisory Board and leadership roles with the American Advertising Federation of Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, Iowa Bankers Association marketing committee and United Way’s Young Leaders Society and Women United affinity groups.

A 2001 graduate of Coe College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration and public relations, Wendy is also a graduate of the Leadership for Five Seasons program and a Corridor Business Journal Forty Under 40 honoree. She has received a Waypoint Woman of Achievement award, been named Chief Marketing Officer of the Year by the Corridor Business Journal and received the 2021 Governor’s Volunteer award for her engagement in women, children and Cedar Rapids community initiatives. Most recently, she co-chaired the 2025 United Way Campaign alongside her husband Nick Nielsen ’01 and served on the leadership team to raise funds for Waypoint’s Madge Phillips Apartment capital campaign.

Wendy and Nick live in Marion, Iowa with their sons, Roman and Connor, and their favorite five-pound Yorkie named Tito. When she is not cheering on her kids at football, basketball, baseball or track, she enjoys spending time with friends and family. But most of the time, she’s found at a kids’ sporting event and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

Please note: while nominations are accepted year-round, only those submitted by March 1 will be considered for awarding at that year's Homecoming celebration.

Past recipients

2025 | Tim Johnson ’76
2024 | Kenneth McMartin ’73
2023 | Clinton Stevenson ’73
2022 | Scott Riemenschneider ’90
2021 | Paula Ginder Lentz ’89
2019 | Bill Schmarzo ’79
2018 | Bob Young ’65
2017 | Jack Evans '70 and Janet Box-Steffensmeier ’88
2016 | Bruce Spivey '56 and Herbert Brunkhorst ’66
2015 | Gary Schlarbaum ’65
2014 | Jung Lowe ’54 and Richard Anderson ’59
2013 | Richard Mackey ’58 and Donald Roby ’58
2012 | Don Erusha ’52, Bruce W. Jafek ’62 and Albert Kircher ’51
2011 | Jane F. Early ’61
2010 | David Jones ’60
2009 | Johanna Josephson Abernathy ’69 and Frank Westphal ’44
2008 | Larry I. Bone ’57, Ray R. Kavanaugh ’68 and Mike R. Mead ’67
2007 | David Herbert Cox ’57, Shirley Hughes ’67 and Howard Lenhoff ’50
2006 | Russ Knapp ’30 and Colette Freeman ’56
2005 | Frank W. Bonvino ’63 and Fran Reuse Hansen ’65
2004 | Dean E. Hutter ’44 and George T. Henry ’49
2003 | Robert Turpin ’63
2002 | Kenneth P. Roberts ’42 and Peter S. Bryant ’62
2001 | Robert J. Johnson ’61
2000 | Eliza J. Ovrom ’75 and Arthur D. Taylor ’40
1999 | Elinor Kanaske Day ’49
1998 | Douglas R. Gracey ’58
1997 | Lester B. McAllister ’42 and Dale D. Morgan ’47
1996 | Robert O. Frederick ’36, Jerome J. Leksa ’46 and Nancy Hamblin Evans ’71
1995 | Douglas W. Eastwood ’40
1994 | Donald W. Brinckman ’53
1993 | Carol Houghton Hollingsworth ’21 and John P. Bickel ’43
1992 | K. Raymond Clark ’30
1991 | Theodore J. Miller ’66
1990 | Milton F. Kiesau ’29, William P. Whipple ’35 and Samuel R. Jackson ’40
1989 | H. Don Martin ’40, Charles D. Metcalf ’55 and Mary Jeanne Krob ’74
1988 | Chester J. Petranek ’38, George W. McNelly ’50, Del F. Rusher ’63 and Clark E. McLeod ’68
1987 | Walter L. Ritter ’62 and June Loughridge Lockemann ’62
1986 | Howard W. Johnston ’35, Vernon L. Stintzi ’36, Jane Davis Roberts ’41 and
M. Jerome Sabacky ’61
1985 | Earl L. Meyers ’30, Charles L. Selzer ’35 and Wayne F. Baden ’40
1984 | Warren K. Martin ’34, Walter C. Schwank ’34, Rodger E. Weismann ’34 and
Mary Hamblin Ovrom ’49
1983 | Vivian Eaton Buchan ’33, Daniel B. Knock ’33, Leona Mooney Ward ’33 and Robert B. Evans ’38
1982 | Hale C. Reid ’22 and Gary A. Sojka ’62
1981 | Ruth M. Webster ’31, DeWayne W. Moore ’36 and H. E. "Em" Wright ’51
1980 | John L. Anderson ’30, Arnold L. Brokaw ’37 and Wade R. Franklin ’25
1979 | William G. Murray ’24, Harley L. Moore ’40, Robert F. Ray ’44, Allan C. Peremsky ’54 and
Donald H. Niggemeyer ’44
1978 | Gladys Ward ’23, Herschel L. Bricker ’28, Paul C. McWilliams ’28 and Alice M. Sundberg ’32
1977 | Clyde O. Bedell ’19, Donald P. Chehock ’29, Fred J. Petrick ’29 and John W. Miller ’26
1976 | William G. Hoyman ’28, Lois Johnson Swaney ’29, Beulah Detwiler Gundling ’38 and
Donald R. Ebinger ’47
1975 | James Canfield ’22, Edna C. Dieman ’25, John D. Krumboltz ’50 and Vernon P. Smith ’50
1974 | D. Kirkland West ’24, Arthur D. Swarzentruber ’35, Zora Pauk DuVall ’47 and John D. Neff ’49
1973 | Raymond L. Powell ’23, Ann E. Miller ’28, Forest M. Hinkhouse ’48 and Louis E. Nelson ’48
1972 | Fran Allison Levington ’28, Thomas J. Brice ’42 and Marv D. Levy ’50
1971 | Edward P. Barrows ’30, Harold R. Letner ’33, Charles E. Troughear ’27 and Robert R. Preston ’20
1970 | J. Judson Taylor ’30, Charles E. Loomis ’44, Ruth Steele McMillan ’16 and
Thomas B. McMillan ’17
1969 | Ralph H. Clements ’19, Inga B. Tapper ’26, Barton Pope ’22 and Isabel Biddick Winkrantz ’25
1968 | A. B. Crites ’16, George R. Baker ’51, A. Lloyd Spooner ’16 and W. Willis Bradley ’17
1967 | B. De Wayne Silliman ’17, George E Simpson ’26, Clair V. Felker ’40 and Grace Stewart Low ’09
1966 | Eliza Hickok Kesler ’31, M. G. Woodward ’39, Frank E. Bauder ’41 and Rose Marie Jun ’49
1965 | Graham E. Harris ’22, Ruth A. Outland ’17, Donald R. MacKay ’35 and John H. Blomquist ’37
1964 | Bernadine C. Hanby ’24, William H. Olmsted ’09, Ella Johnson Miller ’24 and
Richard F. Blomquist ’34
1963 | Sarah Marquis ’18, E. B. Shaw ’20, Elizabeth M. Bender ’25 and Irving M. Ariel ’32
1962 | William V. Burger ’22, Victor R. Hurka ’37, Esther Youel Armstrong ’25 and
Lawrence Kremers ’20
1961 | Robert M. Wray ’31, Dora Jane Hamblin ’41 and Sarah Fong Sung ’21
1960 | Burnard T. Pull ’35, L. A. Woodward ’30 and Robert S. Gates ’31
1959 | C. J. Lynch ’26, Forest Rittgers ’25, Keith H. Storks ’30, Ellen Swomley Kuhns ’41 and
Ethel R. Outland ’09
1958 | Grace Sailor Hamblin ’14, Dr. C. Loyal Swanson ’33, Harris A. Lamb ’27, Thomas B. Powell ’31 and Alma A. Turechek ’25
1957 | Llewellyn Dunlap ’05, Howard Helscher ’27, Grant Perrin ’22 and Gertrude Dieken ’32
1956 | John C. Steinberg ’16, Dr. & Mrs. Fred Murray 1895, Jay R. Townsend, Sr. ’07,
Ben F. Wolverton ’18, Elizabeth Patton Moss ’25 and Ruby Hickman ’30
1955 | Robert C. Armstrong ’18, Alfred W. Meyer ’24 and S. Donald Stookey ’36
1954 | Donald P. McCrea ’21, Henry P. Martin ’18 and Ben Peterson ’18
1953 | George E. Booth ’05, Everette T. Evans ’27 and Marvin Cone ’14
1952 | Paul H. Engle ’31, Edward S. Murray ’30 and Owen Elliott ’07

Award eligibility

Professional success exemplifies the superior educational quality and ideals of Coe College.
Nominees must have graduated from Coe College a minimum of 15 years ago.
Award may be presented posthumously but living award recipients or a designee must be present to accept the award.
Current members of Coe's Board of Trustees, Board of Visitors/President's Advisory Council, or Alumni Council cannot receive this award while serving their term.

Judging criteria

The Coe Alumni Council evaluates nominees based on the following weighted criteria:

60%–Distinction in their professional field
Recognition including, but not limited to, scholarship, awards, and leadership recognition by one's peers in, trade associations, business, education, sports, and medicine.

20%–Loyalty to Coe
Dedication to the college measured in volunteer service or financial stewardship including, but not limited to, admission assistance, student engagement, alumni events, Board of Trustees, Board of Visitors/President's Advisory Council, Alumni Council or Coe Fund.

20%–Community Engagement
Service to the nominee’s community, including, but not limited to, board, committee, task force, and volunteer service.