Honoring a Legacy
The legacy of Sr. Noel Dreska, OSF, continues to change lives.
With the rising costs of a college education, scholarships play a major role in providing many students with the opportunity to pursue a degree. Each year through the alumni and friends, students at Lewis University have access to over 150 scholarship opportunities for continuing their education. One such scholarship, the late Sister M. Noel Dreska, O.S.F. Endowed Scholarship, provides assistance to eligible students who share the same passion for physics that she brought to her classroom every day at Lewis for 30 years.
Dr. Arvid ’85 and Anne (Jordan) Johnson ’87 will match dollar-for-dollar gifts made to the Sister M. Noel Dreska, O.S.F. Endowed Scholarship Fund up to $25,000. Share in Sr. Noel’s legacy by visiting alumni.lewisu.edu/Give.
Today, two former students – a couple she introduced on campus – have created a fundraising challenge to grow the scholarship created after her passing in 2003, offering to match dollar for-dollar gifts made to the endowed scholarship up to $25,000. Dr. Arvid ’85 and Anne (Jordan) Johnson ’87 met at Lewis University as Sr. Noel, hosting Anne on a tour, stopped at a classroom where Arvid was a lab assistant. As the couple dated, married, and raised a family, Sr. Noel remained a confidante and close friend through phone calls and outings, including trips to Brookfield Zoo and White Fence Farm with Anne and their three sons.
“Sr. Noel was always a great teacher,” says Arvid, current President of the University of St. Francis of Joliet. “She cared not only for a student’s learning, but for the student as a whole person. She played many roles for those students: teacher, mother, disciplinarian, guidance counselor, and mentor. Her love of physics from the very basic to the very complex was evident in the way she taught. She carried this immense zeal for her profession. She loved teaching and she loved her students.”
Endowed scholarship funds are designed to be permanent and perpetual. The principal of the fund is professionally invested to produce income, with a portion of it being used to provide a scholarship award to a deserving student or students. The principal remains untouched, so the endowment can last into perpetuity – just as they hope the legacy of Sr. Noel will continue forever.
“She was a bundle of vibrancy,” Anne adds. “Full of energy from sunup until sun down. She always had time for anyone who needed her. When we thought about the best way to give back to Lewis, honoring Sr. Noel’s legacy was key. Students of the sciences who experienced her enthusiastic teaching can work with us to provide today’s students the opportunity to learn and grow from professors with the same love of teaching.”
Sr. Noel, a Franciscan and longtime member of the Physics Department at Lewis University, served as a Professor of Physics as well as Chair of the department at Lewis from 1972 to 2002, becoming one of the first women in the country to chair a science department at the university level. Through her profound faith, she developed a course on physics and faith intended to lead students to a deeper understanding of the relationship that existed between reason and faith, believing that science and religion work together in telling the story of the universe. She received many accolades throughout her career, including the Distinguished Midwest Lasallian Educator Award – but her proudest moments came from the success of her students. Both Arvid and Anne cite the importance of endowed scholarships in creating an opportunity for students to attend Lewis and be successful while also providing passionate and dedicated professors.
“Scholarships recognize academic talent and zest for learning, giving students who might not have otherwise had the chance to secure an education–the opportunity to now go out into the world and make it a better place,” explains Arvid. “And Sr. Noel did just that – she made the world better.”
>>Back to endowment/scholarship donors page