Nyvall at 150: The Founding President's Enduring Impact at North Park
Dr. Scott Erickson to Give Lecture on University President David Nyvall
CHICAGO (September 25, 2013)—In honor of the 150th anniversary of the birth of early Evangelical Covenant Church leader and founding North Park University president David Nyvall (1863–1946), University alumnus and leading Nyvall scholar Dr. Scott Erickson C'89 S'93 will present a lecture on the leadership role Nyvall played at the University, and how his influence continues to shape its mission and culture.
Presented by the F.M. Johnson Archives and Special Collections and the Zenos E. Hawkinson Covenant Heritage Fund, Erickson’s lecture, "Nyvall at 150: The Founding President's Enduring Impact at North Park," will also explore the ways in which Nyvall's strong character and resolve helped him withstand external pressures to conform to the religious and cultural landscape. This ensured the University would endure and, in turn, inspire others to leadership and “the life of the mind and heart,” according to Erickson.
The presentation is free and open to the public, and will be held on Thursday, October 10, at 6:00 pm in the University’s Hamming Hall. Erickson’s lecture coincides with the opening of “David Nyvall: 150 Years Young,” a special exhibit on display during the 2013–14 academic year in the lower level gallery of Brandel Library. A light reception in the gallery will follow the lecture.
Erickson is head of school at the Phillips Brooks School in Menlo Park, Calif. An Episcopal priest, Erickson earned his undergraduate degree in music at North Park University and a master of divinity from North Park Theological Seminary, followed by a post-doctoral program at Harvard Divinity School.
Erickson’s doctoral dissertation at Uppsala University, Sweden, focuses on David Nyvall and draws on voluminous primary sources housed at the F.M. Johnson Archives and Special Collections.
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