ALUMNI PROFILEFrom Patient to Healer

More than many of her fellow graduates at Northwestern’s commencement ceremony in May, Evonne (Vander Wilt ’82, ’17) Blankers knew what to expect. She’d been there before.

The first time, Blankers graduated with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and music. Now she was receiving her second degree, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She wore a red cord signifying her selection as one of two outstanding graduating seniors in nursing.

Blankers sold pharmaceuticals for a dozen years, stayed at home with her children for a time, and then worked in a non-clinical job at a hospital. A survivor of thyroid cancer, she began pursuing an RN degree at Western Iowa Tech Community College.

After her first semester, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. “My nursing education gave me more understanding and enabled me to feel more in control of my ongoing treatment,” she says.

Following surgery, she completed her RN degree, began working part time at Mercy Medical Center in Sioux City, and later enrolled in Northwestern’s online RN to BSN program. “It was academically challenging, but it went well,” she says. “I really appreciated the opportunity to incorporate my Christian faith.”

Blankers continues to work with patients rehabilitating from strokes and serious injuries, providing compassionate care as the result of both her personal experiences and her education.

“I know the value of recognizing small steps and how oftentimes it’s very difficult to do something that looks easy.”

BY DUANE BEESON

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ALUMNI PROFILEThis Little Pig

Dr. John Swart ’90 honestly wasn’t sure the pigs would work out.

A chemistry major at Northwestern, Swart heard in 2007 that University of Iowa researchers had developed the technology to genetically engineer pigs for the study of cystic fibrosis.

Having spent 12 years in global animal health, Swart decided to raise funds to test their findings. The pigs proved to be more effective study models than mice—more anatomically and genetically similar to humans—and by 2008, Swart had birthed Exemplar Genetics (and the first pigs) in Sioux Center to offer custom models of human disease for laboratory study.

Swart won the 2017 Cultivation Corridor Iowa Biotech Leader of the Year Award for advancing Iowa’s biotechnology industry through Exemplar’s innovative approach.

“God called me to be a businessman and a scientist,” he says, humbled by the honor. “We’re in the business of preventing human suffering, and we do it with the highest integrity we possibly can.”

Swart joins his employees on an annual service day to aid families affected by some of the 15 diseases the company strives to cure. Tasks such as building a wheelchair-accessible deck are crucial, he says, to helping all Exemplar staff—from researchers to those who clean the animals’ pens—understand how life-changing their work really is.

BY AMY PHILLIPS

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ALUMNI PROFILENeighborhood Lifesaver

The swim noodles and the Elsa doll that can convince the most timid kid to dive underwater—each summer weekday, Emma Twigg, 10, organized these and other pool toys before the morning’s first lesson. Her dad, Ben, checked the chemicals and filters, and younger sisters Lily and Maya topped off instructors’ water bottles.

It was a family affair at Twigg Swimming Academy in Waukee, Iowa, where 650 kids received private instruction this summer in the customized lesson pool behind the Twiggs’ house. With another 100 on the waiting list, they doubled the number of swimmers served last year.

Shelley (Beal ’01) Twigg began the academy in 2016 to fill a need in the community and satisfy a passion. Still the girls’ head swim coach at Waukee High School, Twigg stopped teaching school when her second daughter was born and knew she’d miss the connections with the kids.

“I’m the luckiest person to be able to do something I love every single day,” Twigg says.

A neighbor kindly allowed cars to park in front of her house for the half-hour lessons. Moms sat poolside and cried tears of relief, Twigg says, when children worked up the courage to jump in the deep end after just a week’s worth of lessons, proving they’ve learned how to be safe in the water.

BY AMY PHILLIPS

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ALUMNI PROFILELong Game

Maybe it’s your usual classroom, but after school—and summers, too—it transforms into The No Worksheet Zone and fewer kids compete for the attention of the teacher (who has become The Mad Scientist). It’s a place—like the soccer field or dance studio—where mentorship enables you to take a solid swing at the stats that say the poorer you are, the greater your chance of falling behind.

Kids On Course, a program of the Zach Johnson Foundation, partners with 18 schools in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to keep low-income kids on course to college.

Pro golfer Johnson wanted to give back to his hometown after winning the 2007 Masters. Hannah (Watters ’10) White was the first of two employees hired and now is the director of marketing and operations.

“To help pave the way for hundreds of first-generation college students is the best work I could ever hope to be part of,” she says.

Her husband, Greg ’11, joined the program last year as a school site manager. As translator and soccer coach, he uses his Spanish major every day to build relationships with kids like Jose.

“His family speaks an indigenous dialect, so he had barriers coming in,” Greg says. “Jose grew his state reading score by 19 points—we expected three or five.”

Jose is over par—but in a good way.

BY AMY PHILLIPS