Northwestern student awarded Iowa Interpreters scholarship

Neftali Ramirez, a Northwestern College sophomore from Sioux City, has received the Promising ITR Professional Scholarship from the Iowa Interpreters and Translators Association (IITA).

This marks the third time in four years that a Northwestern student has won the scholarship. Michelle van Beek won the award in 2017 and Maria Rebeca Wagner received it in 2016. The scholarship was established in 2016 to encourage and support students studying interpretation and translation (ITR) as they build their knowledge and skills to become industry professionals.

Applicants for the award must be students enrolled in an interpretation and translation degree or certificate program offered by an accredited college or university in Iowa. The IITA scholarship committee selects one recipient for the award, which provides $300 and paid registration to the organization’s annual conference.

Northwestern College is the only college in the Midwest—and the only Christian college—to offer a bachelor’s degree in translation and interpretation. The program is led by Piet Koene, a state-certified court interpreter for Iowa and Minnesota as well as a nationally certified medical interpreter who was named the 2004 Iowa Professor of the Year.

The IITA is Iowa’s premier association of professional interpreters and translators. The organization’s primary goal is to serve the state’s linguistically diverse community through education, training and promotion of the profession.