Northwestern College to hold commencement

Northwestern College will award 244 diplomas and an honorary doctorate during commencement ceremonies Saturday, May 9.

Twenty-seven students will receive Bachelor of Science in Nursing degrees, while the rest of the graduating seniors will be granted Bachelor of Arts degrees. Dale Den Herder, a Sioux Center, Iowa, businessman, banker and community leader, will be granted a Doctor of Humane Letters degree.

Ceremonies will begin at 10 a.m. in the DeWitt Physical Fitness Center. The Rev. John Paul Sundararajan, India-Asia director for Audio Scripture Ministries and a 2000 Northwestern graduate, will give the commencement address. A live webcast of commencement will be available at www.nwciowa.edu/commencement/live.

The college’s baccalaureate service is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 8, in Christ Chapel.

Originally from Bangalore, India, Sundararajan earned a Master of Divinity degree from Western Theological Seminary after graduating from Northwestern. As an ordained pastor and missionary for the Reformed Church in America, he supports the work of an organization that records and distributes audio Bibles in the languages of people around the world who cannot read.

Den Herder attended Northwestern for two years before earning a master’s degree in agricultural business and economics from Iowa State University. He began his career managing mortgage, livestock and farm real estate loans for Toy National Bank in Sioux City, then became a loan officer for First National Bank in Sioux Center.

In 1973, using investments made in farmland, he became part owner and executive vice president of American State Bank in Sioux Center. Two years later he was the bank’s chairman and CEO, and a decade later he founded the Ambank Company. In 1994 he bought another bank, renaming it American Bank and moving it to Le Mars. Today his banks are, collectively, the largest agricultural lending institution in the state of Iowa.

Den Herder’s business acumen and generosity have benefited his community and alma mater. He has served on Sioux Center’s city council or as its mayor for more than 40 years. While mayor, he recruited the Pella Corporation to town, oversaw completion of the Centre Mall, and championed construction of the All Seasons Center. As co-chair of the campaign for a new hospital, he led the community in raising $12 million. Den Herder likewise has given his time to Northwestern, serving on its Board of Trustees for 28 years, including terms as chair and vice chair.

In 1992 Northwestern presented Den Herder with its Distinguished Alumni Award for Service to Humankind. He is also the recipient of public official awards from the American Public Power Association and Missouri River Energy Services, as well as Walmart’s American Hometown Leadership Award.