Raised by two parents who were teachers and who always taught him to value education, Russell Iverson knew he wanted to go to college, even if he wasn’t exactly sure what he wanted to study. He studied at Morgan Community College for two years before transferring to UNC and deciding to study business.

“I chose business, just because I thought, well, with a business background that's going to open up other opportunities. And I got my bachelor's degree in business from UNC,” said Iverson. “When I graduated, I just thought I got a really good-quality education, and didn't go into a lot of debt, which I was very thankful for.”

For Iverson, going to UNC was about more than receiving a quality education.

“It isn't so much of the classroom experience that I remember from UNC. It's just more of the experience of being on campus every day. I lived in Lawrenson for a couple years, and really liked Lawrenson. I loved the Tobey-Kendel Dining Hall. And I had a work-study job in the basement of Michener Library that I really enjoyed,” he said.

After graduating from UNC, Iverson moved to Denver for a few years, but it wasn’t long before his heart drew him back to Greeley.

“After being in Denver, I thought I'd want to move back to a nicer, small [town]. I remember making a field trip to Cheyenne, Wyoming and Scottsbluff, Nebraska, and then just on a whim coming back to Greeley just because I remember how much I enjoyed living in Greeley. I've been here 15 years now,” said Iverson.

Since moving back to Greeley, Iverson has worked as a business analyst at Aims Community College.

“My background at UNC really helped me just to be an organized person and to develop accounting skills,” he said.

He was inspired to create the Iverson Family Scholarship because of how scholarships helped him and his sister to attend college and because of his desire to give back to the university.

“Without a little bit of help from financial aid...without work-study and scholarships, I wouldn't have been able to afford UNC,” said Iverson.

He wanted to give students who may not always be eligible for other types of financial aid the opportunity to obtain scholarship support to help make their college education possible.

“I just wanted to give back to UNC, because I thought I got a good education here, and I just want to pass that down to the next generation, to give to a student who might not qualify for a really high-need scholarship, but who just could use a little extra help to afford UNC tuition,” said Iverson.

To be eligible for the scholarship, the student must be a Colorado resident, have at least a 3.0 GPA and be a first-generation student or come from a household with a median income.

Iverson’s admiration of hard-working nursing students and his love for the arts inspired him to establish a scholarship that could help students who are in either performing arts or health-related majors.

“I think that having the UNC performing arts program is one of the perks of living in Greeley. We're just so lucky to have the talent of the UNC theater program right down the street. So, I'd like to give back to that a little bit too,” said Iverson.

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