JN
James Nistler
  • General Engineering
  • Class of 2016
  • Helena, MT

James Nistler of Helena Earns College Leadership Award

2016 May 18

James Nistler, of Helena, Montana, was named one of this year's recipients of the annual Fran Jabara Leadership Award during Benedictine College's Commencement Exercises on May 14. The award goes to select graduating seniors at four-year, private colleges in Kansas.

Dr. Fran Jabara, founder of the Jabara Family Foundation, established the award in 2002 as a means of recognizing graduating seniors who display exemplary leadership skills. The award indicates the high level of ability the recipients have displayed as well as the respect with which their peers and teachers view them.

Nistler is one of nine children of Steve and Rose Nistler of Helena. He was an outstanding athlete and student in high school and was valedictorian of his high school class.

Since arriving on campus four years ago, he has been very engaged with the college on a number of levels in addition to his academics, including residence life, intramurals and even varsity sports as one of our first varsity lacrosse players. He has completed a double major in Mechanical Engineering and General Engineering on an accelerated track.

He has worked consistently as a lab technician and tutor for the Engineering Department and served as a Resident Assistant in both Turner and Newman Halls, helping underclassmen adjust to life away from home.

He has been a leader in the college's faith life as well. He laid the foundation for the Stations of the Cross in Guadalupe Chapel and started the Pub Theology program. He has been involved with FOCUS and the Knights of Columbus and organized a joint service day with Habitat for Humanity that was published in Columbia Magazine.

Last year he was heavily involved in the first Benedictine College Engineering Mission Trip to Guatemala, where the group designed and constructed a truss system for a center for single mothers. And this year, he led the Engineering Mission Trip, this time to Ghana. His group built a small water tower there to provide water to a village of approximately 5,000 people.

In February, he was the featured student speaker at the college's annual Scholarship Ball and received a standing ovation. Nistler is graduating summa cum laude with his two engineering degrees.

Founded in 1858, Benedictine College is a Catholic, Benedictine, residential, liberal arts college located on the bluffs above the Missouri River in Atchison, Kansas. The school is proud to have been named one of America's Best Colleges by U.S. News & World Report as well as one of the top Catholic colleges in the nation by First Things magazine and the Newman Guide. It prides itself on outstanding academics, extraordinary faith life, strong athletic programs, and an exceptional sense of community and belonging. It has a mission to educate men and women within a community of faith and scholarship.Template