Merlyn & Karleen Gramberg Endowment

Eligibility: Senior
Area of Interest: Education

Criteria:

Recipient shall be determined by the CSC Education department faculty with input from the Director of student teachers. Recipient should be in his/her student teaching semester and have a financial need. Recipient shall also have at least a 3.0 GPA.

Merlyn and Karleen Gramberg have both been involved in education all their lives and feel it is important to help others reach their goals. Both of them grew up on farms in eastern NE and attended Wayne State College. After Merlyn received his bachelor's degree from Wayne State in 1959, they both taught school for two years in Waverly - Shell Rock Iowa schools. Merlyn taught industrial arts in the high school and Karleen first grade in the elementary school. They then moved to Bellevue, NE, and taught there for 2 years, moving to Kearney State College where Merlyn received his Master of Science degree and Karleen her Bachelor of Arts degree in Education, all while caring for 2 children under 2 years of age. From there they returned to Waverly IA for one year when a call from Don Burkhiser at Chadron State came requesting that he apply for a position at the college. He was hired and began his college teaching career. They then moved to Greely CO where he obtained his Doctorate of Educational Administration and Karleen taught in the Public Schools. At Chadron State he taught, became chair of the dept., dean of the school, and became the Vice President of Academic Affairs before retiring after nearly 40 years in education. Karleen went on to get her Master of Science degree in Special Education from Chadron State College and taught in the Chadron City Schools for 19 years after brief stints in her own preschool and at the Job Corps. They have four children (2 adopted) and were foster parents. Upon retirement they both have stayed active owning several businesses and serving on boards. Every chance they get they try to promote education as they know that will make for a brighter future. It is their desire to pass on the value of learning and helping others in their walk through life. Hopefully, with the help of the award it will enable more aspiring teachers to fulfill their dreams.