Denison senior Jack Nimesheim is the latest recipient of the annual Louis Kussmaul Friendship Award, bestowed on him by the Granville Area Chamber of Commerce and Denison University on April 17.
The award, presented since 1947, is typically given to a graduating Denison student who contributed significantly to “friendly relations between Granville and the College,” according to the chamber. It’s a “formal recognition of those who have given of themselves to the greater community during their Denison years.”
Nimesheim, a journalism major from the Chicago suburb of Northfield, joined the Denison community in 2020 and is graduating as a President’s Medal winner, a leader on the Big Red football team and a journalist at The Reporting Project with several internships in newsrooms including The Advocate in Newark, the Columbus Dispatch and U.S. News & World Report under his belt.
During his junior and senior years, Nimesheim worked as a reporter for The Reporting Project, and wrote important stories on school levies, the ripple effects of Intel, education issues, COVID-19, local sports teams and human-interest stories that helped build community.
It’s particularly fitting for a journalism student to receive the award, named after longtime Granville newspaper printer Louis Kussmaul and funded by Denison University alumnus and fellow newspaperman Harry Amos (Class of 1899).
“That he might be honored with an award named for a newspaper printer would be a fitting tribute to Jack, to Denison University, the Kussmaul family and to the value of news organizations in building communities,” wrote Denison professor and TRP journalist Alan Miller, who nominated Nimesheim for the award. “He is as kind and generous as he is passionate and driven to do good in this world.”
The chamber and the university identified Nimesheim as an ambassador for Granville as a member of The Reporting Project, the nonprofit news organization of Denison’s Journalism Program.
“I’m very appreciative of all the opportunities I had to do impactful reporting in Granville,” Nimesheim wrote. “But I’m doubly appreciative of the way I was treated by community members throughout my time here.”
Two other Denison University students received honorable mentions during the Kussmaul Friendship Award ceremony during a chamber luncheon at The Granville Inn.
Mallory Hallwirth, a biology major from Columbus, dedicated her time in Granville to working with local school children through programs such as America Reads, Big Brothers Big Sisters and Stories on the Hill, a volunteer program where Denisonians could read books with elementary school students over Zoom during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Anna Munro, a global health major from Wooster, in northeastern Ohio, was a dedicated volunteer and EMT with the Granville Fire Department and volunteered with organizations like the American Red Cross and Licking Memorial Hospital.
Denison President Adam Weinberg was the keynote speaker at the event.