A ‘Kind’ness Realized

Donors Open Doors to the World for Swartwood (’14)

Nicole Swartwood (’14) left the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, with five undergraduate degrees completed in six years. Now a research analyst at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, she leads research in global infectious diseases, with a focus on tuberculosis.

Swartwood became a Volunteer thanks to an array of scholarships, including the John L. and Elsbeth V. Kind Scholarship, which allowed her to study abroad in Berlin to complete her German Studies degree.

“I went to UT entirely on scholarship,” she said. “It was completely unfeasible for me to do college, let alone study abroad, without scholarships. I am so grateful, and I was so honored to be given these opportunities. Without scholarships, and without my study abroad experiences, I don’t think my career or my life would look remotely similar to what it is now.

“My experience in Germany really sparked a love of travel, and I try to help others build educational opportunities like mine. Using my experiences to help others and launch another research career is so incredibly honoring and humbling. I’m so grateful to the donors of scholarships like mine that helped me become the person I am.”

The John L. and Elsbeth V. Kind Scholarship Endowment was created with an estate gift from the Kind family. John Kind was a professor of German at UT, and the couple had a strong interest in providing students a chance to immerse themselves in German culture and language.

On a WSM Nashville radio broadcast published in 1940, Professor Kind made a defense for foreign language study stating that it offered the “supreme value that lies in a deep, sympathetic understanding of the peoples of other nations.” This passion inspired the Kinds to leave part of their estate to the university for an endowed scholarship for students to study in Germany.

The endowment has produced scholarships for decades, with the first award made in the mid-1950s. Since fall of 2000, almost $100,000 has been awarded to 184 recipients from the couple’s endowed scholarship. These numbers represent only a portion of priceless opportunities for hundreds of students provided by a lasting legacy in the Kind name.

Through endowed funds from their estate, the Kinds are still defending foreign language study and its transformative power demonstrated in study abroad experiences like Swartwood’s.