Mavis C. Nymon

Mavis Carlotta Nymon was born on September 15, 1921, in Canton, New York, and grew up in Fargo, ND. She attended North Dakota Agricultural College (now North Dakota State University), graduating in 1943 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Dietetics, Home Economics Education, and Chemistry. She then moved on to Cornell University as a research assistant, where she received her Master of Science degree in Nutrition and Biochemistry. While at Cornell, she conducted enzyme research with Dr. James Sumner, 1946 winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Mavis taught as Instructor in Nutrition at the University of Minnesota from 1946 - 1953. In 1954, she embarked on what she referred to as “the great adventure of my life”, teaching the Baha’i Faith in French Togoland and Liberia in West Africa. With her friend Vivian Wesson, she helped establish the first Baha’i School of West Africa in Bomi Hills, Liberia. After she returned to the United States, she earned a Master of Public Health Education (1960) and a Ph.D. in Nutrition and Public Health (1963) from the University of Minnesota.

Mavis started her teaching career in the Department of Food and Nutrition at NDSU in 1960. She taught for 23 years, serving as department chair for 16 years, and developed the graduate program for the Master of Science in Food and Nutrition degree. She served as major advisor to 32 M.S. majors, in addition to serving as a member of many other M.S. and Ph.D. committees in various colleges at NDSU. In her teaching career, Mavis reached out to students from many different countries. Her graduate students came from the United States, Taiwan, India, Nigeria and Egypt.
After her retirement in 1983, Mavis served as Nutritionist for the Fargo Senior Commission and taught monthly nutrition classes.

Mavis was a deeply spiritual woman who believed in unity, justice and peace. She was a devoted member of the Baha’i Faith, and served for many years as a member of the local Spiritual Assembly of Fargo, as well as many other local and regional Baha’i committees. She was a frequent speaker at Baha’i activities. She considered herself a “world citizen”, and she loved to travel. In addition to her experiences in West Africa, she visited Norway, Germany, Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, Uganda, Nigeria, London, Iceland, Panama, and Hong Kong. She was proud of her Norwegian heritage and her immigrant ancestors and loved to wear traditional Norwegian clothing.

She was preceded in death by her mother, Clara Ostby Nymon, father, Wigo Nymon, and nephew, Patrick Alan Nymon. She is survived by her brother, Charles Kent Nymon (Des Moines, WA); niece, Georgine Nymon Gillispie; and nephews, Carl Scott Nymon and John Kent Nymon.

Mavis' video tribute can be viewed at http://www.philpetersonproductions.com/hr-memorials.htm