Michigan Eta Alumni Rick Nornholm has been to a lot of places. He and his wife, Beth, have had the opportunity to pass through the Panama Canal. They took a cruise ship across the Atlantic from New York to England. If you asked him about some of his favorite travels, he’d share with you his visit to Antarctica, walking amongst penguins, or searching for the Northern Lights in Scandinavia. While impressive, knowing Rick’s history, you’ll learn this is less of a newfound passion and more of a lifestyle. His history is a long and storied journey prominently featuring Sigma Phi Epsilon.
Rick’s entry to Michigan Tech was by chance. He was at the top of his math and science class. When a librarian was helping him start his college search, she pulled some college catalogs off the shelf and Michigan Tech was on top. Seeing the photos of trees and lakes in the great white north, he was sold. His first year there (1966) was a breeze, basically a repeat of his advanced classes in Chicago, but the second year caught up with him. He finished that year and transferred to Lamar University in Texas. “It was cheap for out-of-state students. …also allowed me to defrost from Tech’s winter,” Rick said. But after that year, he realized it wouldn’t properly prepare him for his post-college career and he returned to Tech. With a change in majors to Mechanical Engineering and a newfound determination to hit the books, he was bound to get his degree.
It was after his return that Rick made the connection with Michigan Eta. He didn’t know much about fraternities beyond what was in the movies, but he has “an attitude of not wanting to miss out on any life experiences,” so he attended a rush. Soon, he was invited back and was quickly meeting more brothers. When asked what brought him to join, Rick said it was to be part of a family. “I was an only child and my parents divorced when I was just starting high school. My dad had an alcohol problem so needless to say, I really didn’t have a good childhood.” Not only did Sigma Phi Epsilon become Rick’s family at school, but they stood for something he could get behind “[the] wonderful values, such as virtue, diligence, and brotherly love.” And that family would stick with Rick well after his Michigan Tech days.
Rick’s time at Tech was busy and adventure-filled. Being from Illinois, he paid out-of-state tuition and thus had to work to afford his education. But even while working these many jobs (R.A. at Wadsworth, Wadsworth kitchen staff, ROTC, MTU Catering & Equipment Manager for MTU Football Team), he still found time for MI Eta. Given his role at Wadsworth, he was a shoo-in for Rush Chair with his built-in network of future brothers. And of course, no one can be a brother at MI Eta without some good stories. There was the South Seas event, where 10-12 inches of sand was brought into the basement, along with a pond feature. “Leave it to the engineers,” Rick adds. Or, the time when he and two brothers were driving from the top of the hill in a blizzard and had to abandon his VW Beetle on the side of the road as snow was coming over the hood. They crawled out of the windows and put their backs against the buildings as they stumbled back home with little-to-no visibility. As it has been for many of us, Rick’s time with Michigan Eta not only produced the occasional legend, but it fostered his growth and forged a lifetime of relationships, networks, and family.
After graduating from Tech in 1971, Rick (then a 2nd lieutenant in the Army Corp of Engineers) received orders to find a reserve unit as Vietnam was winding down. He visited a friend at the University of Illinois “to see what a real campus (with girls) looked like” and had a chance encounter with the Chair of the Mechanical Engineering department. Upon learning his background with MTU, he was offered an assistant teaching role and entrance into the master’s program on the spot as they were starting a course based on one of Rick’s MTU professors. Suddenly, Rick had an ideal opportunity, but no place to live and still needed to fulfill his military obligation. He went to the only place he knew could help – the local SigEp Chapter. Within that same day, they found him an apartment to live in and got him an introduction to the Major of the local reserve unit.
Rick always had a voracious appetite for learning and a passion for technology. These traits propelled him through a multi-faceted career that took him from engineer to consultant to director within multiple companies, institutions, and sectors. “Many people can stay in a place for 30-40 years, their whole career. That’s not me. I have to see what’s around the corner.” He was one of the first to pioneer the usage of computers in manufacturing at Motorola. At Boeing, Rick worked on robotics used on the International Space Station and won an IRAD award with NASA to build a prototype for the Mars Rover. “Since I personally contributed to the controls architecture that was implemented in the Mars Rover, I like to say that I have left something on Mars.” Rick ended his colorful career back in academia as an administrator for universities (UC Riverside, UC San Diego & San Diego State), ensuring that technological abilities progressed, and students and teachers alike had access they needed to provide the best education possible.
Now retired, Rick and Beth live in Ocala, FL. He spends his time reading, playing pickleball, country western dancing, and has a jam-packed schedule of cruises. He still keeps connected with the brotherhood. He’s attended many of the reunions (although he’ll miss the 60th this year), has donated to many of the Chapter needs including recently to the Red Door Campaign, and even went on a cruise with one of his brothers to New York City. Rick still has plenty of places to go on his itinerary over the next couple of years, but he knows if and when he stops by Sigma Phi Epsilon, he’ll always be welcomed as family.