Carol Nicklaus, a longtime member of the Amarillo College humanities faculty, recently lent her expertise in the area of grant procurement to the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).

Nicklaus, now semi-retired from AC, spent a day in mid-July in Washington, D.C., where she served as one of five panelists who rated and ranked proposals from across the nation for prestigious NEH challenge grants.

“It was an honor for Amarillo College to be asked to participate in the process,” said Nicklaus, who was recruited by NEH because of her knowledge and experience with two-year colleges. “You have to take something like this very seriously, but it also was a lot of fun.

“I learned a great deal about what others are doing throughout the country in the humanities.”

Nicklaus was a logical choice to help sift through NEH grant proposals. Since joining the AC faculty in 1980, Nicklaus has proposed and/or directed no fewer than 20 grant initiatives that have drawn more than $500,000 from various local, state and national institutions to bolster AC programs in the humanities.

Among her crowning achievements was a $60,000 NEH challenge grant she helped AC obtain in 1998 that subsequently drew $270,000 more in local matching funds to establish an endowment that continues to fund the College’s popular Creative Mind Lecture Series and the Harrington Faculty Seminars.

NEH challenge grants are “capacity-building” grants intended for long-term support of specific humanities programs and resources. Institutions that receive them agree to raise additional funds in a set timeframe to satisfy requirements of the challenge grants.

AC, through contributions from the Amarillo Area Foundation, the Josephine Anderson Charitable Trust, the Barrick Foundation, the Amos Molyneaux Charitable Trust, the Sybil B. Harrington Trust and other private donors, easily exceeded the monetary stipulations of its agreement with NEH, and did so well prior to its deadline.

 “When I was in Washington, the NEH was very complimentary of AC’s matching and management of the 1998 challenge grant,” Nicklaus said. “NEH has done so much to enhance our humanities programs at AC that it was a joy to be able to give something back.”

Even in semi-retirement, Nicklaus said she is more than willing to assist anyone who is interested in pursuing grants at any level and invites calls at her AC office at 371-5354.