The John Patrick Nicholson Memorial IS&T Scholarship was established in 2018 by the family and friends of John Patrick after his passing from cancer. The scholarship fund supports sophomores, juniors, and seniors majoring in IT innovation, like John Patrick.

John Patrick worked hard for his education. At fifteen, he experienced trauma as a result of brain surgery that caused him to developmentally be sent back to late infancy and required him to relearn everything. Given that he was gifted as well as learning disabled, he spent years of his childhood doing speech, occupational, and emotional therapy. He was an Eagle Scout and a Regent’s Scholarship recipient at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, where he majored in IT innovation and had an interest in video game design. He loved his professors and friends, especially those at the JPII Newman Center. In May 2018 as a sophomore, he served as a student marshal at UNO’s commencement.

John Patrick would not want anyone to be sad about his life or death. He desired those around him to follow their dreams.