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Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions President Dr. Richard Nielsen and then-Provo Mayor John Curtis cut the ribbon to the newly completed Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions building in Provo on Aug. 1, 2014.

Ian Maule, Daily Herald file photo

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Dr. Rick Nielsen passes computers along to volunteers on Saturday, July 25, 2015, to help clear out a storage building in an effort to get to the supplies needed to pack for a service mission to Malawi.

Sammy Jo Hester, Daily Herald file photo

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Dr. Rick Nielsen

Courtesy photo

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Dr. Richard “Rick” Nielsen may not be known or even heard of by the general Provo population, but his combined work in medicine and education has left Provo and surrounding communities forever changed.

Nielsen’s engagement in the community has not gone unnoticed by Mayor Michelle Kaufusi, who will be presenting a special award of recognition to Nielsen for his significant contribution to Provo and for his lifelong work of establishing two institutions of higher learning in the medical fields.

In keeping with the new Provo City mission statement, it will be the first Exceptional Example Award to be handed out. The mayoral award will be given at the Provo City Council meeting Jan. 17.

Kaufusi is recognizing Nielsen for his contribution to the local Provo and Utah Valley economy as the founding president of Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions and the founding president of the Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Nielsen stepped down in December as president of RMU so he and his wife, Jodi, can pursue another love in their life. The couple plans to put their energies toward Africa to continue with their nonprofit work.

The Nielsens have led service missions to Africa for decades and founded two charitable foundations to benefit children on the continent. Nielsen said he is excited to once again be in the presence of Kilimanjaro, a mountain he and his wife have summited before.

“The peak of that mountain is called Uhuru Peak. Uhuru in Swahili means ‘freedom.’ So when you walk off that mountain, there’s a freedom you experience. I believe the degrees and experience offered at Rocky Mountain University provide freedom as well, and I’m so proud of all our students have accomplished,” Nielsen said at the time he announced he was leaving.

Nielsen has served as president of RMU for the past 25 years, since the Provo institution opened in 1998.

He has also served as a health care provider and higher education administrator for the last four decades, including work as chief physical therapist for the U.S. Navy; a physical therapy consultant to the U.S. surgeon general, the Supreme Court, Congress and the White House; and as the founding president of two higher education institutions.

Nielsen co-founded both RMU and the Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine with Dr. Michael Skurja, current chair of the RMU board of trustees, after their retirement from the United States Navy Medical Service Corps. Nielsen retired as president and CEO of the Noorda COM in 2021.