Dordt names Mariellen Van Nieuwenhuyzen 2026 Horizon Award Recipient

Dordt University has named Mariellen Van Nieuwenhuyzen ('16) as its 2026 Horizon Award recipient, recognizing her Christ-centered, compassionate service as a family medicine physician in Emmett, Idaho.

The Horizon Award highlights young alumni who are emerging as leaders and innovators, working effectively and creatively toward Christ-centered renewal in every area of their lives and work. The award honors alumni who are community-minded and entrepreneurial, using their knowledge, gifts, and talents to participate in God's redemptive work in the world. 

Reflecting on Van Nieuwenhuyzen’s years as a Dordt student, Dr. Jeff Ploegstra, dean of foundational sciences, says her selection as the 2026 Horizon Award recipient is a fitting recognition of the compassion, excellence, and servant-hearted leadership she demonstrated even then.

"She was a powerhouse student," he says. "She was also one of the most positive and caring students I have ever had the pleasure of working with." 

Ploegstra says that even as a first-year student, Van Nieuwenhuyzen demonstrated exceptional initiative, capability, and responsibility, leading the department to entrust her with roles and responsibilities it had not previously assigned to a student—especially not a freshman. "Most students, understandably, come into college deeply focused inward on settling and surviving," he says. "Mariellen has always been outwardly focused, looking beyond herself for ways to serve others and build community."

Van Nieuwenhuyzen’s path to family medicine began in her own home. Growing up, she helped care for her mother, who lives with severe multiple sclerosis. From a young age, she became fascinated by the science behind her mother’s condition and the complexity of the human body. That experience, along with the encouragement of mentors and her own love for rural communities, eventually led her to pursue family medicine. “As a young girl trying to understand and justify what was happening to my mother's failing body I inadvertently fell in love with science and the uniquely complex ways in which God designed the human body to work,” she says. “Many incredible mentors encouraged me to run with that interest and pursue a future career in the medical field.”

Today, Van Nieuwenhuyzen continues to bring her natural sense of curiosity, service, and care to her work as a family physician, seeking to provide skilled medical care while honoring each person's dignity as one created in the image of God. One of her favorite aspects of family medicine is the opportunity to build lasting relationships with patients over time. “In today's electronic and social-media filled world, there is such a hunger for genuine human connection and Gospel-centered love, and providing this in the exam-room to my patients is one of the few places many of them get to experience this type of relationship,” she says. 

Outside of work, Van Nieuwenhuyzen invests in meaningful relationships within her church and local community and also uses her creative gifts through writing. She and her husband, Cornelius, recently welcomed their first child, and they are learning to navigate the joys of parenthood while caring for their small acreage in Emmett.

Although her selection as the 2026 Horizon Award recipient came as a great—and humbling—surprise, Van Nieuwenhuyzen is grateful for the recognition and for the ways that a life shaped by the generosity of others can, in turn, be used to serve others. 

“If there is anything pure, lovely, and noble that I have ever done or created, it is certainly not by my hands alone,” she says. “In the long journey towards my career and in the multiple creative efforts I have pursued, there have always been a dozen more hands helping me along by prayer, encouragement, monetary gifts, generous gifts of time, and so much more.”

About Dordt University

As an institution of higher education committed to the Reformed Christian perspective, Dordt University equips students, alumni, and the broader community to work effectively toward Christ-centered renewal in all aspects of contemporary life.

Located in Sioux Center, Iowa, Dordt offers undergraduate and graduate programs that help students live their faith in every area of life. Through rigorous learning, meaningful relationships, and whole-person formation, students gain the practical wisdom to serve God and neighbor through their work and in their communities. Dordt has been named among the nation's leading Christian universities by U.S. News & World Report, Niche, and other national publications.