NW Missouri Times

A new scholarship at Northwest Missouri State University has been established to support students pursuing accounting while honoring an alumna who had a notable career in the field. Irvin "Skip" Boysen created the Patricia Boysen Accounting Scholarship in memory of his late wife, pledging $30,000 over five years. The fund remains open for additional contributions.

The scholarship will provide at least $1,000 annually to a full-time undergraduate student studying accounting at Northwest with a minimum 3.5 GPA and who graduated from an Iowa high school.

Jill Brown, assistant vice president of university advancement at Northwest, expressed her appreciation: “It was a joy to work with Skip on this beautiful gift honoring Patricia. Her trailblazing legacy in accounting will surely inspire future generations of Bearcats.”

Patricia Ehlers Boysen graduated from Northwest in 1968 as one of its first female accounting majors. She faced challenges as she pursued her studies in a male-dominated field but excelled academically.

“She always had good feelings about Northwest and she liked all the teachers there,” Skip recalled. He noted that Patricia often studied independently because male classmates were reluctant to study with her.

Patricia began her career with the federal government after attempting to break into major accounting firms. She worked for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and later joined the U.S. Army intern program, where she met Skip during a budget course in Indiana in 1978.

Skip recounted their meeting: “I talked to her once there and then we had a party one night, and I danced with her and then we hit it off.” They married in 1979 and lived together in Indianapolis before moving to Washington D.C., where Patricia worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Packers and Stockyards Division (PSD).

In 1980, Patricia moved to PSD headquarters while Skip worked at the Pentagon until they returned to the Midwest due to city traffic frustrations. Back in Iowa, Patricia resumed work with large case groups auditing corporations for the IRS.

Skip praised Patricia's precision: “She was so exact on everything.” His military career included service as an English teacher during Vietnam War deployments and roles following conflicts such as Bosnia's aftermath and early Iraq War days.

Patricia supported military families through volunteer work from 1995-2004 while Skip served tours overseas. She retired after 32 years of federal service; he retired from both Army Reserve duties and civil service roles soon after.

Patricia passed away in 2022 alongside Skip who continues supporting her legacy through this scholarship initiative at Northwest Missouri State University.

To contribute towards or inquire about supporting other funds within NWMSU contact them directly via phone number provided above.