The Holly and Steve Hultgren Family Endowed Scholarship

Steve Hultgren and Holly (Moremen) Hultgren met on their IES Junior Year Abroad in Vienna in 1970. They found they were ready for travel adventures in addition to the challenges of attending classes and navigating a foreign living environment totally new to them. As with many who choose to study abroad, they were seeking not only adventure but insight into their direction in life. For Steve, it was a decision to study architecture and for Holly it reinforced psychology and future educational research. Not only that but they found themselves falling in love.

After graduating from Luther College and Dickinson College respectively, Steve and Holly were married in 1973 and subsequently began their graduate studies. Holly earned a Master’s degree from Washington University in Early Childhood Education and then a Doctorate in School Administration and Leadership in 1981. Steve obtained his Master’s in Architecture from the University of Colorado in 1976. They launched their working careers in Boulder, Colorado which remains their home today. Holly had a 30+ year career in Education and Steve a 35-year career with the same company in the design and construction industry.

They have two children both of whom attended IES Abroad Programs when they were in college. Their son Torrin attended Freiburg University in Germany and their daughter Brianna attended the University of LaPlata in Argentina. Both have since earned advanced degrees and are married with two children each.

Steve and Holly have returned to Austria a number of times over the years including on their honeymoon. They inspired the same spirit of travel adventure when they took their children at 7 and 11 years back to Austria. The trip included a concert in the Musikverein, a visit to Freyung 4 IES offices and an overnight stay in the Innsbrucke Hutte in the Tyrolean Alps. In the summer of 2023, in celebration of their 50th wedding anniversary, as grandparents Steve and Holly returned again with their “family of 10.” The four grandchildren were roughly the same age as their parents when they first visited Austria as children. They were hosted in Vienna by IES staff, visited many of the city’s highlights, toured throughout Austria and the whole family even made it back up to the Innsbrucke Hutte. What fun memories!

Because of the importance of IES Abroad in bringing them together and helping set the path for their life as well as the role it has played in the lives of their children and grandchildren, Holly and Steve have decided to provide an Endowed Scholarship to IES Abroad.

To be eligible for this scholarship, you must: 

• Enroll in a summer, semester or full year IES Abroad program.
• Attend a U.S. college or university.
• Have an expected family contribution (EFC) of $30,000 or less.
• Preference given to students enrolling in an IES Abroad Vienna program.