Background
Nyvall was born in Sweden, the son of a colporteur and leader of the Covenant Movement in Sweden.
leader president of Walden College
Nyvall was born in Sweden, the son of a colporteur and leader of the Covenant Movement in Sweden.
He immigrated to America in 1886 at age 23. He settled in Illinois and became involved in the nascent denomination in the States. Though his educational background was pre-medical, he accepted an offer from East. August Skogsbergh (1850-1939) offer to teach at his school in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The next year he began teaching in the Swedish department of the Chicago Theological Seminary, which at the time provided the theological education of many Covenant pastors.
Three years later this school was moved to Chicago and College was established, a decision that upset some, including Nyvall"s brother-in-law, Skogsbergh. Nyvall served as president of and professor of New Testament in the Seminary.
Under his leadership and guidance, the school survived struggles and grew in both enrollment and endowment. Largely as a result of criticism and disagreement about the infamous Gold money, Nyvall resigned as president and professor in 1904 and left the school the following year.
In his absence, he served as the first president of Walden College in McPherson, Kansas.
In 1907 he returned to Sweden and the following year he took up residence in Minneapolis where he edited the early Covenant periodical Veckoblad. He also established the department of Scandinavian Studies at the University of Washington and served as professor from 1910 until 1912. In January 1912, Nyvall accepted to Covenant"s call to resume his position at, and returned as president of the school, a position he held until 1923.
The main seminary building, Nyvall hall, bears his name.
His understanding of Christian education, specifically Covenant Education, is still normative and formative at University. The David Nyvall lecture series was inaugurated in 1951 in memory of the pioneer Swedish American educator who served the school both as teacher and president