Denison baseball player Cade Nowik ’26 never met his great-aunt, Associate Professor of English Nan Nowik, but family stories and alumni emails give him a sense of her profound impact on The Hill.
A beloved Denison educator. An advocate for equality. A mentor so inspiring that former students started a scholarship and Writer-in-Residence program in her honor.
“Nan is gone but she still has a seat at the family table,” says Cade’s mother, Jacque Nowik. “He grew up listening to stories about her work at the university.”
Cade Nowik ’26 (center) accepts congratulations from Denison teammates after hitting a two-run homer that ignited a seven-run rally against East Texas Baptist University on Monday. (Photo: Hailey Owens.)
Nowadays, Cade Nowik is adding to the family legacy at Denison. The starting third baseman and his teammates are one win away from delivering the baseball program’s first national championship.
Nowik collected an RBI single Wednesday in the Big Red’s 6-0 win over Endicott College in Game 1 of the best-of-3 College World Series finals in Eastlake, Ohio. Game 2, and if necessary Game 3, is Thursday.
His parents, Eric and Jacque, are attending the NCAA tournament games and have seen their son produce two of the biggest hits in the Big Red’s march toward a title.
In the regional tournament opener, Nowik had a ninth-inning walkoff single to beat Grinnell College, 5-4. Facing World Series elimination on Monday, Nowik belted a two-run homer to spark a seven-run, seventh-inning rally to defeat East Texas Baptist University, 11-7.
“It’s been a special four years for Cade at Denison,” Eric says. “But to have his final season culminate in this tournament run is icing on the cake.”
‘Small world’
As the family drove from Cincinnati to Denison in the summer of 2021, Nowik’s father was trying to calculate the incredible odds in his head.
Big Red coach Mike Deegan had watched Nowik play in a travel ball tournament and invited the family to campus for a recruiting visit.
The Nowik family after Denison won an NCAA Super Regional title. From the left: Jacque, Cade, Breck, Eric. (Photo: Nowik family archive.)
“There are like 400 Division III schools in the United States, and Denison was one showing interest in Cade,” says Eric, whose family lives in Lake Forest, Illinois. “Talk about a small world. This is where my aunt taught. This was the place Cade had heard so much about.
“I called my dad on the way to Denison and said, ‘You’ll never believe where we’re going.’”
Nowik, who majored in economics, has been a central figure in the program’s rise to national prominence. He’s been a starter on three consecutive teams that have won 40-plus games and reached the College World Series the past two years. This season, the Big Red (50-2) tied a Division III record with 44-straight wins.
Nowik, who also played receiver for the football team, never bragged about the legendary status of great-aunt Nan. Eventually, word got out.
“Sometime around his sophomore year, his friends saw flyers for the Nan Nowik Memorial Awards and started asking questions about family ties,” Jacque says.
Denison connections
Former Denison Trustee Kim Cromwell ’81 was taught the value of intellectual curiosity at Denison. So when the founder of an organizational and leadership consulting practice saw the name “Nowik” in an article about Denison athletics, Cromwell had to know if there was a connection.
She emailed Cade Nowik directly and asked if he was related to the professor for whom Cromwell had established a scholarship in her memory.
“Cade was warm in his reply, and I was delighted about making the connection with him and to Nan’s family,” Cromwell says. “We wrote back and forth a few times. I told him that over the years I’ve met many alumni whose lives were shaped by Nan’s teaching and mentorship. Most recently, in fact, I connected with Kathryn Correia ’79, who honored Nan by creating a Writer-in-Residence program in her memory.”
Associate Professor Nan Nowik with Kim Cromwell ’81. (Photo courtesy of Kim Cromwell.)
Nan Nowik taught at Denison from 1972 to 1988, the year she died. Beyond teaching English, she was co-founder of the Women’s Resource Center at Denison and the Women’s Coordinator.
The Women’s & Gender Studies Program honor is named the Nan Nowik Memorial Awards. They celebrate outstanding work in academic scholarship, activism, artistic expression, and essay.
“Nan had a remarkable gift for teaching and mentoring,” Cromwell says. “She took a genuine interest in each of her students and was extraordinarily generous with her time and attention.”
Cromwell spent Wednesday afternoon live streaming the Big Red game and watching Nowik drive in a run that allowed Denison to inch closer to a title.
In the fall, Nowik will attend Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business in pursuit of a master’s degree.
By then, he will have received a gift Cromwell sent him in care of the university — a photo album of Nan Nowik’s time at Denison.
“The stories about Nan were instrumental in helping demonstrate the importance of education to our family,” Jacque says. “Cade has always enjoyed learning. Both of our boys are goal-oriented and laser-focused. I’m sure Nan would be proud to see how everything has turned out for Cade at Denison.”
