Is This College Student The Smartest Dude in Montana?

UM student from Amsterdam, MT nabs ultra-exclusive scholarship.

Do you ever meet someone and instantly notice how incredibly smart that person is? We imagine we'd get that feeling if we're ever fortunate enough to have a conversation with Kolter Stevenson. He's a Manhattan Tiger alum and now attends the University of Montana. He just became one of just 32 Rhodes Scholarship honorees for 2024.

From a tiny, Montana farm town to Oxford University in England.

Stevenson has got to be one of the smartest students in Montana. The University of Montana press release reveals he can speak four languages: Russian, Spanish, Norweigan, and (obviously), English. He's the first UM student to receive the prestigious honor in 30 years.  Stevenson is quoted in the release,

It’s an honor to represent the State of Montana. I share this award with my entire team who supported me in this journey. I’m still taking in the news.

Montana State has produced three Rhodes Scholars in the past 10 years, and 11 since the scholarship's founding. The University of Montana has produced 29.

Talk about a promising future.

While maintaining a 4.0 with four majors (management information systems, finance, and international business, with a certificate in big data analytics), Stevenson also found time to design a device called Smart Dorm that is awaiting patent approval. The technology he developed can "analyze energy waste and increase energy efficiency and comfort for tenants."

Deep in Bobcat country, Stevenson was the only Manhattan graduate from his class to choose UM for higher education. His Russian professor and mentor Ona Renner-Fahey had this to say about the incredibly bright student,

Without hyperbole, I can say that in many respects Kolter is the most impressive student I have ever had in over 25 years of teaching.

 

He is intelligent and driven but, more than that, he is also an unusually kind and humble person who possesses a seemingly endless amount of energy and genuine desire to make the world a better place.

Stevenson was the only student from Washington, Montana, Idaho, and Alaska to be selected for two-year postbaccalaureate study at one of the world’s most prestigious institutions, and for that, we wish him a huge Big Sky congratulations.