Northwest Nazarene University (NNU) is a private Christian liberal arts college located in Nampa, Idaho. Eugene Emerson organized a combination grade school and Bible school in 1913 as Idaho Holiness School. It was renamed twice in 1916, first to Northwest Holiness College and then to Northwest Nazarene College, and then became a liberal arts college in 1917 with degree-granting authority from the Idaho state Board of Education. While the first president elected for the college in 1916 was H. Orton Wiley of Pasadena University, Fred J. Shields would fill in as acting president before leaving for the Eastern Nazarene College in 1919, while Wiley finished his graduate work. Under Russell V. DeLong, Northwest Nazarene College (NNC) received educational accreditation, as a two-year school in 1931 and then received accreditation as a four-year school in 1937, making it the first accredited college affiliated with the Church of the Nazarene. Under Presidents John E. Riley and Kenneth H. Pearsall in the 1960s and 1970s, master's degree programs were added. It was renamed as Northwest Nazarene University (NNU) in 1999. As one of eight U.S.