AUGSBURG NOW VOL. 78, NO. 3

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INSIDE THE Beyond the scoreboard CARVING WAY National champion to local hero

Leadership and conflict FORWARD SUMMER 2016 Vice President of Marketing and Communication AUGSBURG NOW Rebecca John ’13 MBA [email protected] Summer 2016 Director of News and Media Services Stephanie Weiss [email protected] NOTES FROM PRESIDENT PRIBBENOW Director of Marketing Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Kailash Satyarthi brought energy and passion Communication to the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize Forum sponsored by Augsburg College. On thoughtful stewardship Stephen Jendraszak Following three days of dialogue on peacebuilding, he and his wife, [email protected] Sumedha Kailash, joined Forum attendees in a Bollywood-style dance party for the conference’s finale. Communication Copywriter and Editorial Coordinator Laura Swanson Lindahl ’15 MBA Augsburg’s mission statement says that we the deeply held values and commitments that [email protected] educate students to be “thoughtful stewards” characterize our personal and corporate lives. Creative Associate as well as “informed citizens, critical thinkers, “The truth is that many people do not think Denielle Johnson ’11 and responsible leaders.” about the reasons for their actions. They act, [email protected] I imagine some may read “thoughtful and they expect others to accept their action stewards” and think about church fundraising at face value. But good stewardship demands Marketing Copywriter campaigns or care for the environment, the reflection, then the courage to act based on our Christina Haller typical places we consider stewardship—and convictions, and to do so overtly so that we are [email protected] both important causes! publicly accountable for how our actions reflect At Augsburg, though, thoughtful our values. Only in that link is there integrity in Production Manager Mark Chamberlain stewardship is a much more compelling human life.” [email protected] claim. It goes beyond simple acts of giving At Augsburg—as reflected in the stories or environmental care. It is a way of living, that follow in these pages—we educate Photographer an ethic that teaches us how to live in the students to embrace their many gifts, to Stephen Geffre world. And it is at the heart of an Augsburg understand the obligations they have to [email protected] education—from how we engage students with steward those gifts, and to appreciate the the community to help them discern their gifts important work of taking a stand for the values Advancement Communication Specialist and gain a holistic understanding of the needs and commitments that honor the gifts and Jen Lowman Day of our world (see page 16) to the deep listening contributions of each of us. [email protected] and conversation we embed in our classes, such Thoughtful stewardship—a way of life as in the Master of Arts in Leadership course for all of us. I give thanks for a teaching and Contributor that was integrated with this year’s Nobel Peace learning community that is blessed with and Ryan Nichols ’16 Prize Forum (see page 20). inspired by our remarkable legacy and mission. 02 Around the quad 20 Leadership and conflict Also in this issue of Augsburg Now, you will I give thanks for the privilege of being a faithful augsburg.edu read about the genuine privilege I had to deliver steward of all the gifts that make Augsburg Augsburg Now is published by a major address on stewardship to Cargill such a rare place. 08 From national hampion to local hero 23 Auggies connect Augsburg College employees worldwide. 2211 Riverside Ave. In that address, I said: “… stewardship Faithfully yours, Minneapolis, MN 55454 14 Beyond the scoreboard 27 Class notes involves a practice of standing up, speaking up in a manner that reflects—and makes Opinions expressed in Augsburg Now do not necessarily reflect official clear—our values. The challenge for the good 16 The city: Course content and classroom 32 In memoriam College policy. steward—as a parent or manager or citizen—is to pursue practices that help connect us with PAUL C. PRIBBENOW, PRESIDENT ISSN 1058-1545 On the cover: Construction crews work on the footings for the main lobby of the Norman and Send address corrections to: Evangeline Hagfors Center for Science, Business, and Religion, an interdisciplinary building [email protected]. that will open in 2018, anchoring the west side of the Augsburg College campus. See page 2.

Email: [email protected] All photos by Stephen Geffre unless otherwise indicated. FROM THE GROUNDGROUND

THIS BUG’S-EYE VIEW captures the April 2016 groundbreaking ceremony for Augsburg’s Norman and Evangeline Hagfors Center for Pictured [L to R]: Outgoing Augsburg College Board of Regents Chair Dr. Paul Mueller ’84, Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin, Naming Gift Science, Business, and Religion. The celebration included hundreds of Augsburg College alumni, students, donors, neighbors, and Donors Evangeline Hagfors and Norman Hagfors, Augsburg College President Paul C. Pribbenow, National Fundraising Campaign Chair Michael Good ’71, faculty and staff members, as well as city and county officials. The new academic building is slated to open in January 2018. Augsburg College Provost Karen Kaivola, and 2015-16 Day Student Body President Duina Hernandez ’16.

2 Augsburg Now Summer 2016 3 AROUND THE QUAD $50,000 grant funds RECYCLING PROGRAM EXPANSION

Student-faculty-staff collaboration improves campus sustainability

Augsburg College can boost its efforts to divert organic and compostable items from trash and other recycling thanks to a $50,000 recycling grant from the Hennepin County Environment and Energy Department. The AROUND THE QUAD funding will be used to purchase indoor and outdoor bins, rolling carts, and signage to foster increased composting of organic material and the proper disposal of mixed recyclables. Go to augsburg.edu/green to learn about Augsburg’s Environmental Augsburg’s commitment to offering Stewardship Committee, Facilities and facilities that are welcoming, sustainable, Custodial staff, and the Augsburg Day and designed for educational excellence. Student Government’s Environmental Action Committee collaborated to submit the grant proposal. “Thousands of people touch the campus in some way during the course of one year,” said Amber Lewis ’17 MAE, an Environmental Stewardship Fellow who supports on-campus sustainability initiatives. “In addition to students, faculty, and staff, guests join our community for graduation ceremonies, sporting events, performances, convocations, HONORING summer camps, conferences, and workshops. This presents us with an NEW RESIDENTS opportunity to share a clear message about the importance of recycling Retiring Faculty in our community.” SET MEMORIAL HALL KATHY ACCURSO Instructor, Department of Education— with the College since 2012 ABUZZ KATHERINE BAUMGARTNER Assistant Professor, Department of AUGSBURG EXHIBITION Nursing—with the College since 2005 Hives installed to bolster honey bee population SHINES in Guerrilla Girls RONALD FEDIE It has been decades since the last students moved out Professor Emeritus, Department of Twin Cities Takeover of Memorial Hall; the dormitory was converted to Chemistry—with the College since 1996 office space in the late 1960s. However, a new World-renowned feminist art activists the Guerrilla group of inhabitants moved in this spring when FEKRI MEZIOU Girls recently “took over” Minneapolis and St. Paul The Beez Kneez organization installed beehives on Professor Emeritus, Department of to celebrate their 30th anniversary. Augsburg the building’s rooftop as part of an urban apiary Business Administration—with the College was among more than two dozen arts and cultural institutions that partnership program. Augsburg joined the program College since 1987 hosted exhibits and events highlighting gender and race inequalities and Augsburg College President Paul C. Pribbenow delivered to further the College’s commitment to environmental promoting artistic expression. the keynote address for Cargill’s annual ethics week this stewardship and to creating green spaces within the city. VICKI OLSON The Guerrilla Girls, who wear gorilla masks and use the names of famous spring. Pribbenow is recognized as one of the nation’s Recently, honey bee populations have been decreasing Professor Emerita, Department of female artists as pseudonyms, were on campus for the opening reception most engaging commentators and teachers on ethics, due to parasites and the misuse of pesticides. The on-campus hives Education—with the College since 1987 of “Reconfiguring Casta,” a site-specific installation for the Christensen philanthropy, and American public life. His talk, “Promises will help rebuild the local population and pollinate Augsburg’s plant Center Art Gallery. Combining prints and paintings, artist Maria Cristina to Keep: An Ethic of Stewardship,” reached Cargill employees located in Minneapolis and around the world. life. Those worried about getting stung can rest easy—honey bees are Tavera addressed the social concept of race and the issue of socio-racial not aggressive and will not sting unless threatened. classifications. Tavera, known on campus as “Tina,” also serves as the director of Augsburg’s McNair Scholars program, which seeks to increase graduate CELEBRATING Read about the wide range of prestigious academic degree awards for students from underrepresented segments of society. 4 Augsburg Now STUDENT achievements and awards earned by Auggies during Summer 2016 5 SUCCESS the 2015-16 year at augsburg.edu/now. AROUND THE QUAD

‘Degrees of Freedom’ in ON THE SPOT Minnesota’s past and present What does it mean to matter? What does it look like to matter? With the Black Lives Matter movement, questions of racial equity have ignited important—and difficult— conversations in communities and courtrooms, on political campaign trails, and on college campuses. Augsburg College Professor William “Bill” Green studies and writes about history and law. His most recent book, “Degrees of Freedom: The Origins of Civil Rights in Minnesota, 1865–1912,” chronicles conditions for African American Minnesotans and others in the half-century following the Civil War. Today, Minnesota and the nation are very different than they were in the postbellum period that Green examined, but tightly woven threads unite contemporary events with COMMENCEMENT 2016 those occurring more than a century earlier. What prompted your interest in broader virtue of racial equality, but, more at the Black Lives Matter movement, what Teaching and learning Q: studying the history of African fundamentally, stressing the need for true strikes you, considering the lens through Students of color, award winners, and former KARE 11 Americans in Minnesota? leadership that called on ordinary people to which you write your books? award winners overcome their baser instincts and choose to anchor stand out at graduation In 1860, a slave woman was freed act with common decency. In 1965 when the civil rights Augsburg recognizes individuals or in a Minneapolis courtroom. In the movement pressed for voting rights, Augsburg College celebrated students completing degrees groups who have made exemplary A: A: aftermath, citizens in the communities of And yet you’ve said that race is the powerful symbolism of Martin Luther in the traditional undergraduate, adult undergraduate, and contributions to creating an St. Anthony and Minneapolis for days walked “written between the lines” of early King and Malcolm X joining forces placed graduate programs through commencement ceremonies engaging academic learning Q: the streets eyeing their neighbors, waiting for Minnesota history, rather than spoken pressure on the President of the United held April 30. The 2016 traditional undergraduate class is environment. The 2016 recipients the smallest provocation to spark violence. about directly. What do you mean? States to shepherd through Congress the the most diverse in the College’s history and comprised of of the Distinguished Contributions to We were on the verge of seeing our own Voting Rights bill and sign it into law. more than 42 percent students of color. Teaching and Learning awards are: little civil war erupt in Minnesota over the The fact that the black population was Federal protection of the right to vote Commencement keynote speaker Michael Botticelli, issue of slavery. Ultimately, Minnesotans’ so small made it easy for historians was a moral issue. But it was the union director of the White House Office of National Drug Teaching A: attention was averted by news of the and opinion makers to draw rosy pictures of two leaders who embodied opposing Control Policy, addressed ceremony attendees and Former KARE 11 News anchor Diana Joe Underhill, associate professor of Confederate bombardment of the federal of racial exceptionalism without needing approaches to advancing civil rights that was awarded an honorary doctorate. Michael Good ’71 Pierce ’16 MAL earned her Masters of political science installation of Fort Sumter. Upon hearing the to be checked by a more balanced reality. heightened a sense of urgency to enact also was awarded an honorary degree in recognition of Arts in Leadership and participated in commencement this spring. Research news, Minnesota was the first state to send Without the “significant other” whose the bill. The moral: As long as there are no his service to the College. Eleanor Barr ’16 earned the “The program at Augsburg gave Michael Lansing, associate professor volunteers into the Union Army. Seven years history was hidden in footnotes, it became “inside”-“outside” forces simultaneously Marina Christensen Justice Award, and Kim Chisholm ’16 me exactly what I wanted to add to my and History Department chair later, it would be the first state to extend easy to believe what one wanted to believe. working for the same clearly defined issue, received this year’s Richard Thoni Award, recognizing skillset for a new adventure,” Pierce voting rights to black men, pre-dating the But could it really be true that Dred Scott advocates on either side of the spectrum exceptional contributions to their communities. said on KARE 11 in April. Service ratification of the 15th Amendment. I felt was the only slave to live in Minnesota? can be marginalized and eventually Dulce Monterrubio, director of Latin@ compelled to understand this dynamic. Could Frederick Douglass be the only dismissed. I don’t see a rival force to Black Student Services African American to be denied service Lives Matter that is pushing for the same When Minnesota granted suffrage in a prestigious hotel in St. Paul, even ends but through different means. This ELCA college conference Q: to people who are black, what though the proprietor was a friend of his isn’t the fault of BLM, but the absence of implications did this have in citizens’ lives? and an officer in the Union Army? Could a “significant other” should be a concern the paucity of discrimination lawsuits in to them, nonetheless. History can only Students, faculty members, and staff from two dozen In a practical sense, the implications the 19th century really mean there was no provide suggestions on how or even colleges and universities affiliated with the Evangelical were non-existent. There simply discrimination in restaurants and taverns? whether to proceed. Lutheran Church in America came together this summer A: weren’t enough black voters in Minnesota as Augsburg hosted the annual Vocation of a Lutheran to influence political leaders or affect Today’s Black Lives Matter movement The Minnesota Book Awards honored Green with College Conference. The event featured a partnership with public policy. Symbolically, however, during involves participatory democracy— the 2016 Hognander Minnesota History Award. Interfaith Youth Core—an organization renowned for uniting Q: a time of mounting economic dislocation participation by many and with more young people of different religious and moral traditions for coupled with the spread of white supremacy, diffuse leadership than the civil rights Go to augsburg.edu/now to learn more dialogue around shared values. IFYC Founder Eboo Patel [pictured speaking] discussed [L to R]: Michael Lansing, Dulce Monterrubio, it raised the bar, not just in terms of the movements of the 1960s. When you look about Green’s research. the colleges’ role in preparing students for life in a religiously diverse world. and Joe Underhill.

6 Augsburg Now Summer 2016 7 Devean George ’99 was the first NCAA Division III player ever selected in the first round of the NBA Draft—and he played professionally for more than a decade. Now retired from basketball, he’s gone back to his roots to help revitalize the Minneapolis neighborhood where he grew up.

BY CHRISTINA HALLER

8 Augsburg Now November 3, 1999. The Los Angeles Lakers are debuting in their brand new home, the Staples Center, with an unveiling ceremony followed by a game against the Vancouver Grizzlies. A crowd of 20,000 fans is packed inside, waiting for NBA stars Kobe Bryant or Shaquille O’Neal to make opening remarks. But instead, the Lakers players decide to encourage their newest rookie to address the crowd. The lights go down, and all becomes still. In less than 30 seconds, it’s go time. “No, guys, don’t make me do this! I don’t know what to do,” whispers a 22-year-old Devean George ’99. But his pleas were met with laughter. “I just remember shaking in my boots. There are tens of thousands of people here, and I’m going to be out at center court—all eyes on me,” recalls George. “So I get out there, and it just clicked. It was easy.” George credits his education in communication studies from Augsburg for helping to prepare him for that life-changing moment, as well as all of his public speaking engagements from that point forward. “As an NBA player, you have a camera with that big, red light in front of your face every day,” George said. “You have to know how to conduct yourself and communicate effectively. And all those communication classes I took at Augsburg come into play.”

After high school, George enrolled at Augsburg assuming he would play basketball for the Auggies, earn a degree, and find a job in business. But his “hoop dreams” became a reality pretty early on in his Augsburg career. “When I recruited Devean, he was about 6'2" and 170 pounds,” said former Augsburg basketball coach Brian Ammann ’85. “Fortunately for Devean, he grew about five inches and put on 50 pounds by his sophomore year. And his hard work paid off in big ways.” George was the first NCAA Division III player ever selected in the first round of the NBA Draft. He was the 23rd overall pick in 1999, chosen by the Los Angeles Lakers—one of the most storied franchises in NBA history. George is now retired from the NBA after playing 11 seasons and becoming only the seventh player in history to win a league championship in each of his first three seasons. He has since George played for the Los Angeles Lakers from 1999 to 2006. In 2006, he signed with the Dallas Mavericks and played in found a successful career in real estate development and a passion for giving back. Texas until 2009. He then joined the Golden State Warriors in Oakland, California, in 2009 until his retirement in 2010.

George was raised by devoted, hardworking parents in the Willard-Hay neighborhood of north Minneapolis and still calls the Twin Cities home — a place he loves for its friendly people and four seasons. His current work focuses on helping to improve his childhood community.

10 Augsburg Now Summer 2016 11 After George joined the NBA, he started volunteering his time in schools and after-school programs. He noticed many of the children he visited didn’t have stable housing, which significantly affected their security and education. “That’s when I decided helping kids and families would be the foundation of what I do,” said George, who has two young sons. He founded Building Blocks, a nonprofit organization committed to providing quality housing, community development, and programming for youth and families. “If you don’t have stable housing, you’re not going to care about schooling, safety, or eating healthy. If we get those families into stable housing, then they can focus on those other things,” George said.

George’s first affordable housing project opened this spring—The Commons at Penn in north Minneapolis, an income-restricted, 47-unit workforce apartment building that also includes an on-site health and wellness facility, an after-school program, a fitness center, a toddler playground, and a grocery store. Long-term, George would like to help create a more family-friendly community in north Minneapolis—a community that provides greater amenities for its residents. So far, The Commons at Penn has been a successful addition to the neighborhood. “[The] Commons at Penn achieves multiple city goals: creating new, high- quality, affordable housing options [and] increased residential density along a key commercial and transit corridor, and bringing in commercial activity and services,” said Andrea Brennan, director of Housing Policy and Development for the City of Minneapolis. “This project sets us on a promising course to continue development at this important north Minneapolis node.” George is planning phase two of The Commons at Penn, which will go up right across the street from the existing mixed-use building. He also is developing housing complexes in South Carolina and Louisiana, and has been contacted by fellow professional athletes who would like to see a change in the neighborhoods where they were raised.

In addition to literally helping build a solid foundation for families through stable housing, George also helps build a strong foundation for young people through mentorship programs like Read to Achieve. “The kids think that [NBA players] are not human beings because we know how to play basketball,” said George. “If I can tell a kid to go to school and not to do drugs, and just because I can play basketball he’ll listen to me, I’m going to try to use that to my advantage.” George is also busy instilling the values of compassion and service in his own two sons, ages 7 and 4. For starters, they learn to share by donating their toys to WORKFORCE HOUSING offers reduced rent to people who are gainfully employed (and don’t qualify as low-income), yet still struggle to afford market-rate housing. kids who otherwise wouldn’t have any. It’s explained by the Urban Land Institute as housing that is “affordable to families earning 60 to 100 percent of area median income.” Workforce housing commonly is “They’re still young, but I started teaching my boys early on a way of giving targeted for essential workers in a community, such as police officers, firefighters, teachers, social workers, and nurses. and understanding. I explain to them that this [lifestyle] isn’t normal; they’re in a blessed situation,” George said. “I’ve been able to achieve a lot of things. But I know I’ve had a lot of help along the way.”

12 Augsburg Now Summer 2016 13

BY STEPHEN GEFFRE AND LAURA SWANSON LINDAHL ’15 MBA

COURSE CONTENT THE CITY: AND CLASSROOM Each semester, painting and drawing classes typically occur in what originally was an Augsburg College chapel. Old Main 100 is an inspiring place with 25-foot ceilings and soaring windows. On-campus studios offer focused spaces for students to learn about visual art media, methods, and creative expression. For 25 years, Associate Professor and Art Department Co‑Chair Tara Sweeney has taught foundational drawing principles in Old Main with what she calls “as few spectators and distractions as possible,” and in recent years she also has led short-term international travel courses in which students develop the same skills without the support of a traditional studio. This spring, Sweeney and her Minneapolis-based students traveled close to home as they stepped beyond the boundaries of the campus studio, choosing to forgo a controlled setting to embrace learning opportunities present in public areas that are as complex and challenging as they are diverse. “Instead of creating a still life with the same old props, I utilized the city as subject matter and classroom,” Sweeney said. “Students were as actively engaged in creative placemaking as they were in making drawings — effectively shaping the physical and social character of whatever neighborhood, museum, coffee shop, or landmark we chose as a drawing site.”

A CORE CHALLENGE

In the article “The Power of Experiential Education,” nationally recognized education scholar and professor Janet Eyler noted that a central challenge for liberal arts educators like Sweeney—and indeed the entire Augsburg College faculty—is to “design learning environments and instruction so that students will be able to use what they learn in appropriate new contexts.” That is, to successfully “bridge classroom study and life in the world and to transform inert knowledge into knowledge-in-use.” In a drawing course, for instance, students develop technical skills while exploring individual subject matter and creative expression. It is perhaps the latter of these elements that came into clearer focus when Sweeney took her students out in the community. The artists “made connections with strangers and learned things about themselves in the process,” Sweeney said. They become comfortable creating art in the midst of daily life and finished the course with “real skills and the right tools to continue drawing wherever they find themselves and wherever inspiration finds them.”

Johanna Goggins ’16 works on a sketch JUST A GLIMPSE in the solarium at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis. At Augsburg, students across disciplines and degree programs benefit from faculty instruction that integrates experiential learning opportunities with traditional instructional methods, thereby linking course concepts with real-world applications. The pages that follow offer a glimpse at a small sample of the faculty and students who use Minneapolis as their classroom.

16 Augsburg Now Summer 2016 17 ARTS AND THE CITIES

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

Students clad in safety gear and ENV 120: earplugs to dampen the deafening noise weave their way through a Eureka Recycling processing plant. Environmental Science focuses on understanding and resolving problems humans have created in the natural world. The course includes hands-on learning opportunities that make complex scientific concepts more approachable and applicable for students. “The city is the perfect place for these types of experiences to happen—it’s all right at our fingertips: a wastewater treatment plant, power plant, recycling center, and public transit,” said Assistant Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies Emily Schilling. “We can observe the detrimental effects humans are having on the environment, and we also can see some of the ways we are trying to mitigate that impact.”

Students speak with MIS 375: Abdirahman Mukhtar, a youth program manager at Pillsbury United Communities’ Brian Coyle Center. Mukhtar oversees the Sisterhood Boutique, Students in Augsburg College’s Honors Program join a secondhand clothing store that serves HON 230: Minnesota Orchestra performers onstage following a symphony as a training ground for young women to event at Orchestra Hall. As an interdisciplinary course, “Arts and the Cities” learn about entrepreneurship, business, unites film, music, theater, and visual art — offering students the chance to peruse community partnerships, and sustainable Picassos, soak in Shakespeare, and mingle with musicians. Together, students and fashion. Through their discussions with teachers explore the role of the arts in a culturally dynamic urban setting. Mukhtar, the Auggies began to apply some “Students enjoy the experiential nature of this course,” said Associate Professor of their fundamental course concepts in a of Music Merilee Klemp ’75. “They often comment that it presents them with real-world setting. opportunities that they would not have on their own and deepens their understanding of the role of the arts in their lives long after the course is over.” E-COMMERCE

18 Augsburg Now Summer 2016 19 2016 NOBEL PEACE

PRIZE FORUM GRADUATE STUDENTS STUDY the Norwegian Nobel Institute. The Forum’s LEADERSHIP GLOBAL COMPASSION AT THE 2016 mission is to inspire peacemaking by focusing on the work of Nobel Peace Prize & CONFLICT NOBEL PEACE PRIZE FORUM laureates and by engaging students and the wider community with national and global BY REBECCA JOHN ’13 MBA Conflict is a pervasive characteristic of leaders in the process of peacebuilding. human interaction. The Forum provided the students in This is the opening line of the summer the graduate course with direct access to syllabus for Augsburg College’s Master of leaders from businesses, nonprofits, and Arts in Leadership course, “Navigating government organizations whose work Local & Global Conflict: Interfaith involves navigating complex, real-world Dimensions.” The statement underscores challenges that range from food security how important it is for leaders to develop to civil unrest to poverty and climate the ability to navigate and inspire others change. The students used examples in the face of conflict and sets the stage from the Forum, as well as from their for the work of analyzing leadership in the own lives, to analyze conflict involving context of real-world situations. religious diversity in their communities, By design, the course is integrated with examine contemporary issues in a historical the annual Nobel Peace Prize Forum, for which Augsburg is the host sponsor. “The Nobel Peace Prize Forum is a gem,” said history and leadership studies professor Jacqueline deVries. It’s a one- of-a-kind event that allows students to learn through direct engagement about the contexts and complexities involved in conflict. deVries, who also serves as director for Augsburg’s general education program, co-taught the course with Martha Stortz, Bernhard M. Christensen Professor of Religion and Vocation, and Tom Morgan, perspective, and develop a view on what 2014 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Kailash Satyarthi shared his vision for global compassion during the Nobel professor of leadership studies. effective leadership looks like (or might Peace Prize Forum. More than 300 students, academics, activists, and thought leaders participated in three Held annually in Minneapolis, the look like) in actual situations. days of discussion and presentations to advance peacebuilding. Nobel Peace Prize Forum is one of only Students come to the Master’s of Arts three programs officially associated with in Leadership program with experience

ORGANIZING PARTNERS MEDIA SPONSOR PEACEBUILDING PARTNER-SPONSORS

20 Augsburg Now Summer 2016 21 AUGGIES CONNECT

Martin Olav Sabo ’59 BY STEPHANIE WEISS

Former U.S. Representative Martin Olav Sabo ’59, who passed away on March 13 at leaves mark on age 78, was a lifelong public servant and renowned Augsburg College alumnus who Augsburg College exemplified the progressive approach and personal integrity that were modeled in his Lutheran upbringing and education. community The work he and his wife, Sylvia, devoted to guiding the Martin Olav Sabo Center for Democracy and Citizenship, the Sabo Scholars program, and the annual in both for-profit and not-for-profit common goal. The program is designed Sabo Symposium—all of which create opportunities for civic experiences and skill- organizations. In gathering during a to prepare leaders who are ethically and building inside and outside the classroom—will leave a lasting legacy at Augsburg. lunch break to share reflections about morally responsible, who can see beyond Augsburg College President Paul C. Pribbenow said that Sabo’s “life-long what they were learning at the Forum, immediate concerns, and who are commitment to public service is an inspiration to all of us. The Sabo Center gives the class observed that it is not possible sensitive to the complex problems that Augsburg the ongoing opportunity to celebrate the life and work of our dear friend.” to be effective as a leader without organizations face. By using the Nobel One year after graduating from Augsburg College, Sabo—then 22—was elected knowing what’s going on in the world. Peace Prize Forum as a classroom, these to serve in the Minnesota House of Representatives. During his tenure, he became The Forum, they said, was a prompt students worked to understand both the the first member of the Democrat-Farmer-Labor party to serve as Speaker of the for thinking about how a leader would systems that contribute to conflict and House—a post he held from 1973-78. He went on to serve for 28 years as a approach addressing challenging topics the systems that effective leaders can member of the U.S. House of Representatives, retiring in 2007. and situations in their work. use to address it. At the same time that Sabo served in Congress, he volunteered 12 years to Too often, people are so Augsburg College as a member of the Board of Regents. The College named Sabo wrapped up with their jobs and “WE HAVE TO CHANGE a Distinguished Alumnus and awarded him its first-ever honorary degree. Sabo was family and school that they don’t distinguished in all he undertook and, in 2006, was appointed Commander of the think about the difficulties others Royal Norwegian Order of Merit for outstanding work and dedication to Norwegian- are facing in the world. It’s not that THE DEMAND” American relations. people don’t care about these topics, one For example, some students thought Congressman Sabo and Sylvia Sabo are parents of Auggies Karin Mantor ’86 and student said, but they often just don’t that business was potentially the most Julie Sabo ’90. pay attention to the issues on a daily powerful force for addressing the issues Top [L to R]: Dean Jarrow ’16 MAL and basis. Being at the Forum offered a level discussed at the Forum; others argued Dele Odiachi ’17 MAL of understanding that may not happen in that the biggest changes will come a classroom, the students said. when consumers demand it, quoting Bottom: [L to R]: Jacqueline deVries; Margaret In fact, during the Forum the comments by Nobel Laureate Kailash PowellMack ’17 MAL; Kevin Stirtz ’17 MAL; Subashini Ambrose ’18 MAL; Tom Morgan; Eric Miamen ’04, students directly engaged with difficult Satyarthi, who, in his opening remarks, ’14 MBA, ’16 MAL; David Nyssen ’16 MBA, ’17 MAL; Nobel topics, and it required a conscious said, “We have to change the demand.” Laureate Kailash Satyarthi; Howie Smith ’80, ’19 MAL; choice to hear the tragic stories about Another student observed that Satyarthi’s wife, Sumedha Kailash; MAL Director Alan topics like child slavery and human every person has a powerful “what’s in Tuchtenhagen; and Brad Beeskow ’17 MAL. trafficking. This is where our general it for me” filter and noted that, if we population may be falling short, one don’t translate the message in a way student observed—choosing to turn away that addresses this filter, it will not instead of understanding the reality of be effective. And, although the class these issues. agreed, the students also recognized that The Master of Arts in Leadership people are often motivated not just by program, however, equips individuals to what benefits them directly, but also by turn toward—rather than away from— generosity and helping others—by what, challenging issues in order to seek as one student phrased it, satisfies a solutions and inspire others toward a need of the heart. 22 Augsburg Now Summer 2016 23 AUGGIES CONNECT New to the Alumni Board TRAVEL IN THAILAND AND CAMBODIA Five Auggies elected to serve three-year terms on the Augsburg College JANUARY 3-15, 2017 To learn more, go to Alumni Board will network with and mentor current Auggies, build community augsburg.edu/alumni/travel. with alumni, and provide a vital link between the College and graduates.

Derek Francis ’08 School counselor, Minneapolis Public Schools “Through the awesome community and volunteer opportunities at Augsburg, I realized I was passionate about working with youth. with tour guide and Professor Augsburg’s value of service to the community transformed my life.” Q&A of English Kathy Swanson Lori Higgins ’94, ’12 MAL President, MetroNorth Chamber of Commerce How many times have you traveled to “I am eager to give back to the school that has given me so many Q: Thailand? What keeps bringing you back? opportunities, such as political internships with [former U.S. Rep.] Martin My husband and I lived in Thailand as Peace Sabo ’59 and MN Sen. Bill Luther, which began my career.” A: Corps volunteers for two years and have returned eight times since. We return because With its Give to the Max Day gifts, the Biology Department funded new research Josh Krob ’08, ’15 MBA we feel Thailand is our “second home.” We love MAKES LASTING IMPACT opportunities for two students: Oksana Burt ’17 and Davy DeKrey ’17 [pictured]. Business development, Gravie Thailand’s beauty—from the huge city of Bangkok to the mountains of northern Thailand in Chiang Mai “A continuing passion of mine is to grow our networking efforts, both for to the small beach town where we lived. We also employers and individuals as they connect with Auggie alumni.” Online giving day supports students, faculty, programs have many dear friends, some former students and Janeece Oatman ’05 colleagues, with whom we love to reconnect. Auggies last fall made Augsburg College No. 1 in the annual Give to the Development director, American Diabetes Association Max Day challenge. This year, Give to the Max Day is November 17, and Can you share with us a memory from a trip “I have a passion for committee-building, and I am interested in the College is calling on alumni to push Augsburg into the top spot for the you led with Augsburg students? networking opportunities, reconnecting with campus, and fellow Auggies.” Q: fourth year in a row. We have shared our love of Thailand with In 2015, in just 24 hours, more than 1,000 Auggies—many of whom Brad Randall ’13 A: Augsburg students during five trips and have so were first-time donors—generously stepped up to give more than $240,000 many good memories. Former Auggies still share their Mechanical maintenance planner, Xcel Energy to Augsburg. As a result, Augsburg ranked first among all participating memories and pictures of the trips with us. Some Minnesota colleges and universities, and earned a $10,000 bonus. “As a graduate of Augsburg’s Adult Undergraduate program, I am of these students became English language learner Alumni support on Give to the Max Day has a lasting impact and interested in mentoring Augsburg alumni in all fields.” teachers because of their experience teaching English [L to R]: and create a two-material print Lewis Istok ’18 Abigale Enrici ’18 in our former school. I remember one student, for supports new opportunities for students. Funds raised last year supported using a 3-D printer purchased with Give to the Max Day funds. the expansion of on-campus research; the purchase of a 3-D printer for example, who was hesitant about going so far away the mathematics and statistics department; production costs for Howling from home and to such an unfamiliar place. She had Bird Press, the student-run book publishing project in the Master of been my student in several classes and seemed to Fine Arts in Creative Writing program; and trips by athletic teams for trust me when I encouraged her, so she took the big competition, education, and community service. step. We are still in contact after many years and she This November, alumni also can give to scholarships that honor the has written about her trip to Thailand as being “life- legacy of music, research, and civil service at Augsburg. Gifts are being changing.” She stepped out of her comfort zone and sought to honor the work of Leland Sateren ’35, U.S. Rep. Martin Sabo ’59, experienced things she could have never imagined, the StepUP® program, and the Office of Undergraduate Research and gaining confidence and self-awareness. Graduate Opportunity, which connects students with new and existing research and scholarship on campus, across the United States, and Back row [L to R]: Josh Krob ’08, ’15 MBA; Brad Randall ’13; Mary Prevost ’12 MBA; Cyrus Batheja ’08, ’10 MBA; around the world. Jay Howard ’03, Nick Rathmann ’03; Hanna Dietrich ’05; Rick Bonlender ’78; Patricia Jesperson ’95; Melissa Q: Who should take this trip? Anyone can donate any amount on Give to the Max Day. Schedule (Daudt) Hoepner ’92; Howie Smith ’80, ’19 MAL; Marie (Eddy) Odenbrett ’01; Greg Schnagl ’91. Front row Anyone who values expanding a worldview, Jordan Brandt ’17 throws a pitch on the baseball team’s 2016 spring break trip [L to R]: Adrienne (Kuchler) Eldridge ’02; Meg (Schmidt) Sawyer ’00; Adriana Matzke ’13; Janeece Oatman ’05; your gifts online at givemn.org beginning November 1. to Arizona. The team raised more than $17,000 on Give to the Max Day 2015. Chau “Tina” Nguyen ’08; Jill Watson ’10 MBA. Not pictured: Derek Francis ’08; Lori Higgins ’94, ’12 MAL; A: learning about a new culture, and experiencing Nick Swanson ’09 beauty.

24 Augsburg Now Summer 2016 25 AUGGIES CONNECT ALUMNI CLASS NOTES

Martin Sabo ’59 leaves a Royce Helmbrecht ’69 fundraisers. Her leisure activities jazzy food songs. Sullivan attended lasting legacy. See page 23. 1969 graduated with a include gardening, walking, Augsburg as a flute student, studied degree in education. Today, biking, and reading. broadcasting at Brown Institute, Rev. Dennis Glad ’60 47 years later, he works as a and has worked in radio and as a 1960 and Barbara Glad substitute teacher with students Michael Good ’71 celebrates voice-over artist. After appearing at of St. Francis, Minnesota, have who struggle to get through at groundbreaking ceremony. venues that draw swing dancers, led nearly 1,000 volunteers on school. He also teaches jail See page 2. she teamed up with Laurie to create empowering dreams mission trips to 14 Caribbean inmates for the GED program. the duo Retro Swing Sister. islands, Costa Rica, and Belize Travelers EDGE® grant affords over the past 25 years. Working on a volunteer construction team, Three years ago at Valley of Peace Lutheran Church in Golden Valley, students pathway to success the Glads and their crew have Minnesota, three parishioners took on a Lenten art project to create a mosaic built schools, clinics, churches, for their church entry. Led by Barb (Durkee) Mikelson ’71, the committee In March, Augsburg was awarded a orphanages, and more. In April, also included Emilie Moravec ’07 and Jon Daniels ’88. The design, primarily the couple received WCCO Radio’s $115,000 grant to continue offering Mikelson’s work, echoed the stained glass window design in the church’s Good Neighbor Award, and they sanctuary created by the late August Molder, an Augsburg professor. Mikelson Travelers EDGE (Empowering Dreams for are now in the station’s Good served the past 12 years as director of her church’s early childhood education Graduation and Employment), a program Neighbor Hall of Fame. In 1999, center, All God’s Children Learning Center, and retired in January. The school’s Rev. Glad retired after serving in that provides underrepresented students leadership is now in the able hands of another Auggie, Courtney Gadbois- the United Methodist Church for with scholarships, paid internships, Brumbaugh ’95. more than 40 years. From the Auggie Connections blog. and mentorship in an effort to break Read more at augsburg.edu/alumni/blog. down barriers and provide long-term scholarships and something that, in the her comfort zone. Roger Johnson ’64 was presented with opportunity. The highly successful long run, pays even greater dividends— “My Travelers EDGE scholar 1964 the Donald Clark Memorial Award He says the Lord intervened in his Merilee Klemp ’75 uses the Scott Whirley ’82 and Henry program, now in its sixth year at networking contacts. work taught me business etiquette, at Minnesota Hockey’s annual life and directed him to Augsburg, city of Minneapolis as her Gerten ’98 were inducted into Augsburg, is poised to have 15 Travelers “Once they begin immersing interviewing techniques, and résumé banquet in April. The award is and he feels blessed to have classroom. See page 16. the National Wrestling Coaches EDGE scholars on campus this fall—its themselves in the professional writing,” she said. “It helped connect given to an individual who has followed the Lord’s direction. Association Division III Hall of been dedicated to the grassroots Maryann Sullivan ’82 Fame in a ceremony in Cedar largest cohort yet. development workshops and start me with resources at Augsburg that I growth and development of youth Mary (Soulen) Johnson ’71 1982 and Rhonda Laurie Rapids, Iowa, prior to this year’s This prestigious program—open to build relationships with Travelers didn’t really know about.” hockey in Minnesota. Johnson was 1971 is the new branch have been entertaining listening NCAA Division III Wrestling to only 12 colleges in the United employees, students quickly learn Travelers EDGE connected Granlund the head coach for boys’ hockey in assistant at Minnesota’s Aitkin audiences and swing dancers for National Championships. Whirley the past three years. In February, States—has lifetime payoffs for that the networking and professional with staff in Augsburg’s Clair and Gladys Fergus Falls, Minnesota, from 1965 Public Library. She especially and Gerten are the ninth and 10th until 1972 and then was varsity enjoys working with children the two performed “Swingin’ a Auggies to be inducted into the students, including the chance to find coaching they are getting will be of Strommen Center for Meaningful Work assistant and junior varsity head at the library and at the Aitkin la Carte” as part of the Jazz@ NWCA Division III Hall of Fame. challenging and rewarding careers in significant use to them in the long who helped Granlund become more coach for the next 27 years until Children’s Center. As a volunteer St. Barney’s concert series at St. Barnabas Lutheran Church in the insurance and financial services term,” said Janet Morales, Augsburg’s comfortable seeking regular advice on 1999. He is a substitute teacher at Wild and Free in Garrison, Dr. Paul Mueller ’84 breaks ground and a volunteer general manager Minnesota, she helps with Plymouth, Minnesota, reflecting industry. To get there, each Travelers director for the program. graduate school. on Augsburg’s new, signature for the boys’ hockey team. feeding animals and assists with the singers’ love of cooking through academic building. See page 2. EDGE scholar works with a career coach So far, Augsburg has had 23 Morales sees that the value of the and a professional mentor at Travelers Travelers EDGE scholars participate in program goes far beyond job experience. and participates in financial literacy the program and some have gone on to “Travelers EDGE is confidence programming. accept full-time positions with Travelers. building,” she said. “Our scholars Marlene Ibsen, vice president of Dustina Granlund ’14 is one of the do not typically have any corporate community relations at Travelers, said Travelers EDGE alumni who works at experience prior to becoming a part AUGGIE SNAPSHOTS Augsburg was already doing great work Travelers. Granlund had two internships of Travelers EDGE, nor do they have

and made for a natural Travelers EDGE at the company, including one in family members with that experience, In March, the Rev. Rosanne Newville Bump ’92 plans events, including partner. Hartford, Connecticut. As an intern, so starting their professional journey 1967 Terry J. Frovik ’67 1992 the St. Paul Winter Carnival as president and CEO “Everything and everyone we she helped develop new and more within insurance and financial services and his wife, Pauline, were invited of the Saint Paul Festival & Heritage Foundation. She received encountered at Augsburg, including efficient reporting systems that are still can be intimidating. However, Travelers by Archbishop Nemuel Babba her MBA in 2010 from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. to participate in the installation She has stayed in touch with many of her Auggie classmates President Pribbenow and throughout in use today. EDGE gives the scholars opportunities service for the Rev. Peter over the years, and is pleased that both the St. Paul Winter the organization, made us think, ‘This Granlund said her mentor helped to learn and build their skills within a Bartimawus, who was elected Carnival and the Cinco de Mayo organizations benefit from is a team of people who really get it and her understand how school applies safe space. The end result is that they Bishop of the Gongola Diocese of the help of Augsburg interns as they plan events. She lives the Lutheran Church of Christ in with her husband of 28 years, Jeff Bump ’85, and their three would be outstanding additions to the to the real world by encouraging her can imagine themselves with a career in Nigeria (LCCN). The service took daughters (Madelyn, Ella, and Julia) in River Falls where she Travelers EDGE collaborative,’” said Ibsen. to accept and take on challenges, to insurance and financial services, which place in Bartimawus’ home village of Guyuk. served for nine years as CEO of the River Falls Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau. Students in the program receive financial network, and to push herself beyond they couldn’t before.”

26 Augsburg Now Summer 2016 27 Sara (Quigley) Brown ’00 2000 received her chaplain badge ALUMNI CLASS NOTES for the Alaska Police and Fire Chaplains Ministry, a statewide nonprofit that serves police and fire personnel. The program Brian Ammann ’85 reflects on one of As twin sisters, Kaja Foat ’96 Jon Dahlin ’05 James Lekatz ’07 follows a strict training that mirrors the the standout athletes he coached. 1996 and Zoe Foat ’96 have shared 2005 participated in track 2007 wrote the music for training of police officers. See page 8. a lot in life—a last name, a love of and field at Augsburg, and he set “The Snow Queen,” which was Brown will return to the Twin Cities color and nature, and a vision for a a national record in the hammer presented at Stages Theatre in in August to attend a clinical pastoral Jeff Judge ’88 successfully more ethical world. In 2002, the sisters throw that still stands. He went Hopkins, Minnesota, in March. education residency through which she 1988 defended his doctoral followed their shared vision to create on to compete nationally and This summer, Lekatz worked with will receive certification to become a hospital chaplain. dissertation at Minnesota State FOAT. Their goal was to offer a refreshing, internationally in Highland games. a group of students with autism University. His thesis was “Spirituality in eco-conscious alternative in women’s He competed in states including on a production of “The BFG” as Higher Education: A Narrative Analysis of fashion, starting with yoga apparel. Since California, Florida, and Texas, and part of a program called CAST, its Use by Leaders for Decision-Making.” then, they’ve expanded their designs to he also competed in Iceland. He Creative Accepting Sensory- Judge graduated from Augsburg with additional lines of one-of-a-kind garments traveled to Gyor, Hungary, as part friendly Theatre. He will be bachelor’s degrees in music education and wedding gowns, and their workspace of Team USA for the 2015 World assistant director on a production and Spanish, and received a master’s to studios in Minneapolis and Charleston, Highland Games Championship called “Twinkle Twinkle,” as part in Spanish from Middlebury (Vermont) South Carolina. where he squared off against 15 of Stages Theatre Company’s College. He lives in Minnetonka, athletes from around the world. theater for the very young, and he Minnesota, with his wife, Jeannie, and He was pleased to record one will compose Stages’ next dance/ Building hope Devean George ’99 builds neighborhood their three teenagers: Nico, Danny, and pride alongside community housing in of his best performances ever ballet piece, “The Velveteen In March, Bob Strommen ’74 volunteered for a Clare. He is the dean of the humanities in caber (tossing a 175-pound Rabbit,” to be performed next north Minneapolis. See page 8. Ross Murray ’00, Sarah (Grans) Peterka ’01 Habitat for Humanity project in Nicaragua. He division at Normandale Community wooden beam), and finished in spring. ’09 MBA, has married Erik Peterka joined cousins Tim ’70 and Dawn (Hofstad) ’70 College in Bloomington, Minnesota. seventh place. Dahlin lives in 2000 2001 Augsburg theater alumni been issued a call from the on December 12. Several Auggies Strommen, and Judy (Knudson) Strommen ’77, and Minnetonka, Minnesota, and works Andrew Webb ’08 Stephanie Lein Walseth ’00, Metropolitan New York Synod in were at the celebration including: was overwhelmed by the magnitude of poverty in Troy Bakker ’89 received a 2000 as a software developer at Barr volunteers his Quinci Bachman ’15, and Jorge 2008 New York City to be consecrated Carrie Lind ’01, Skylar Hanson ’01, the small village where they worked. The trip was doctorate of science degree Engineering, focusing primarily time to assist local and global 1989 Rodriguez ’15, and Professor Emerita as a diaconal minister and focus Laura Hahn ’02, Erica ’01 and Tim’s third visit to the same site. from Dakota State University in Madison, on creating web applications. He communities as they recover from Martha Johnson participated in the on LGBT advocacy at GLAAD. He Jason ’01 Bryan-Wegner, Ben Bob writes, “Prior to our venturing out, South Dakota. also is a sports photographer who natural disasters and tragedies. Full Circle Theater Company’s return and Richard Garnett ’07, ’09 MBA Hoogland ’00, Larye ’98 and we had an orientation led by our Nicaraguan covers NFL games. He encourages others through engagement of “Theater: A Sacred were married in April. Melissa (Moyle) Pohlman ’00, Habitat leader, Aleandra, who reported that there Stephen Hindle ’89 has been appointed a letter-writing campaign and Passage.” Lein Walseth and Johnson are Lenise Butler ’01, and was a need for more than 600,000 homes in practice lead at the partner level for Aon Jenni Fisher ’05 and Jade invites groups, such as area two writers of this original performance Birgitte Simpson ’13. Hewitt’s assessment and leadership Boettcher ’15 MAE were united high schools, to join him in his Nicaragua—either new builds or fixing up existing piece, devised by the core artists of practice for Asia, the Middle East, and in marriage on January 20 in dedication to this mission. homes in desperate need of repair. And we were Full Circle from their personal journeys Africa. He also is the face of Aon Hewitt Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. going to build one home. At the time I thought, into theater. Their stories embody in these markets. His responsibilities Boettcher received his Master of Jennifer (Mathwig) ‘What difference will this make? How do you tackle the challenges and transformational include commercial management of all Arts in Education from Augsburg Ortloff ’10 became joint such an overwhelming need?’” experiences they have had in becoming 2010 assessment and leadership business and is a special education teacher owner of the public accounting Upon meeting the eventual homeowner, her theater artists and how their lives across 14 countries as well as all at John Marshall High School firm of Peterson Juergensen daughter, and grandchildren, Bob soon learned and work reflect the changes in the operations, solution development, and in Rochester, Minnesota. Fisher Hemerick & Co. in Hutchinson, that their work in that one week would make a life- theater community during the past two mergers and acquisitions activity in received her bachelor’s from Minnesota, after five years with changing impact for the family. decades. The piece incorporates acting, these markets. Augsburg and is a clinic assistant the firm. Prior to becoming an He’d considered the impact they would storytelling, choreography, and music. make on the family of the house, but did not He is based in Singapore with his at Planned Parenthood owner and before earning an Bachman was production coordinator, When Claire Pettry ’05 comprehend the impact that the people and wife of more than 21 years, Adean, in Rochester. accounting degree at Augsburg, stage manager, and sound designer. moved to Ohio in the volunteering would have on him, saying: “My goal and their two daughters, Claudia and she worked on the administrative 2005 Rodriguez served as set and technical fall of 2015, her Augsburg College Megan and Jay is not to be better than anyone else, but to be Madeleine. Brandon Green ’05 is a new side of the company. Ortloff is a director and lighting designer. Johnson connection played a key role in 2003 Howard ’03 welcomed better than I used to be.” managing partner at MG native of Brownton, Minnesota, was dramaturge and assistant director. helping her form friendships in their son, Elias John, on April 28. Resources. Before joining the and worked for the city of her new locale. She met Chris Visit augsburg.edu/alumni/blog to read more. company, Green spent nearly 18 Brownton while completing Ascher ’81 and wife, Susan, and years with Griffiths Corporation. her degree. the three became fast friends who completed a 5K run on Thanksgiving.

Heather Johnston ’92 [L to R]: J. Roxanne 1992 (second from left) was 1999 Prichard, associate Lisa Svac Hawks ’85 sees Augsburg College as a “pillar of faith,” one of the reasons she chose the College invited to speak at the annual professor of psychology and and why she continues to be involved. She served six years on the Alumni Board and is a founding member of Augsburg Women Engaged. conference of the Municipal neuroscience, and Jeanne “Birdie” Hawks is vice president, external communications, for United Healthcare Services. She is focused on Finance Directors of Israel in Eilat, (Ramacher) Cunningham ’99, Israel. Johnston is president of associate director of health and helping simplify the complicated health care landscape for the consumers so that they can live healthier the Government Finance Officers wellness, have created and lives. In her spare time, Hawks enjoys gardening, cooking, and playing golf and other sports. She also Association of the United States and launched the Center for College enjoys coaching her 10-year-old son Andrew’s baseball team, which she has done for the past three years. Canada. Johnston serves as the city Sleep at the University manager for Burnsville, Minnesota. of St. Thomas in St. Paul. From the Auggie Connections blog. Visit augsburg.edu/alumni/blog to read more.

28 Augsburg Now ALUMNI CLASS NOTES

Patrick Siegel ’11 is who they are in whatever faith conducted summer research 2011 the proud owner of background they [believe], on biofilms with Augsburg GRADUATE AUGGIE CONNECTIONS: Robusto & Briar cigar store and while reducing prejudice and Associate Professor Jennifer lounge in Lakewood, Ohio. The misconception,” Hassan said. Bankers-Fulbright as well as at the Evan Berg ’10 MBA was hired as a new, personalized establishment is made for all “In the midst of what is going on University of Minnesota’s Dental assistant vice president and loan who appreciate a fine cigar and today, this is something we need.” School. Zank also has spent time officer at the Janesville State Bank newsletter conversation-worthy décor. He conducting research in industry. in Janesville, Minnesota. He has a Whether it be in the classroom, cheering on your favorite Auggie got hooked on the cigar business Patrick Sayler ’12 is the new At Augsburg, she was named an bachelor’s degree in economics/ team, or supporting the on-campus groups that mean the most to Benjamin Austin ’09 Mike Polis ’10 has when, as a student at Augsburg, general manager of Co-op Natural URGO Scholar, McNair Scholar, business administration from you, Augsburg College emphasizes a direct, personal experience and Michelle started Backboard he was hired by the Golden Leaf Foods in Sioux Falls, South AugSTEM Scholar, and Goldwater Winona State University and an 2009 2010 for its students and alumni. In today’s world where information is (Anderson) Austin ’11 were Media, based in Northeast shop, where he bought his cigars. Dakota. Before returning to Sioux Scholar. She plans to pursue MBA from Augsburg, as well as coming from all angles and at all times, personalized, meaningful married December 19 in St. Paul. Minneapolis. Check it out at He and wife, Nicole, who grew Falls three years ago, he spent a master’s degree in clinical eight years of experience in credit information is more important than ever. They met at Augsburg during her backboardgroup.com. up in Rocky River, Ohio, decided 16 years in the Minneapolis area microbiology at the University of analysis and lending with Farm The Alumni Association recognizes this and is taking a step sophomore year and his senior to settle in Lakewood. Robusto & managing cafes and retail shops. Wisconsin-La Crosse this fall. Credit and several banks. to provide more pertinent and timely information about what’s year. Briar specializes in hand-rolled As the general manager of Co-op happening at Augsburg. Beginning this summer, Augsburg is products that are kept in a 15-by- Natural Foods, he will oversee an Katie Clark ’10 MAN, ’14 DNP Jordan Holm ’15 offering a personalized e-newsletter that will be delivered on a 30 foot humidor. The shop offers established business that employs competed in the 2016 presented at a breakout session Schuyler (Dunhaupt) 2015 schedule of your choosing, in a format you want. No more monthly about 400 types of cigars and approximately 20 people and does Olympic trials in the 85-kilogram for Fairview Health Services’ Tilson ’10 graduated Now@Augsburg emails. The Auggie Connections newsletter is 2010 about 50 kinds of tobacco. more than $2 million a year. He weight class for Greco-Roman Somali Cultural Health Day in from Mitchell Hamline School of Law now in your hands. is completing work on a degree in wrestling at Carver-Hawkeye April. Her topic was “Critical in St. Paul in January with a focus in Choose the topics you are most interested in: Auggie The Minnesota business management/marketing Arena in Iowa City, Iowa, on decision making and chronic Indian law. She recently passed the athletics? Theater and music? Science? Want to hear it all? With Women’s Press and project management at the April 6. Holm was one of three illness.” Clark connected her Minnesota bar and became a staff 2012 your new, improved Auggie Connections newsletter, you won’t published an article on Interfaith University of Sioux Falls. athletes automatically earning the previous bedside nursing attorney for the Ho-Chunk Nation miss a thing. Youth Connection, a program No. 1 ranking. He graduated from experience with her current Trial Court. She holds undergraduate The first personalized Auggie Connections newsletter for high school and college-age has Augsburg with a business degree experience working with Somali degrees from Augsburg in history Allison Zank ’14 arrived in your email inbox in late June. If you haven’t yet set your youth that promotes interfaith been named a National in marketing. community members at the and American Indian studies. 2014 preferences, check your email for the message titled “Augsburg understanding and service. The Science Foundation Graduate Health Commons in the Cedar- College - delivered YOUR way,” to get started. article includes comments from Research Fellow for 2016-17. Riverside neighborhood. Her Muneer Al-Hameed ’12 Duina Hernandez ’16 lets focus was to teach health care To update your contact information, email alumniupdate@ Fardosa Hassan ’12, Muslim Zank will receive a $34,000 dirt fly at an Augsburg 2012 won the Dancing with the providers to deliver culturally augsburg.edu. student program associate at annual stipend and $12,000 cost- groundbreaking ceremony. Twin Cities Celebrities Charity Ball Augsburg College and program of-education allowance to assist See page 2. congruent care to marginalized in February. Augsburg alumna Carla coordinator of Interfaith Youth her in achieving a research-based populations. She concentrated Beaurline ’91 was a judge this year Connection. By holding regular graduate degree. An NSF GRFP her efforts on reducing the role of and a 2015 Dancing with the Twin conversations and yearly service indicates to graduate schools that stereotypes and assumptions in FRESH LOOK, Cities celebrity dancer. events, the group seeks to give a student is a top undergraduate the patient-provider relationship. youth “a way to be proud of scientist in the nation. Zank INCREASED INTERACTION augsburg.edu/now Kuoth Wiel ’13 co- Entrepreneurial leader recognized Enjoy several new features on the Augsburg Now magazine’s 2013 founded the NyaEden companion website. Thanks to a site upgrade, it’s possible to: Foundation, a nonprofit that aims to provide basic survival necessities Nic Thomley ’06 MBA was named to the CEO of Morning Star Financial Services and • Read articles on mobile devices with ease 2016 Class of Henry Crown Fellows and the the founder and chairman of Summit Fiscal to disadvantaged women and Aspen Global Leadership Network at the Agency and Pinnacle Services, Minneapolis. • Share favorite stories and photos on social media children throughout Africa. She is an Aspen Institute. This growing network unites Thomley was named a 2015 Ernst & Young • View exclusive slideshows and videos actress, model, and humanitarian a worldwide community of entrepreneurial Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist and, whose debut film role was in “The leaders from business, government, and the in 2006, was named to Inc. Magazine’s • Manage your magazine subscription and delivery method Good Lie,” a drama starring Reese nonprofit sector who share a commitment “30 Under 30, America’s Coolest Young • “Go green” by opting for digital content instead of print Witherspoon that tells the story of to enlightened leadership and to using their Entrepreneurs” list and to the Minneapolis/ a group of Sudanese refugees who Submit class notes and share good news creativity, energy, and resources to tackle St. Paul Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” • are offered shelter in the United the foremost societal challenges of our time. list. In 2010, Thomley was presented with States. Wiel was born to a Sudanese mother and father in an Ethiopian Thomley is an accomplished entrepreneur Augsburg’s First Decade Award, which refugee camp following her parents’ escape from war-torn Sudan. As a in the human services industry and the honors graduates of the past 10 years who young adult, Wiel moved to Minneapolis to attend Augsburg and study founder of companies that provide an array have made significant progress in their SUBMIT A CLASS NOTE social psychology. Visit nyaedenfoundation.org to learn more about the of services to persons with disabilities and professional achievements and contributions organization’s work to foster girls’ and women’s safety, empowerment, Tell us about the news in your life—your new job, move, senior citizens. Thomley is the founder and to the community. independence, dignity, self-esteem, and self-respect. marriage, and births. Visit augsburg.edu/alumni/connect to submit your announcements.

30 Augsburg Now Fall 2015 37 Summer 2016 31 Chester R. Heikkinen ’40, Dale W. Quanbeck ’54, Joyce I. (Engstrom) In memoriam Robbinsdale, Minnesota, Grand Forks, North Spector ’70, Minneapolis, SAVE THE DATES: age 99, on November 24. Dakota, age 84, age 68, on April 1. on January 18. Helen (Quanbeck) Frederick “Fred” M. King ’71, SEPTEMBER 22-24 Nichols ’44, Monticello, Dayne W. Sather ’55, Onalaska, Wisconsin, age Minnesota, age 94, on Maple Grove, Minnesota, 73, on February 5. New events and schedule! April 27. age 86, on January 25. William “Bill” J. Schutt ’75, Mary (Mortensen) Nelson ’45, Richard “Dick” L. Berg ’57, Watertown, South Dakota, Minneapolis, age 92, on Minneapolis, age 85, age 74, on February 2. January 22. on February 3. Kenneth J. Dahlberg ’80, Helen E. (Berg) Peterson ’46, Martin O. Sabo ’59, Colorado Springs, Minneapolis, age 92, on Minneapolis, age 78, Colorado, age 62, November 23. on March 13. on December 21.

Doris M. Rear-Hustad ’46, Gary A. Hoonsbeen ’60, Brenda L. Fredrick ’82, Blanchardville, Wisconsin, Crystal, Minnesota, Strawberry Point, Iowa, age 90, on March 18. age 77, on March 7. age 57, on April 23.

Loren M. Thorson ’46, Robert N. Martin ’61, Janice C. Olson ’84, Green Valley, Arizona, Dracut, Massachusetts, Lakewood, Washington, age 96, on March 8. age 81, on March 22. age 79, on January 19.

Robert “Bob” E. Lee ’47, Norbert W. W. Mokros ’61, Melissa A. Lawrence ’88, Hallettsville, Texas, Duluth, Minnesota, Minneapolis, age 59, age 92, on March 3. age 77, on January 25. on March 1.

Aagoth E. (Hanson) Sherman P. Coltvet ’62, Marilyn J. (Cederstrom) Hansen ’48, Willmar, Rochester, Minnesota, Teubert ’88, Waconia, Minnesota, age 89, age 75, on January 30. Minnesota, age 84, on January 4. on November 23. Charles “Bob” R. Arnold H. Skaar ’48, Hudgins ’62, Burnsville, Carol R. (Pasquarella) Edina, Minnesota, age 91, Minnesota, age 75, Liedtke ’89, Shorewood, on February 2. on December 12. Illinois, age 73, on December 5. Vera C. (Alberg) Charles W. King, Jr. ’62, Hafstad ’50, Owatonna, Sun City West, Arizona, Diane P. Ondrey ’94, Minnesota, age 86, on age 76, on December 17. Minneapolis, age 80, March 11. on February 19. Philip O. Sidney ’63, Paul D. Hilton ’51, St. Paul, age 75, Jean W. (Thompson) Cumberland, Wisconsin, on April 10. Rondeau ’94, Minneapolis, age 86, on January 28. age 77, on April 12. Mary M. Lindgren ’64, Eugene M. Nelson ’51, Minneapolis, age 74, Sandra K. Berg ’98, Inver Colorado Springs, on March 15. Grove Heights, Minnesota, BE AUGGIES. Colorado, age 86, age 69, on January 26. on January 11. David A. Mallak ’65, Austin, Texas, age 72, Conrad D. Meyer ’98, BE CALLED. BE PROUD. Lillian K. (Ysteboe) Ose ’51, on February 10. Merida, Mexico, age 66, Benson, Minnesota, on April 3. age 87, on January 5. Steven H. Steinke ’65, Pequot Lakes, Minnesota, Barbara (Steinle) Leonard E. Dalberg ’52, age 68, on January 26. Huckle ’00, Burnsville, Solvang, California, Minnesota, age 55, age 90, on April 21. Robert R. Benson ’67, on April 16. Preston, Minnesota, Randall “Randy” Fischer ’52, age 70, on December 23. Jason C. Magnon ’13, Lynchburg, Virginia, Georgetown, Texas, age 85, on February 5. Karl B. Lunder ’70, Red age 25, on January 15. Wing, Minnesota, age 69, Robert C. Ingman ’54, on March 12. Minneapolis, age 85, on Go to augsburg.edu/homecoming to register and see the new events this year. September 3. The “In memoriam” listings in this publication 32 Augsburg Now include notifications received before May 10. Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID 2211 Riverside Avenue Twin Cities, MN Minneapolis, MN 55454 Permit No. 2031

The Augsburg Choir joins Barry Manilow on stage The exceptional talent and hard work of the Augsburg Choir was rewarded with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to sing backup during Grammy-award winner Barry Manilow’s farewell tour. Members of the choir sang three of his hits in an encore at the Xcel Energy Center: “I Write the Songs,” “Miracle,” and “Copacabana (At the Copa).”