SPRING 2008 Minot State University Alumni Association & Development Foundation connections Learning leads to success PRESIDENT’S WELCOME ‘Our job…is to continue to set our bar high on performance and quality, and to demand that our students continue to receive the best in teaching and learning and for them to realize their potential for success.’ olleges and universities are getting a great deal of we are taking a significant step to focus our assessment on critical scrutiny these days, particularly in how they are thinking, engagement and student growth. C accessible to and affordable for students, and how Another measure of accomplishment is the success achieved accountable they are to the general public. A common question by our own graduates. Every day, I hear about our students’ asked of us is whether we are doing enough to examine our own successes, our faculty’s achievements, and our graduates’ attain- practices and our student learning to see if we are accomplishing ments and accomplishments. I’d invite you to judge for yourself what we say we are doing. by looking at the examples of success through the achievements Achieving Minot State University’s goal to become one of the of Clint Severson, who was recently named Forbes Magazine’s premier public, regional universities in the “great” Great Plains entrepreneur of the year; David Marquart, a distinguished depends on our continued efforts to study how we’re doing teacher and a finalist in NASA’s Teacher in Space Project; and to see how we compare to premier universities in the Great Les Anderson, who received the distinguished service award by Plains and elsewhere. There is no question that we’ll need to the National Association of Student Councils; Rhonda Grindy, remain affordable, accessible and accountable, but we also need who won a Milkin National Educator Award for teaching to make sure that we raise high our expectations for academic excellence; four alumnae who recently received awards from quality, for what we expect from students, and for what we know the North Dakota Association for Health, Physical Education, is required for our students to succeed in this competitive global Recreation and Dance, and the many other alums and their environment. achievements noted in the following pages of Connections. Recently, our faculty decided to adopt and implement the These alums and their achievements set the bar high for our Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA), a tool that assesses and students and our campus. Our job now is to continue to set our measures critical thinking, problem solving and writing of our bar high on performance and quality, and to demand that our students, while measuring their growth from their first year to students continue to receive the best in teaching and learning their final year. We are the only institution in North Dakota to and for them to realize their potential for success. adopt the CLA and to monitor the extent to which our incoming Thank you. students develop as critical thinkers and writers. By so doing, — DAVID FullER, President 2 CONTENTS volume 18—number 1 Forbes Magazine names Minot State graduate 4-6 2007 entrepreneur of the year NASA fi nalist to speak at May commencement 7 MSU science instructor collects beetles 8 Telemark University College offi cials visit MSU 9 PaiChai University representatives visit MSU 9 Athletics 10-11 Five inducted into MSU Athletics Hall of Fame 12 How much do they need? 13 Schwarz penned fi ght song during his stint 14 at Minot State Alumni happenings 15 Alumni features 16-18 Class notes 19-21 In memoriam 22 MSU ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2007 EXECUTIVE COUNCIL Band reunion 23 President: Darwin Langseth ’74 President-Elect: Brenda Foster ’84/’92 Muralist leaves his mark on Student Center 24 Vice President for Outreach: Linda Christianson ’72 Vice President for Events: Verla Rostad ’76 Vice President for Promotions: Ryan Hertz ’00 Past President: Verla Rostad ’76 OFFICERS EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS ON THE COVER Robert Anderson ’83 Dr. David Fuller, MSU President Jenna Frueh, Minot, senior Leslie Barney ’80 Marv Semrau, Vice President for Advancement 4.0 student in communication disorders Kristi Berg ’95/’01 Tawnya Bernsdorf ’04, Director of Alumni Randy Burckhard ’74 Relations & Annual Giving (photo by 360 Digitography) Mike Gietzen ’01 Blake Hanson ’04 CONNECTIONS STAFF Kelly Hayhurst ’87 Writer & Editor: Frank McCahill Trisha Nelson ’99 Layout & Design: Sandra Nordstrom ’77 Diana Olson ’73 Lisa Olson ’89 MSU ADVANCEMENT OFFICE Tonya Pearson ’91 Vice President for Advancement: Marv Semrau Ann Rivera ’04 Director of Alumni Relations & Annual Giving: Deb Schultz ’72/’91 Tawnya Bernsdorf ’04 Jan Shipman ’70 Donor Relations Coordinator: is published three times a year by the Minot State University Alumni Association and Amy Simmons ’01 Kate Neuhalfen ’07 connectionsDevelopment Foundation. Send comments, articles or photo submissions to Connections, MSU Alumni Ellen Simmons ’68 Database Manager: Kathy Huettl Offi ce, 500 University Avenue West, Minot, ND 58707. Telephone 701-858-3890 or 1-800-777-0750. Fax 701-858-3179. E-mail: [email protected] Angela Zerr ’00 DelRae Zimmerman ’04 Third class postage paid at Fargo, ND 58101 3 4 FEATURE STORY Forbes Magazine names Minot State graduate 2007 entrepreneur of the year MSU’s Severson revives Silicon Valley company lint Severson, who earned a business administration In citing Severson’s achievement, Forbes wrote that the degree in 1973 from Minot State, rescued Abaxis, Abaxis chairman and CEO was “contentious, but supremely C a California-based medical device maker, from competent.” Severson happily accepts the characterization. bankruptcy and positioned it to be a major player in the “When you’re a small company competing with the biggest $5 billion-a-year blood-chemistry market. industries in the country for market share and resources, you “That was quite an honor,” Severson said about the Forbes have to be contentious and combative, or they’ll walk all over award. “I had no idea they were going to pick me or Abaxis. you,” he said. It’s great to see all the hard work we’ve done get some attention.” Severson honed his aggressive style over a 35-year business The firm’s flagship product, the Piccolo machine, runs a career, much of it in the hard-charging world of sales. battery of blood tests in 12.5 minutes. Patients can get an “Only a sales guy could have built Abaxis because what we accurate diagnosis before they leave a doctor’s office. The were doing sounded so outlandish,” he said. “Most of the money machine eliminates the need for outside labs, with their managers and stock analysts would say, ‘Forget it, it will never added costs, delays and potential for error. The machine is happen.’ What we were trying to do was something no one else termed a disruptive technology in the business world. had ever done before.” “If we are successful, we will change the way routine blood-chemistry tests are delivered,” Severson said. ‘I was competing with the best- The shoebox-sized blood analyzer is portable and requires little training. It is sold to doctors, hospitals, managed-care educated people in the country organizations and the military. When Severson joined the company in 1996, it was losing — Stanford, Berkeley, Harvard $6 million a year. Last year, it netted $11 million on sales of guys — and I was winning. $89 million, earning it the No. 11 spot on Forbes’ list of 200 Best Small Companies. I was prepared as well Abaxis spent $100 million over a decade to develop the $15,000 Piccolo machine. The firm had to steer through a as any of the people maze of government regulations, lawsuits, cash shortages, firings and operational mishaps to bring its technology to market. I was competing with.’ 5 Severson’s ascent to the top of the business world began real estate values would soar as Silicon Valley exploded with modestly. After he graduated from Minot State, he drove across high-tech ventures. country for three months, looking for a job and a place to live. “I started investing in real estate in 1975,” he said. “ I’ve been Coming from a small school, Severson was insecure as he collecting houses ever since.” interviewed for jobs in large markets like San Francisco. “You never know where you stand relative to the rest of the world,” he said. Minot State is never far from Severson’s apprehensions quickly evaporated as his job search Severson’s mind as he continued. “I was competing with the best-educated people in the country revolutionizes the point-of-care — Stanford, Berkeley, Harvard guys — and I was winning,” he recalled. “I was prepared as well as any of the people I was blood testing industry. competing with.” After two weeks in San Francisco, he received three job offers After Dow Chemical, Severson worked for Syntex, the without benefit of a permanent address. One was with an olive company that invented the birth control pill. It also developed co-op, another with the copier division of Smith-Corona and a drug-abuse tests and pioneered therapeutic drug monitoring. third with the diagnostics division of Dow Chemical. He joined Severson started as a salesman and ascended to national sales Dow and sold diagnostic equipment to hospitals, doctors’ offices manager in three years. and medical labs. “That was my breakout job,” he said. Even then, Severson had a keen eye for future trends. He Severson later worked for Mast Immunosystems, which sold noted that a new three-bedroom house in San Jose sold for blood tests to allergists. He pushed sales from $7 to $25 million $35,000, comparable to the price in Minot.