THE MAGAZINE FOR ALUMNI, PARENTS AND FRIENDS OF AUGUSTANA COLLEGE

Autumn/Winter 2014

AUGUSTANAThe

VOLUME 5 • ISSUE 1

Explorers

More than 154 years ago, Augustana’s roots were formed as a college of the Lutheran church. Today, that foundation remains strong and continues to guide us in our daily work to inspire students to pursue their talents and

passions and to engage faith – to encounter God and explore His creation. Here, we believe that because we are freed by God’s loving grace, we can explore life’s questions and seek the answers with a fearless pursuit of understanding, growth, and excellence. At Augustana, we believe that nothing in this world is exempt from study; everything is part of God’s good creation and is worthy of investigation. Faith is what inspires our study, frees us to find solutions and, sometimes, to live with unanswerable questions. Simply put, at Augustana, we believe we are called to be explorers – in life, in faith and in service to others. The individuals you’ll meet in this issue are living examples of the power of exploration – they are Augustana alumni who were indeed brave enough to explore life’s questions, seek the answers and push through challenges. They each remain, today, relentless in their pursuits to make a difference. Among others, you’ll meet Dr. Daryl Ferguson, class of 1960,

who has spent his life seeking truth and justice and is today, exploring the untold story of America’s first 100 years. We’ll introduce you to the Rev. Dr. Robin Steinke, class of 1980, the recently named president of Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, who is working hard to find new and innovative ways to help future and existing pastors proclaim the Gospel in a technological world. You’ll also meet Dr. Joe von Fischer ’92, who’s using science to drive environmental change, and Kate (Knudson) Wolters ’02, who had the courage to pursue a career in Washington, D.C., after being inspired by our own Dr. Peter Schotten, professor of Government and International Affairs/Political Science. On campus, we are also exploring – exploring ways in which we can provide even better experiences for our students and be of better service to the region we call home. Soon we will formally introduce our new strategic plan, Horizons 2019, a collection of robust goals and objectives designed to lead Augustana through the next five years and beyond. We’re looking forward to sharing details of the plan with you in the coming months, and working with you as we explore ways to create an Augustana like never before. Enjoy this issue and best wishes for a blessed Christmas and Happy New Year!

Yours, for Augustana,

Rob Oliver, President

VIEW FROM SUMMIT AVENUE

ON THE COVER

The cover photo was submitted by Molly Hermann, a sophomore Distinguished Scholar from Sturgis, South Dakota. The shot was taken in Greece over Spring Break 2014 during the Distinguished Scholar course led by Dr. David O’Hara (philsophy) and Dr. Rocki Wentzel (classics).

This photo was taken in Nauplion, Greece, atop the Palamidi Fortress.

“We woke up before sunrise one morning and hiked some 999 steps to the top of the Fortress. It was quite the workout for early in the morning, but it was totally worth it. We found that little hole in the wall and sat and watched the sun come over the mountains and the town from there,” Hermann said.

In January, 191 Augustana students will spend the month exploring in classrooms without borders around the world, studying in 19 countries around the globe during J-Term.

Among those will the Augustana Band, led by Dr. Paul Schilf, who will venture to China.

THE AUGUSTANA The Augustana is published three times per year for alumni, parents and friends of Augustana College by the Office of Advancement.

Send correspondence, name changes and address corrections to: The Augustana, 2001 S. Summit Ave., Sioux Falls, S.D. 57197 or via email at alumni@augie.edu.

Visit the magazine online at augie.edu/magazine. Find more news about Augustana at augie.edu.

Editor: Kelly Sprecher, CommunicationsClass Notes: Carolyn Cordie, Mary Toso ‘90Contributors: Rob Oliver, President Bob Preloger, Vice President for Advancement Kaia Chambers, Communications Katie Foutz ‘00, Communications Bruce Conley, Sports Information Tim Evans, Sports Information Matt Addington ‘95, Photography

OUR MISSION Inspired by Lutheran scholarly tradition and the liberal arts, Augustana provides an education of enduring worth that challenges the intellect, fosters integrity and integrates faith with learning and service in a diverse world.

OUR VISIONAugustana aspires to become one of America’s premier church-related colleges.

CORE VALUESCentral to the Augustana experience are five core values. The community lives them and honors them, and they infuse the academic curriculum as well as student life: Christian, Liberal Arts, Excellence, Community and Service.

CONNECT WITH US!

Augustana is an affirmative action, Title IX, equal opportunity institution.

© Augustana College 2014

DEPARTMENTSView from Summit Avenue

Notes from the Green

News From the Huddle

Books

In the Spotlight

Alumni News

Navy & Gold

Snapshots

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FEATURES2. Citizen JournalistEven though Daryl Ferguson, class of 1960, studied business – not journalism – at Augustana, he’s spent his life serving as a watchdog for the public.

9. Driving ChangeDr. Joe von Fischer ’92 credits an Augustana biology professor with helping him find his true passion. Today, as a biology professor himself and a Google Earth collaborator, he’s using science to drive change and raise awareness.

11. Answering the CallAs the newly named president of Luther Seminary, the Rev. Dr. Robin Steinke ’80 reflects on her journey.

32. Protecting the GoalMeet senior biology major Ashley Limmer. She’s setting records as the best goalkeeper in Viking soccer history.

CONTENTS

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en Bradlee never met Daryl Ferguson. The gravely-voiced, legendary editor of The Washington Post, Ben Bradlee headed the news-

room that printed the Pentagon Papers, exposed Watergate and ultimately, many would say, changed journalism forever. An old-school newsman known as much for his energetic leadership as he was for his sailor’s vocabulary, Bradlee died of natural causes on Oct. 21 at his home in Washington. He was 93. The man who oversaw and guided the then-unknown, now-forever-famous Watergate reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein once wrote candidly about “newspapering,” saying “it may take dozens of bites before you are sure it’s an apple. Dozens and dozens more bites before you have any real idea how big the apple might be.” Those who knew him say that Bradlee had a bulldog belief in reporting the truth. Ben Bradlee would’ve liked Daryl Ferguson. He would’ve liked him a lot. Whether fighting for the battleship USS South Dakota, exposing regulatory weaknesses within the insurance industry or his latest quest: an attempt to tell, what he calls, “the story of where America really began,” Ferguson, like Bradlee, has an insatiable appetite for truth and justice. This is his story.

As a kid growing up in Sioux Falls, Fer-guson wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his life. He chose Augustana, he said, because of its liberal arts foundation. On campus, he majored in business admin-istration and minored in religion, counting professor emeritus Les Carson (business and economics) among his most influential mentors. “At Augustana, you’re given the opportu-nity to experiment and your vision becomes ‘the world,’” Ferguson said. After graduating in 1960 with a commis-sion in the U.S. Navy, Ferguson went on to become an aide to Admiral John McCain Sr., the father of 2008 presidential candidate and U.S. Senator John McCain (R-Arizona). After a medical discharge from the Navy, Fer-guson joined the Bell System (later known as AT&T). “I entered a program called ‘High Risk’ – management told us up front that 75 per-cent of us would fail the program. Basically, they put you in an elevated management position to see if you sank or swam. I was among the group that swam.” As a young manager at Bell, Ferguson still had ties to the Navy. After learning of the Navy’s plan to sell the battleship USS South Dakota for scrap, he began an intense effort to bring the ship back home to its name-sake. “I was 23 years old at the time,” Ferguson remembered. “I went to the Pennsylvania Railroad and said we needed some free trains. I went to the chief of U.S. Naval Opera-tions and said we needed a couple of jet transports. We got them.” “I wrote a letter to every newspaper. Of all the failures you make in life, I believe there are many incredible opportunities. And some of the best are the ones that look im-possible. But frankly they are also the ones that are quite possible. You just have to say, ‘What has to be done to make it work?’” Along the way, others joined in Ferguson’s fight and eventually, major pieces of the ship were returned to South Dakota. The Battleship USS South Dakota Memorial was officially dedicated in Sioux Falls in 1969 and continues to serve as a historic center and tourist attraction today. After securing a home for the USS South Dakota, Ferguson continued to serve at Bell. While there, he went on to earn his Ph.D. in business and economics from George Wash-ington University. As his career intensified, Ferguson identi-fied how important effective communica-tion was to the success of an organization. He also knew how difficult it could be to communicate effectively. To illustrate his point, he suggested that the telecommunications industry use the famous conference table built specifically for the Paris Peace Talks – historic negotiations between the U.S. and Vietnamese designed to end the Vietnam War. Historic accounts say it took France,

North Vietnam, and the U.S. six months just to agree on the size of the table. It was designed with 23 sides – so communication could flow seamlessly for the representatives in attendance. He wanted to bring the table to the U.S. His colleagues told him he was crazy. It was not possible. He was told that the North Vietnamese would never agree. Ferguson refused to back down. He reached out to French representatives within the U.S. State Department and even appealed to officials in the White House before finally securing the home phone number of the French foreign minister. “I didn’t take the time zones into consider-ation and ended up calling him at 6:30 a.m.,” Ferguson said. “After I apologized for calling so early, I told him that I represented an industry within the U.S. and that we wanted to borrow this table to illustrate how difficult communication can be.” “The next day I received a telegram saying the country of France had approved my request to either borrow or own the table,” Ferguson said. “If you’re willing to try – if you’re willing to hang in there – you can succeed,” he said.

The Storm of Money After serving as president of Citizens Utili-ties, then the nation’s largest multi-utility, from 1990-2000, Ferguson retired for a short time before being named chair of the board for Europe’s Hungarian Telephone Company. He accepted the position, in part, he said, because he was allowed to work remotely from his home in Beaufort County, South Carolina, with occasional business trips to Europe. After being drawn to South Carolina be-cause of its favorable climate and aesthetic beauty, Ferguson said he began to grow upset after years of watching the national media “paint our area of the coast as a high risk for hurricanes. It wasn’t true. And I was out to prove it.” Media outlets weren’t the only ones char-acterizing South Carolina as a high hurricane risk. Ferguson realized that the state’s resi-dents were being charged higher premiums for homeowner’s insurance based on the area’s high risk categorization. Ferguson said he “went back to school and learned the science of hurricanes.” He visited with hurricane specialists at the National Hurricane Center who shared that, based on

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Daryl Ferguson ‘60 in his home state of South Carolina.

actual weather system analysis and historical data, South Carolina’s risk for hurricanes was not high. In fact, the risk was low. “Insurance companies get actuary reports from simulation companies that run models,” Ferguson said. “These models are hidden from the public and are only known by the insurance companies.” Ferguson wanted more regulatory over-sight for insurance companies and asked to talk with South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley. His request for a meeting, Ferguson said, was denied. Again, Ferguson refused to back down. He was hungry for the truth and he wanted change. So, he turned to The Post and Cou-rier, Charleston’s daily newspaper, to help him share the story. The result was an explosive investigative reporting series called “The Storm of Money,” written by The Post & Courier’s Tony Bartelme. The year-long project, which showed how insurance companies earned nearly $1 billion in excess profits based on inac-curate hurricane risk assessments, earned

Bartelme and The Post & Courier a Pulitzer Prize nomination – the most coveted award in professional journalism. After the articles, change was imminent, Ferguson said. The public demanded it. “From there, we put together a nonprofit corporation called the South Carolina Com-petitive Alliance. We helped drive legislative reforms that changed how homeowner’s in-surance is assessed based on accurate data,” he said. “We put in a bill that authorized the state to set up its own risk analysis, so the public could see the data, rather than just relying on insurance company information.” The experience, Ferguson said, showed him the power of perseverance. “Things that are difficult … if you go about them in the right way … change can be made by average people,” he said.

Expanding Tourism After “The Storm of Money,” and the impressive changes that followed, Ferguson could’ve simply moved on. Fully retired at that point, he could’ve cho-sen to enjoy his days golfing, traveling and spending more time with his wife, Glenna, and his children. But something kept nagging at him. There

was one more piece of the puzzle he needed to take care of. He’d helped to prove that South Carolina was a low risk for hurricanes. Yet, he couldn’t shake the fact that the area’s tourism indus-try – a $16 billion enterprise – still operated as though hurricanes were a serious threat. “Here, tourism falls off about 70 percent from summer to fall,” he said. “In reality, fall is the best time of year here. In December, it’s 65 degrees.” In addition to favorable temperatures, the South Carolina coastline also offers unmatched aesthetics. The “lowcountry,” according to historian Dr. Larry Rowland, professor emeritus at the University of South Carolina Beaufort and author of “The History of Beaufort County, South Carolina, Volume I, 1514-1861,” is a combination of tidal water, land, sea and sky. Beyond the visuals, “you can smell the marshes, see oysters the size of your hand, eat distinctive food, see birds, flowers and trees not found elsewhere in the U.S.” “If we could add $500 million in tourism revenue each year, we will have bought

ourselves an insurance policy for income sta-bilization. In fact, we will add approximately 5,500 new jobs,” Ferguson said. Ferguson shared his thoughts with Row-land, other friends and local business lead-ers, all of whom agreed that more efforts were needed to drive tourism in the state. Ferguson got the attention of the tour-ism leaders along the South Carolina coast. As a first step they moved to identify their tourism assets. Surprisingly, they came upon a little known archaeological dig in 1979. The state of South Carolina reported that it might have found the capitol of Spain’s first colony in America ... Santa Elena. At that moment, Ferguson’s plans for a relaxing retirement took a dramatic change.

Re-writing History Combing through historical papers, Fergu-son was surprised to learn that St. Augustine in Florida – today dubbed “the oldest con-tinuously occupied city in America” – was originally designed as a Spanish military post. Founded in 1565, few civilian settlers, if any, lived there. It was not a settlement until after 1580. Ferguson’s research shows that a colony called Santa Elena, located on Port Royal

Sound – what is today Beaufort County – was a military garrison in 1566, but became the first European settlement in what is now the U.S. in 1569. Furthermore, it lasted for another 18 years. By 1569, Ferguson found that more than 300 settlers were living there – long before the English landed at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607 and well before they settled Plymouth Rock in 1620. It’s why Ferguson says Beaufort County is at least, if not historically, more important than St. Augustine, Jamestown or Plymouth Rock. Ferguson said he asked Dr. Paul Hoffman, professor of history at Louisiana State Uni-versity, why history text books begin with the establishment of Jamestown rather than Santa Elena. Hoffman’s response, Ferguson said, was “the English eventually won America from the Spanish. Thus the winners wrote the history books.” No one has challenged them, until now. According to Ferguson’s research, after England’s Admiral Drake blasted St. Augus-

tin in 1587, Spanish leaders ordered Santa Elena to be consolidated into St. Augustine.After the consolidation, Santa Elena was rarely referenced again until 1979, when University of South Carolina archaeolo-gist Stanley South believed his team had discovered a small percentage of the long-lost town. South’s team had uncovered what they believed was a Spanish fort while digging at the edge of a golf course on the Parris Island Marine Base. After the initial discovery, momentum for continued archaeological digging lan-guished, Ferguson said, mainly due to a lack of resources. “Without archaeology, there are no discov-eries. There is no analysis or confirmation,” Ferguson wrote. “And that is why the discov-ery of Santa Elena went virtually unreported. However, today the two most revered historical scholars support our claims. The first major European settlement was Spain’s Santa Elena. And it was the center of opera-tions, and the capitol, of La Florida, which extended from Newfoundland to the Florida Keys and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mis-sissippi River.” “Most Americans have never heard of Santa Elena,” he wrote. “They do not know

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that it was the first major European settle-ment in America. They do not know that it was the first colonial capital in America. And they have no idea of the contributions that the entire Spanish colonial movement made to the discovery of America.” “The story of Santa Elena has to be told,” Ferguson wrote in a recent essay. “The his-tory books have to be changed. The archae-ology, which will expand on this history, has to be reopened. And my grandchildren need to understand what it took for their ‘ances-tors’ to just survive on our soil.” Pulling together people he called “think-ers and doers,” Ferguson and collaborators formed the Santa Elena Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to telling the “lost story of how America was first settled.” For the last year, the group has been

working to reopen and re-engage the Santa Elena archaeological site. Already they have the support of the U.S. Government, South Carolina, Beaufort County and Spain. The group also hopes to build an “inter-pretation” center near the site – a facility Ferguson says will be much more than a historical museum. “It will be like walking through a 16th cen-tury time machine,” he wrote. “It will tell the story of how America was first settled.” “Today there are 54 million Hispanic Ameri-cans – more than Spain’s entire population,” Ferguson writes. “Our country is looking for a way to integrate them into our society. What better way than to show them that their ancestors were among the first to settle this country.” “This is a chance to tell the lost history of

the first 100 years of America,” he said. “And what a story! This was a virtual race between France and Spain to get here first.” “This has the power to change our under-standing of history. We need something that will remind us of our values; a story that shows how hard work will lead to success. There’s such valor in this story – unbeliev-able heroism, risk-taking, sacrifices for the betterment of their children. It’s amazing.” “Throughout our life we have the opportunity to help people every day. However, every once in a while, a project appears where we can help an entire com-munity…or maybe our country. This is one of them.”

Learn more at www.Santa-Elena.org

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A photo showing the 1979 dig by University of South Carolina Archaeologist Stanley South. The dig discovered portions of the long-lost town of Santa Elena.

A

Augustana Introduces American StudiesMajor Augustana recently announced its newest major in American Studies. This interdisciplinary study draws from departments including government, English, history, music and sociology. The major was designed by Assistant Professor of History Dr. Matthew Pehl and Dr. Jeffrey Miller, Humanities division chair and professor of English and journalism. “Here you have four or five different majors working together to create a more holistic understanding of what the United States is, of what we think and believe, of how we act,” Miller said. American Studies, which is also available as a minor, can be seen as a problem-based program. “So many problems in the world don’t just draw from one discipline,” Pehl said. He describes this as an opportunity to combine classes in different disciplines to get multiple perspectives on a single theme. The goal of these programs, Pehl said, would be to answer those “tough ques-tions” that our world deals with today. “In a way, these students are going to be on the frontier of the way colleges are moving towards thinking creatively about a lot of complex problems,” Pehl said. Pehl sees three types of students becoming interested in adding Ameri-can Studies as a major or minor: those already in a major such as English, government or history who want a concentration within the field of American Studies as a minor; interna-tional students who are coming to the United States, in part, to learn about the country; and students in a major such as biology or chemistry who are interested in these ideas but can’t double major in something like history. Although the major is new to Augus-tana, the concept has been around for a while. “Over the years, it has gone from being a combination of literature and history to a discipline that tries to address the culture of the United States to, now, a discipline that looks at the many cultures of the U.S. to see how they work individually and interdependently,” Miller said. “It’s a great place for people who like to think not just analytically, in terms of looking in depth at a specific topic, but who like to think synthetically as well – how those specific topics begin to add up to the proverbial big picture.”

Augustana’s enrollment grew 3.3 percent from last year. For Fall 2014, Augus-tana’s total student headcount – the sum of part-time, full-time and graduate students – is 1,823. That number in-cludes students from 29 states and 38 countries. “These numbers affirm what recent studies have shown,” said Rob Oliver, president. “And that is this: in order to succeed in today’s globally focused, technology-driven, knowl-edge-based environment, today’s young people need an education that allows them to explore their passions, discover their calling and find their vocation, while also equip-ping them with essential 21st-century skills.” “What many of us have traditionally called the ‘liberal arts’ are now being called ‘21st-century skills’ – the ability to analyze information and draw conclusions, think criti-cally and problem solve, communicate effec-tively, collaborate, engage technology, and act with global awareness. That’s just what we specialize in at Augustana.” “Here, we’re committed

to helping our students discover their God-given gifts, while teaching them the skills they’ll need to use those gifts in service to others,” he said. “At the same time, we’re inten-tional about creating in our students the desire to be lifelong learners. It’s why we so often hear employers refer to Augus-tana graduates as ‘adapt-able’ and ‘nimble.’ Because they’ve developed a taste for continued learning, our grads can not only embrace change, they possess the insight and perspective to initiate it.” “Our graduates, em-ployers tell us, are the idea-generators and problem-solvers, and for that, we’re very proud,” Oliver said. “We’re also incredibly humbled that so many families believe in the work we’re doing and have chosen us to support

and nourish their sons and daughters in their aca-demic endeavors.” Vice President for Enroll-ment Nancy Davidson agreed. “As we give thanks for the return of our upperclass-men, we also celebrate the newest members of our campus community, our transfer students and the freshman class,” she said. “The class of 2018 is com-posed of talented artists, athletes, actors, dancers, vocalists, instrumentalists, writers, scientists and so much more. Their ap-plications for admission highlighted their desires to learn, their ability to lead, and their commitment to service. They already make the world a better place. It’s hard to imagine the impact they’ll have on our world in four years. We’re certain we’ll be able to say ‘we knew them when...’”

“What many of us have traditionally called the ‘liberal arts’ are now being called ‘21st - century skills’

– the ability to analyze information and draw conclusions, think critically and problem solve,

communicate effectively, collaborate, engage technology, and act with global awareness.

That’s just what we specialize in at Augustana.”

— Rob Oliver, President

Augustana Reports Enrollment Increase

NOTES FROM THE GREEN

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Ahead of Opening Convocation, the official start of the academic year, members of the Class of 2018 walked from

the Chapel of Reconciliation to Our Savior’s Lutheran Church for the ceremony.

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CHANGEDr. Joe von Fischer ’92 credits an Augustana biology professor with helping him find his true passion.

DRIVING

Today, as a biology professor himself and a Google Earth collaborator, he’s using science to drive change and raise awareness.

Dr. Joe von Fischer is currently working with Google Earth Outreach and the Environmental Defense Fund to track natural gas leaks in major U.S. cities.

He’s an Augustana graduate who later studied at Cornell and Princeton University to become an expert in greenhouse gasses and climate change. And he just became the assistant chair of the department of biology at Colorado State University, which has roughly 1,400 students in the program. Who is his biggest scientific influence? Augustana’s professor emeritus of biology, Dr. Larry Tieszen. “He is the main reason why I’m doing what I’m doing today,” von Fischer said.

Where it All Started Von Fischer worked with Tieszen in the summer doing research during his time at Augustana. “I started working with him making graphs of his data,” von Fischer said. “Working with scientific data resonates with a natural part of me.” Later, he contributed to one of Tieszen’s re-search projects, studying how climate affects the types of grasses growing on Great Plains grasslands. Dr. Tieszen was thankful for the help. “Joe was a great example of a research as-sistant that made his own way when he was here and has become a well-established pro-fessional who is recognized all over the world for his work,” Tieszen said. “It is those students and their interest in working independently and doing research that has helped to make the department so strong.” Von Fischer remembers working with gas analyzers to conduct measures on plant processes in Tieszen’s class. He found the work exhilarating and still values the unique experience Augustana provided in getting to work with professors in that capacity. “Understanding plants as machines and measuring how they work was over the top for me, like being a kid in the candy store,” he said. Taken with the subject, von Fischer decided on a career doing ecology research during Dr. Craig Spencer’s ecology class. He said he enjoys doing research in ecology because “you’re not deciding against doing any part of science – biology, chemistry, math, physics – it’s all there.” After von Fischer earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Augustana majoring in biology, he found a graduate advisor at Michigan State University and worked as a technician for his research for a year. He then earned his Ph.D. from Cornell University studying meth-ane and the physical and biological process that control how much of this gas enters the atmosphere. Decidedly not done with his education, von Fischer did post-doctoral research at Princ-eton University studying greenhouse gasses and climate change.

“I had seen these amazing records of the ice cores that contained air from an ancient atmosphere and I had an opportunity to do some of that work myself at Princeton. From that, I gained a greater appreciation of how greenhouse gasses were part of climate change over the earth’s history.” Much of his work involves the use of stable isotopes, an ecological tool that he first learned at Augustana. The grassland research with Dr. Tieszen depended on Augustana’s isotope ratio mass spectrometer. “I really like using instruments and collect-ing data,” von Fischer said. “You can use these instruments to see plants breathing carbon dioxide in and out. It’s like putting on a differ-ent type of glasses – they give you a new way to perceive the world.”

Working with Google He was curious what else could be discov-ered about greenhouse gasses using these instruments and with a research grant in the late 2000s, got his hands on a newer machine that could measure methane concentration. “I wondered, ‘What’s going on with methane in cities right now?’” Starting small, von Fischer took his air moni-tor to a local area in Colorado where he found a company that was leaking a lot of methane. He decided to talk to the company about his findings to see if they would change. To his pleasant surprise, they were very interested in finding where the methane was coming from and stopping the leaks. “It was the first time I ever used science to make a difference with climate change,” von Fischer said. After this initial test, von Fischer began working with the Environmental Defense Fund, which had just partnered with Google

Earth Outreach to measure methane in major cities using Google’s Street View car. Von Fischer is the principal investigator of this project and is in charge of figuring out how to drive the cars while using this instru-ment, to analyze the data and to identify locations where there may be leaks from gas pipes in these cities. “The majority of the leaks are very small,” von Fischer said, “but there are a lot of them, and it all accumulates into the atmosphere and has an impact on climate.” Starting in Boston and Staten Island, von Fischer discovered there were methane leaks in almost every mile of the cities. He says this is caused by the old cast-iron system of pipes these cities still use. His research and follow-up reporting has started to make an impact, according to von Fischer. “I see our work is starting to raise aware-ness of this problem and it has put pressure on utilities and public utility commissions to make improvements.”

What’s Next? Currently the Google street view cars mea-suring these methane leaks are in three other cities in the United States. The city names will be released with the data in late fall or this winter. He is also wrapping up some grant-funded research study partnered with Augustana students and biology Professor Dr. Steve Matzner to examine how important the diversity of methane consuming bacteria is in grasslands all over the central U.S. These field sites are rather familiar to von Fischer as he spent those summers from 1989 to 1992 traveling all over the Great Plains visiting them with his favorite professor, Dr. Larry Tieszen.

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Dr. Joe von Fischer ‘92 on the campus of Colorado State University.

ANSWERING THE CALLAs the newly named president of Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, the Rev. Dr. Robin Steinke ’80 reflects on her journey.

The Rev. Dr. Robin Steinke ‘80 during Luther Seminary’s presidential installation ceremony earlier this year.

When the Rev. Dr. Robin Steinke was named president of Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Min-nesota, in June, she became the first woman in the Seminary’s 145-year history to be named to the position. A first generation college graduate, she is also the Seminary’s first president to have once worked as a middle school band direc-tor and to have later served as an execu-tive for one of the nation’s largest financial services companies. Her story, she says, is one of bumps and nudges and hints and whispers – and the courage it takes to step out and pursue a call, or in Steinke’s case, multiple calls, with noth-ing more than a leap of faith. “I’ve never thought, ‘I wonder what I’ll do after this.’ I’ve embraced God’s sense of wisdom, or God’s sense of humor, and have tried to tend to the call before me in a given day. That has served my baptismal vocation well,” she said.

Her Journey, Part One Steinke grew up in Courtland, Minnesota, a small town near New Ulm, as the second of three children. She loved music and consid-ered a career in teaching, but because no one in her family had attended college, she looked to her future with uncertainty. She chose Augustana, she said, because she was interested in exploring a place out of state. “Sioux Falls qualified,” she said, laughing. She majored in music, counting Dr. Harry “Doc” Krueger and Dr. Leland Lillehaug among her most influential mentors. After graduating in 1980, she took a job as the band director at Dickerson Middle School near Atlanta, Georgia. Three years later, she was contemplating re-turning to school to pursue a master’s degree when a friend suggested she explore a career with American Express. “I just laughed and said ‘I didn’t know the difference between a stock and a bond.’ But, I investigated and it seemed like a place to make a difference in people’s lives. And, it provided me an opportunity to learn a lot about a field I didn’t know much about,” she said. She left teaching and went on to spend the next eight years as a stock broker, financial planner and trainer for American Express Financial Advisors.

Her Journey, Part Two While at American Express, she served on the board of Lutheran Ministries of Georgia,

a statewide social ministry organization dedicated to developing creative solutions for homelessness and unemployment. Both her home pastor and the bishop sug-gested that she go into ministry. “I said to him, ‘I am in ministry.’ By virtue of our baptism, we bear witness to God’s work in the world by being the hands and feet of Christ in whatever we do.” Still, she considered their repeated sugges-tions seriously. She enrolled in a year-long Greek course at Emory University to “see how it felt” and, after being transferred to Minne-apolis, Minnesota, for her work with American Express, she continued to take classes at Luther Seminary. After being transferred for work again – this time to Columbus, Ohio – Steinke enrolled at Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus where she earned a Master of Divinity and a Master of Sacred Theology. She did this while still working for American Express.

From there, she ventured across the Atlantic to pursue her Ph.D. in theology from the University of Cambridge in England. When she returned to the U.S. in 1998, she accepted a call from Hope Lutheran Church in Annandale, Virginia, to serve as pastor for a few years and the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, in Pennsylvania. She would spend the next 15 years at Gettysburg, serving as a professor of theological ethics and public life and as dean of the Seminary. Then she received the call from Luther.

Her Journey, Part Three “It’s a great adventure. Every day is different,” Steinke said of her new role at Luther Semi-nary. “I get to meet a lot of wonderful people – students, staff, faculty, donors, alumni, com-munity leaders. I’m thrilled to be here.” While she’s excited about her new role, Steinke is also frank about the issues facing higher education today, particularly for stu-dents pursuing paths in ministry. “The real question is, ‘how do we solve those issues creatively in order to educate people for Christian leadership; how do we creatively adapt?’ We need to think outside the box,” she said. “It’s clear that many young people are not coming to worship in a congregation in traditional ways. It is exciting to lead Luther Seminary as we work with young people to discover the different ways in which God is at work in our world. This generation is very interested in volunteerism; serving overseas; finding and knowing their purpose in the uni-

verse. That’s really interesting and exciting.” “Luther has really been an innovator in the combination of online and residential courses that create more pathways to theological education in a greater variety of forms. The question is, ‘how do we continue to offer that innovation in a way that’s sustainable?’” Steinke also recognizes the need for Luther to serve as a resource for existing church leaders. “It’s asking, ‘how do we stir up the imagi-nation?’ We need to get out of our self-contained boxes and find collaborative ways to prepare leaders. We need to ask ourselves, ‘what does it mean to prepare leaders for the church? How do we think about it in new and innovative ways?’” “Certainly we have congregations across this country who are deeply engaged. Yet, we need to open ourselves to some holy imagination to see what this looks like in the future.”

Challenges aside, Steinke is the first one to admit her less-than-obvious journey to seminary president is what makes her well prepared to address the tasks at hand. “Most people think the best preparation for being seminary president was my work as a pastor or being at American Express,” she said. “Really though, it was being a middle school band instructor.” “Middle school kids are tough. Most people either love ‘em or hate ‘em. I loved ‘em. I had 200 students who’d never held an instrument before coming into my band room and within three months we had a Christmas concert. That taught me organization and the ability to think on my feet. I think the most impor-tant dimension of adapting to multiple voca-tional trajectories is the gift of a great liberal arts education, where thinking deeply about things that matter is fundamental. That way of being transfers to multiple disciplines and I am very grateful to Augie for that gift.”

Her Current Journey “I’ve always felt a sense of calling – to use my gifts in service to the world. It wasn’t a calling to be a pastor in a church, in the beginning. Initially, it was to be a teacher. All of my jobs have been rich places to use my gifts and ex-perience deep joy along the way – all of them have been vocation – a calling to something beyond self-interest to service. Ultimately it’s about where you find joy in using your gifts in service to others,” she said. “At the end of the day, it’s about imagining how to stay true to your mission.”

ANSWERING THE CALL

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"I think the most important dimension of adapting to multiple vocational trajectories is the gift of a great liberal arts education,

where thinking deeply about things that matter is fundamental.”

– Rev. Dr. Robin Steinke, class of 1980

Augustana is a place where the imagination is fired and the intellect is engaged, which con-tributes to why we consistently receive national recognition for academic excellence in rankings:

U.S. NEWS MEDIAAugustana is ranked No. 3 among the “Best Regional Col-leges in the Midwest” according to the latest edition of “Best Col-leges 2015” by U.S. News Media Group. The College also received high rankings in the report’s analysis of schools that offer students the best value. Among the regional colleges listed in the “Best Value Schools” study, Augustana is ranked No. 2 in the Midwest.

WASHINGTON MONTHLYAugustana is ranked the No. 11 baccalaureate college in the nation, according to a recent report from Washington Monthly. The publication’s “2014 College Ranking” rates 346 baccalaure-ate institutions based on their contribution to the public good in three areas — social mobil-ity: recruiting and graduating low-income students; research: producing cutting-edge scholars and Ph.D.s; and service: encour-aging students to give some-thing back to their country.

PRINCETON REVIEWAugustana is ranked among the best colleges in the Midwest, ac-cording to the nationally known education services company, The Princeton Review. The Col-lege is one of 158 premier insti-tutions included in The Princeton Review’s “Best in the Midwest” section of its website feature, “2014 Best Colleges: Region by Region.”

FORBESAugustana is again ranked among the nation’s best colleges and universities according to Forbes’ published annual list of “America’s Top Colleges.” Forbes ranked the top U.S. undergradu-ate colleges and universities based on student satisfaction, post-graduate success, student debt, graduation rates and na-tionally competitive awards.

Augustana Earns Key Rankings

NEWS FROM THE HUDDLE

Augustana is among a consortium of institutions in South Dakota who will benefit from a $20 million Research Infrastructure Improvement award called “The 2020 Vision: Building Research, Education and Innovation Partnerships for South Dakota” from the Na-tional Science Foundation (NSF). This grant, to be awarded over the next five years by NSF’s Experimental Program to Stimulate Competi-tive Research (EPSCoR), is part of a statewide effort to strengthen South Dakota’s science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and workforce develop-ment and fundamental research. “These projects exemplify the national im-perative to engage in cutting edge research, provide educational opportunities for future generations of scientists, stimulate the econo-my and create jobs,” said Denise Barnes, head of NSF’s EPSCoR program in a news release announcing the grant. “Additionally, these projects are impressive in their complexity, state-wide scope and integration of individual researchers, institu-tions and organizations,” Barnes said in refer-ence to the consortium of 12 colleges and universities throughout the state, including Augustana and South Dakota State University. The emerging knowledge economy in biosciences is the impetus for South Dakota’s award by establishing Biochemical Spa-tiotemporal NeTwork Resource (BioSNTR). BioSNTR will apply imaging and molecular biology to predict cell functions, signaling processes and growth-factors. BioSNTR’s ca-pacity to map biochemical molecular circuitry will advance the science and technology of high-yield crop production and cellular mech-anisms that affect human and animal health. This statewide project will involve research universities, undergraduate institutions, tribal colleges and universities, independent research laboratories and businesses. For Augustana, the NSF grant will help to further enhance the College’s excellent sci-

ence programs including a growing under-graduate research program and innovative instruction in all of the STEM areas. This past summer, 60 Augustana students conducted scientific research on- and off-campus, and 19 others completed internships in health and natural sciences. In addition, students who are pursuing majors within the Natural Sciences have been steadily on the rise. For the 2013-14 academic year, Natural Science majors represented 36 percent of all majors at Augustana – up nearly 10 percent from a decade ago. “We are proud to be part of a project that will strengthen South Dakota’s participation in STEM education and research,” said Dr. Susan Hasseler, senior vice president for academic affairs and dean of the College. “While Au-gustana already has a history of excellence in science education, this grant will allow us to expand those offerings into new areas and to offer our students even more cutting-edge ex-periences in science research and exploration.” Over the next two years, Augustana’s Natu-ral Science division will undergo significant change. The new Froiland Science Complex will open in late 2015 with both new and completely remodeled spaces for all of the departments in the natural sciences. Augus-tana is also exploring graduate programming in STEM and the health sciences including the anticipated launch of a Master’s Degree in Genetic Counseling in 2016. “Today, Augustana’s Natural Science divi-sion is experiencing tremendous forward momentum. We’re looking forward to offering our students even more opportunities to gain valuable experience by working alongside and learning from faculty mentors, health care professionals and research scientists in this region and beyond,” Hasseler said. “We are very excited to be a part of this collabora-tive effort to increase research and support economic growth in South Dakota.”

Augustana to Benefit from $20 Million National Science Foundation Grant

12 The AUGUSTANA

Ever snooped in someone else’s medicine cabinet? It makes you think: “I wonder why she takes that.” You make discoveries: “I never knew he wore contacts.” And, you find commonalities: “Whaddaya know? We use the same kind of dental floss.” Dr. David O’Hara understands the power of snooping. In his new book, “Downstream: Reflections on Brook Trout, Fly Fishing and the Waters of Appalachia,” O’Hara chronicles his journey into the streams and rivers of Maine, Pennsylvania, New York, Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina in search of understanding, self-dis-covery, and fish. O’Hara tells it like this: To catch a brook trout, arguably Appalachia’s most famous fish, first you have to find them. To find them, he says, you have to understand them. You have to know them as a species. In other words, you have to snoop. O’Hara, an associate professor of philoso-phy and classics, and his co-author, Matthew Dickerson, a professor of computer science and creative writing instructor at Middlebury College, did just that. They spent six years studying everything from the insects brook trout feed on, to the waters they call home, to the communities that surround them. Along the way, O’Hara found himself thinking philosophically and spiritually about ethics and nature. He rediscovered how being intimate with nature could impact all facets of his life. And, while fly fishing with his family, he found similarities between himself and his children. The result is a book that’s just as much about fly fishing as it is about the wonder of nature, the power of place and what it means to be human.

Fishing ... and Life O’Hara’s connection to fishing for brook trout goes back to his childhood. “I grew up in the Catskill Mountains of New York, home to world famous trout streams,” said O’Hara, an associate professor of philoso-phy and classics. “I played in those streams.

Every April on the opening day of trout season, my dad would take me fishing.” Without question, it’s exciting and fun to catch a trout, O’Hara said. But for him, fly fish-ing isn’t just about the catch. “When you go out and stand in a stream, you learn to appreciate the stream. It’s about being in touch with what’s living in the water. It’s about taking our children there and spending time together. We need that familiarity.” To support the project, O’Hara and Dickerson won a fellowship from Oregon State University for science and nature writers. Both Augustana and Middlebury also supported research for the book. In between their nature writing and vivid fly fishing narrative, O’Hara and Dickerson also share rich personal reflections. O’Hara cap-tured this memory of seeing his son, Michael, hook a fish: “I hand the rod to Michael. Holding the rod in his right hand, he strips the line in rhythmically, as I have taught him. He tugs the line down and to the left with his left hand. Tug, then wait. Tug, then wait. The smelt surges a few feet, pauses, surges again. Tug, then wait. We both feel the tension of the moment as the smelt streamer pulses like a heartbeat. We cannot see the drama underwater, but we know that more than one fish is eyeing the smelt; upstream we have seen them break the surface chasing other smelt. Tug, then wait. Tug, bang! A thousand droplets of water spring like mist from the suddenly-taut line. The rod bows down towards the dam. Michael lifts the rod to set the hook and the rod bends nearly double.” “For a moment his life and the brook trout’s are connected, and it is not clear what is the boundary between the two.”

“This is a book about a species I love, in places I love. But it’s also a book about the species other people love and the places they love,” O’Hara said. “Being intimate with nature keeps us living in the world; it reminds us what it means to be human. In the age we live in, it’s easy to live a life mediated by screens. It almost doesn’t matter where we are; all places can be-come alike if we let them. It’s really only when you go outside that you see the differences in places.” For O’Hara, the takeaway for readers of the book is simple. “It would really please me if as a result of reading this book, people choose to become more intimate with their natural environ-ments, wherever they may be,” he said. “The environmental philosopher Kathleen Dean Moore says that sometimes the most loving thing we can say to someone is ‘look.’ That’s just what Dickerson and I are trying to say with Downstream. We want to bear witness to what we have seen, and to invite others to look at nature anew.” Published by Cascade Books, “Downstream: Reflections on Brook Trout, Fly Fishing and the Waters of Appalachia,” is available at the Augustana Bookstore, amazon.com and via the publisher’s website. Dr. O’Hara teaches a variety of courses, including ancient philosophy, American philos-ophy, environmental ethics, Asian philosophy, and philosophy of religion. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College, his master’s degree from St. John’s College and his M.A. and Ph.D. in philosophy from The Pennsylvania State University.

O’Hara’s Book Looks Downstream, Inward

BOOKS

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"It would really please me if as a result of reading this book,

people choose to become more intimate with their natural environments ...”

– Dr. David O’Hara, Associate Professor of Philosophy

Kirkeby-Over Stadium, home of Augustana Viking Football,

was dedicated in Fall 2009.

Augustana’s endowment has grown to more than $70 million and provides vital scholarships for students.

The Huether Tennis Centre, home of Viking Tennis, was dedicated in Fall 2009.

The Nef Family Chair of Political Economy was founded in 2009 to advance the study of market

economies and representative democracies.

Morstad Field, home of Viking Soccer, was dedicated in 2011.

Karras Park, home of Ronken Field and Viking Baseball, was dedicated in 2012.

The renovated Mikkelsen Library opened on campus in Fall 2009. Soli Deo Gloria.

Phase 1 of the new 125,000-square-foot Froiland Science Complex

will open in December 2015.

MOMENTUM:ACHIEVEDMomentum Augustana Campaign

Raises Record $121 Million for Scholarships, Academic Programs,

and Capital Improvements

ACHIEVED

Augustana officials have announced that gifts and commitments to the Momen-tum Augustana Campaign amounted to $121,437,279, making it the largest fundrais-ing effort in the College’s 154-year history.

More than 15,000 alumni, parents, friends, churches and organizations supported the campaign, which began in 2007 with an original goal of $120 million, and officially closed on July 31, 2014.

“These numbers illustrate that Augustana is truly a place to believe in,” said President Rob Oliver. “We can’t begin to describe how grateful we feel knowing that so many have chosen to give of themselves to support our students, our faculty, our teaching philoso-phies and our campus.”

“Our mission is to provide students an education of enduring worth,” he said. “The gifts and commitments we’ve received in support of that mission are simply extraor-dinary.”

Support for student scholarships was a major element of Momentum Augustana.

Over the campaign period, Augustana’s endowment has grown to more than $70 million. Today, 100 percent of full-time students receive merit, talent and/or need-based financial aid. The average financial aid award for today’s freshmen, members of the

class of 2018, was $26,268 (which includes scholarships, grants, loans and Federal Work Study).

The campaign also raised funds to support undergraduate research, internships and experiential learning opportunities and the recruitment of dedicated and gifted professors.

One example is Augustana’s Nef Family Chair of Political Economy, founded in 2009 following a leadership gift from Rudy and Marilyn Nef. This prestigious Chair, held by acclaimed writer and economic historian Dr. Robert Wright, is designed to advance the study of market economies and repre-sentative democracies.

Momentum also raised funds for a number of significant capital improvements:

• The $35 million, 125,000-square-foot Dr. Sven G. Froiland Science Complex is now under construction. Phase 1 of the project is expected to open in December 2015 with final completion expected by Summer 2016. (See more progress updates on the Froiland Science Complex on page 36.)

• The $7 million complete renovation of Mikkelsen Library, provided by an anony-mous donor, opened in Fall 2009.

• The $11 million, 6,500-seat Kirkeby-Over Stadium, home of Viking Football, was dedicated in 2009. Bob and Kari Hall provided a lead gift of $6.1 million for the facility, named in honor of Kari Hall’s father and mother, Percy Kirkeby and Elizabeth Markley Over.

• The 37,400-square-foot Huether Ten-nis Centre, home of Viking Men’s Tennis and Women’s Tennis, was dedicated in 2009. Thirty-five donors made gifts total-ing $424,500 in support of the project, including a lead gift from Mike and Cindy Huether.

• The $345,000, 4.51-acre Morstad Field, home of Viking Soccer, was dedicated in 2011. Augustana’s soccer field opened in 2009, enabling soccer to be played on campus for the first time in the program’s history. Alumni Kent ’59 and Judy ’61 Morstad provided the naming gift for the facility in 2011.

• Karras Park, home of Ronken Field and Viking Baseball, was dedicated in 2012. A generous lead gift from Lee “Goldy” Goldammer along with a naming gift from Don ’76 and Donna Karras paved the way for a $1 million enhancement to Augus-tana’s existing Ronken Field, including an artificial turf infield, new grandstand, press box, dugouts, suite, back stop and netting system.

Dr. Geoffrey Dipple was shocked. An essential read for those who study the Reformation had not yet been translated from the original 16th-century German into English. “The Fifteen Confederates,” first anonymously published in 1521 and later attributed to author Johann Eberling von Günzburg is a popular pro-Reformation writing that was published after Martin Luther’s hearing at the Diet of Worms. “It’s an interesting insight into what people who didn’t actually know Luther thought he was saying,” said Dipple, professor of history at Augustana. “It was also quite influential at the time judging by how many copies were printed.” “The Fifteen Confederates” had a big impact on Dipple’s dissertation and what became his first book, “Antifraternalism and Anticlericalism in the German Reformation: Johann Eberlin von Günzburg and the Campaign Against the Friars” and, of course, he had to read it in German. “I probably read as much German as I do English,” Dipple said. “In the back of my mind I thought ‘someday somebody should translate this into English so we can use it in classes without expecting students to read 16th-century German,” Dipple said. He decided to be that person. Over the past four years, Dipple has chipped away at the German manuscript, translating, interpreting and creating footnotes and refer-ences for his students to use. He hoped to do a good job and do it cheaply. Instead of the typical $80 textbook, Dipple says this text is around $20. He plans to use it in his own classroom the next time he teaches on the Reformation – possibly Fall 2015. “My hope is that people at other colleges and universities will use it for their Reformation classes too,” Dipple said.

The book is intended for students to use, so Dipple wanted to accompany the translation with plenty of footnotes to give them some context. “I didn’t want to give them all the details, but I wanted to give students a head start so if something wasn’t completely clear, I could suggest a reference work for them to follow up with,” Dipple said. Keeping his students in mind is a big reason why this book became a four-year project. Translating the 16th-century German was a challenge because many of the passages didn’t follow standard rules for grammar and spelling or the meaning was not easily ascertained. “There are some very bizarre turns of phrase,” Dipple said. “It’s kind of like reading Shake-speare in that you sometimes have to sit for a while and think about the meaning.” The book was published in July by Pickwick Publications and Dipple is excited to promote the book and is already on to his next projects. He is writing a chapter to contribute to a book titled “The Cambridge History of Ref-ormation Theology” and has portions of two books started. Just like any writer, Dipple struggles with parts of writing, too. “Some things are a lot of fun, like conceptual-izing a bigger project when you start to think about how things fit together,” Dipple said. But “sometimes when you get down to where you’re trying to get things on paper and get

the first draft prepared, I find that to be a real grind.” “The start of the process is a lot of fun and the end of the process I really enjoy. Somewhere in the middle it just gets to be too much like work,” he joked. Dipple says his colleagues in all departments are active scholars. “People are very involved in research,” he said. “I tell a lot of prospective students, ‘check in on what the faculty are doing. Are they doing what they expect you to do?’ I think it’s a sign of a healthy college that the faculty are getting up early on Saturday mornings to do their own work. It means they’re still enthused about it.” Dipple received his Ph.D. in early modern European history from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. Before joining the faculty at Augustana, he taught at the University of Ottawa, Queen’s University and the University of Toronto. In addition to regularly teaching introductory classes on the history of “West-ern Civilization,” he also offers courses on the history of the Middle Ages, “The Reformation,” “Hitler and the Holocaust,” and on genocide in the 20th century. His other publications include “Radical Reformation Studies: Essays Presented to James M. Stayer,” co-edited with Werner O. Packull (1999), and “‘Just as in the Time of the Apostles’: Uses of History in the Radical Reformation” (2005).

BOOKS

“In the back of my mind I thought ‘someday somebody should translate this into English

so we can use it in classes without expecting students to read 16th-century German’.”

– Dr. Geoffrey Dipple, Professor of History

Dr. Dipple on Translating 16th-Century German

16 The AUGUSTANA

The AUGUSTANA 17

Dr. Mitch Kinsinger Named Associate VP for Academic Affairs Dr. Mitch Kinsinger has been named associate vice president for Academic Affairs. In his new role, Kinsinger will work across campus on curriculum develop-ment and innovation, faculty devel-opment and student success initiatives. He will also provide leadership to the undergrad-uate general education program and college level as-sessment and accreditation initiatives. He will begin his appointment in January. Kinsinger currently holds the Marvin and Jerene DeWitt Endowed Religion Profes-sorship and serves as chair of the Religion Department at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa. His research interests include Colonial American religion, reli-gious pluralism and American evangelical-ism. Kinsinger graduated from Wheaton College (Illinois), has a Master of Divinity from Western Theological Seminary, and a doctorate from the University of Iowa. “We are delighted that Dr. Kinsinger is joining the Augustana academic leader-ship team,” said Dr. Susan Hasseler, senior vice president for Academic Affairs and dean of the College. “With his extensive experience in leading academic initiatives and deep appreciation for Augustana’s mission and tradition, I know he will serve our faculty and students very well.” “I am very excited to come alongside the great work that is happening at Augus-tana,” Kinsinger said. “Faculty, staff and stu-dents have been engaging and welcom-ing and I look forward to serving them. I’m eager to be a part of a capable leadership team that wants to keep Augustana regionally and nationally recognized for education that is rooted in the liberal arts. Plus, my Norwegian Lutheran grandfather, Magnar Hjelmstad, would be thrilled with my new opportunity.”

The Center for Western Studies at Augustana presents “Forbidden Land-scapes: The Secrets of Northern Norway,” a gal-lery exhibit featuring the breathtaking images of Norwegian photographer Lars Westvig, on display through Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015. Westvig is a professor at the University of Nordland in Bodø, Norway. At the age of 12, he began tak-ing photographs with a Kodak Instamatic camera. This early hobby led to a professional photography career at the age of 25. His photos have been sold throughout Europe, and in 2000, Westvig published his first book of images titled “Bilda,” the Norwe-gian word for picture. In 2013, “Bilda” was followed by a collaborative book of images with photographer Arvid Larsen titled “Nord: portrett av et landskap” (North: Portrait of a Landscape). ARTISTS OF THE PLAINS SHOW, SALE

CWS will host the annual Artists of the Plains Arts Show and Sale Feb. 27-28 and March 1 at the Holiday Inn City Centre in down-town Sioux Falls.

Jan. 7 – 23: High School InvitationalClosing reception: 5-9 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23 Feb. 4 – March 7: Augustana Faculty ExhibitionGallery Reception: 7-9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 6

March 12 – April 25: April Katz: Inquiry Through PrintmakingGallery Reception: 7-9 p.m. Friday, March 27 April 30 – May 23: Augustana Senior Art ShowGallery Reception: 7-9 p.m. Friday, May 1.

Gallery Exhibits Feature Local, International Artists

NOTES FROM THE GREEN

A Winter’s Tale

EIDE/DALRYMPLE GALLERY UPCOMING EXHIBITS

The Eide/Dalrymple Gallery, located inside the Center for Visual Arts, will host the following exhibits in 2015:

The Augustana Library Associates presents “A Winter’s Tale: Approaching the Unsayable” at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb.1, in the Mikkelsen Library. Dr. Sandra Looney (English) is Mistress of Ceremonies for this enchanting winter interlude of literature and music. She will be joined by six readers and musicians to create a memorable afternoon for the audience. The program is followed by a reception. General admission is $15 at the door. For information and/or reservations call 605.274.4921.

The Eide/Dalrymple Gallery.

“Detail from Midnightsun Light in the Mountains” by Lars Westvig, now in display in the Center for Western Studies

All exhibits and gallery receptions are free and open to the public.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT GREAT PROFESSORS; GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENTS

PUBLICATIONS

Dr. Paul Egland (Biology) and a collaborator had a book chapter titled “Dental Caries” published in the second edition of “Molecular Medical Microbiology” by Elsevier.

Dr. Patrick Hicks’ (English/Journalism) novel, “The Commandant of Lubizec,” was chosen for National Reading Group Month. This book is one of only 20 that are chosen for the event in October. Over the summer he worked on his next novel, “The Lazarus Bomb,” and saw the publication of his sixth poetry collection, “Adoptable” (Salmon Poetry).

Dr. Reynold Nesiba (Economics) published a book chapter titled “Economic Classes: The Poor, the Shrinking Middle Class, and the Wealthy (2000s-Present),” Chapter 22, in “The Guide to U.S. Economic Policy.” This book was edited by Dr. Robert E. Wright and Thomas W. Zeiler, p. 319-335. SAGE/CQ Press, 2014. Dr. Nesiba also published a review of “The Great Escape: Health, Wealth, and the Origins of Inequality” by Angus Deaton in “The Social Sci-ence Journal” 51:3 (September 2014): 491492. His review of “Well Worth Savings: How the New Deal Safeguarded Home Ownership,” by Price Fishback, Jonathan Rose, and Kenneth Snowden, will be published in the December 2014 issue of the Journal of Economic Issues.

Dr. Drew Alton (Physics) published with V. M. Abazov, et al., “Electron and Photon Identification in the D0 experiement,” Nucl. Instrum. Methods A 750, 78 (2014).

Dr. Geoffrey Dipple (History) had an article titled “Nederlandse doopsgezinden en de doperse bijdrage aan religieuze tolerantie (Dutch Mennonites and the Anabaptist contributions to religious toler-ance)” published in the Dutch journal Doopsgezinde Bijdragen.

Dr. Landon Karr (Anthropology) has had two articles accepted for publication: “On the Challenges and Benefits of Indoor Archaeology: 15 Years at the Archeodome (Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village, South Dakota)” in the Journal of Field Archaeology and “A Bone Grease Processing Station at the Mitch-ell Prehistoric Indian Village: Archaeological Evidence for the Exploitation of Bone Fats” in Environmental Archaeology: The Journal of Human Palaeoecology.

Dr. Ann Pederson (Religion/Philosophy and Classics) was published in the online journal, God and Nature. Her piece is titled “Playing God: A Theological Reflec-tion on Medicine, Divine Action, and Personhood.”

GRANTS

Dr. Lindsay Erickson (Mathematics) was awarded a Project Innovation grant through the South Dakota Space Grant Consortium to support Sonia Kovalesky Day, hosted at Augustana on Oct. 8, 2014. Sonia Kovalesky Days are national events, hosted at college campuses, encouraging young women to pursue education and careers in mathematics.

Dr. Mark Larson (Biology) announced that the South Dakota BRIN grant was awarded a one-year extension. The part of the award that comes to Au-gustana is in the amount of $330,000 for the next 12 months and will support a multitude of undergradu-ate research opportunities.

Dr. Drew Alton (Physics) earned a $57,000 National Science Foundation grant for his project, “Collabora-tive Research: Direct Search for Dark Matter with Underground Argon at LNGS.”

Dr. Jennifer Gubbels and Dr. Mark Larson (Biology) received a $10,000 pilot grant from the Sanford Cen-ter for Cancer Biology Research Pilot Grant Program titled “Investigating the role of SUSD2 as a negative modulator of platelet-ovarian cancer cell interaction and physiology.” This money will provide funds for a summer student to work on this project in their lab as well as supplies.

Dr. Dan Howard and Dr. Carrie Hall (Biology) received a two-year U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service research grant to study the distribution, popula-tion structure, and response to prescribed fire in the endangered Rattlesnake-Master Borer moth at The Nature Conservancy’s Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in Osage County, Oklahoma, for $28,888. This grant earmarks financial support for Augustana under-graduate research fellows to conduct research over the next two summers.

Dr. Carrie Hall (Biology) received the NSF Noyce Capac-ity Building Grant ($300,000), co-authored with Dr. Dan Howard and Dr. Lindsay Laurich. This grant is to build programming for supporting, recruiting, and preparing secondary science teachers for South Dakota.

Dr. Eric Wells (Physics) received a $129,399 National Science Foundation grant for his project, “Image-based Strong-field Adaptive Control of Molecular Dynamics.”

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

Dr. Lindsay Erickson (Mathematics) delivered an invited presentation at the Pacific Northwest meet-ing of the Mathematical Association of America titled “Nim: Variations on a Theme.”

Dr. Javier Gonzalez (Modern Foreign Languages) made a presentation at the Mid-America Conference on Hispanic Literature at the University of Wisconsin-Madison titled “New Cultural Identities in 1960s Mexico: José Agustín’s ‘Cuál es la onda.’”

Dr. Dan Howard (Biology) spoke on “The Ecological and Evolutionary Implications of Wind-turbine-Induced Vibrational Noise on Subsurface Animal Be-havior” at the Nebraska Wind and Solar conference, Wind and Wildlife Symposium in La Vista, Nebraska.

Jaciel Keltgen (Business Administration) was award-ed Best Paper at the Great Plains Political Science Association Conference. Her paper was titled “Social Capital: America’s Shrinking Invisible Asset?”

The International Consortium of Parse Scholar’s bi-annual conference was held in September and hosted by the South Dakota, Iowa and Minne-sota Chapter of ICPS. Dr. Kathy Knitig (Nursing), presented on “Living the Art of Human becoming as Omanipi Lakota Caregiver” and participated in host-ing the conference which was held for the first time in the United States.

Dr. Michael Rueter (Modern Foreign Languages) presented a paper “Some Considerations on Memet-ics and Aljamiado-Morisco Literature” earlier this month at the Mid-America Conference on Hispanic Literature held at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin.

Dr. Bill Swart (Sociology) presented “Dark Spectacle: Commodifying Authoritarianism in American Motorsports” at the New Directions in Critical Theory Conference at Iowa State University.

Dr. Elizabeth Babcock (Psychology) along with former and current students presented a poster at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association titled “Improving Name Learning with Distributed Retrieval Practice.”

Dr. Sherry Barkley (Exercise and Sport Sciences) gave a poster presentation titled, “Evaluation of Sea-sonal Changes in Body Composition and Fitness Pa-rameters Among Collegiate Women Soccer Players” at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine in Orlando, Florida. Co-authors of the poster were Augustana students Kathryn Hurd and MacKenzieTrom.

Dr. Eric Wells (Physics) was a co-presenter at the following conferences: Gordon Research Confer-ence on Multiphoton Processes, Bentley University, Waltham, Massachusetts, DAMOP 2014, Madison, Wisconsin, and Deutsche PhysikalischeGesellschaft, Berlin, Germany.

COMMUNITY PRESENTATIONS, PERFORMANCES, ART, HONORS

Dr. Jennifer Gubbels (Biology) received the Distin-guished Alumni Award for Young Alumni at her alma mater, Loras College, Dubuque, Iowa.

Dr. Patrick Hicks (English/Journalism) was invited to read his fiction at the South Dakota Festival of Books, the Heartland Fall Forum, the Twin Cities Book Fes-tival, and at Western Wyoming Community College. He is featured in a new book titled, “First We Imagine: 22 Creative South Dakotans,” which was written to celebrate South Dakota’s quasquicentennial.

Scott Parsons (Art) received the 2014 National Terrazzo and Mosaic Association Honor Award for his terrazzo installation at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The “Starwheel” design represents the Minnesota landscape within a theme of migration.

Dr. Lindsay Twa (Art) was one of 14 art historians, artists and chemistry professors selected to partici-pate in the Samuel H. Kress Foundation’s Summer Teachers Institute in Technical Art History.

Jayna Fitzsimmons (Theatre) served her third summer as artistic director of Bare Bodkins Theatre Company for which she wrote and was awarded a grant from the City of Sioux Falls to produce Shake-speare’s “All’s Well That Ends Well.” This summer she also directed a full production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” and adapted and directed a production of “Hamlet.”

RJ Fitzsimmons (Theatre) traveled to the Black Hills Playhouse where he served as lighting designer for the musical, “The Secret Garden” and was production designer for Bare Bodkins’ “All’s Well That Ends Well.”

Sam Ogdie (Modern Foreign Languages) and Augustana Spanish major Jordan Mitzel walked 200 kilometers of the Camino de Santiago in Northern Spain this summer. The Camino de Santiago is a 1,200-year-old religious pilgrimage. They received an official document from the church in the name of Augustana College.

Dan Workman (Theatre) spent his 19th summer at the Black Hills Playhouse in Custer State Park — his sixth as the artistic director. Dan hired the BHP’s 65-member summer company (including five Au-gustana students), directed the musical “The Secret Garden,” and acted in Gore Vidal’s “The Best Man.”

18 The AUGUSTANA

VIKING DAYSIn September, thousands returned home to celebrate Augustana. Look back at the 5k, the parade, the game, reunions, worship and more.

TOP LEFT: Viking Days began with Coronation. Seniors Rachel Bjork, Le Sueur, Minnesota, and Lance Shaull, Tea, South Dakota, were crowned Viking Days Queen and King. TOP MIDDLE: Members of the 2014 Royal Court, back row: Brittany Dardis, senior, Sioux Falls, Jackie Adelmann, senior, St. Louis Park, Minnesota, Natasha Wegner, senior, Faribault, Minnesota, Bjork (Queen) and Leah Murfield, senior, Brookings, South Da-kota. Front row: Trevor Chadwick, senior, George, Iowa, Keegan Hecht, senior, Sioux Falls , Ethan Pauley, senior, Vale, South Dakota, Tom Gehring, senior, Sioux Falls and Shaull (King). TOP RIGHT: The all-student-led cast of Viking Varieties, presented in Kresge Recital Hall.

On Friday, alumni took in music, games, food and conversation at the Blast, held at the Sioux Falls Convention Center. ABOVE LEFT: Sanna (Horsley) Strenge ‘13, Kristina Johnson ‘13 and Mariya Swella ‘14 with classmates. RIGHT: Members of the Class of 1994 at the video booth.

ABOVE LEFT: Rev. Ann Rosendale ‘04 (far right) and friends played Giant Jenga. ABOVE CENTER: Members of the Class of 1994 pose for a photo. ABOVE RIGHT: Peder Fedde ‘84 and friend dance to music provided by the Hegg Brothers Band.

ABOVE: Augustana Theatre presented “Proof” in the Edith Mortenson Center Theatre throughout Viking Days weekend.

ABOVE LEFT: International students wave from their float. TOP RIGHT: The class of 1964 float. BOTTOM RIGHT: Obed Nelson, class of 1964, greets the crowd during the parade.

ABOVE: Students showed their Navy & Gold spirit during the parade.

ABOVE: (From left to right) Mara (Paulson) Still-son ‘01, Kevin Stillson ‘05, Sawyer Vanden Heuvel ‘12 and Josh Aberson ‘06 at the parade.

ABOVE: Thousands filled Kirkeby-Over Stadium Saturday afternoon to watch the Vikings topple the University of Mary 52-0.

VIEW MORE PHOTOS AND VIDEO!View more photos and video from Viking Days

at www.augie.edu/vikingdays.

ABOVE LEFT: Saturday began with the Langskip 5k. More than 200 participated in the run around campus, which raised $435 from student pro-ceeds for Special Olympics South Dakota. ABOVE RIGHT: Before the parade, alumni, parents and friends enjoyed pancakes to benefit the PVA.

ABOVE LEFT, CENTER: Hundreds turned out for the parade, which ran along Grange Avenue beside campus. ABOVE RIGHT: Augustana parents (and grandparents, too!) visited the Parent Tent Saturday morning.

ABOVE LEFT: Campus Pastor Rev. Ann Rosendale ‘04 delivered the message during Viking Days Worship, held in the Elmen Center. ABOVE RIGHT: The service included a Ground Blessing for the Froiland Science Complex.

Following worship, current and emeriti faculty hosted a “Farewell Open House” inside the Gilbert Science Center before construction began on the new Froiland Science Complex. ABOVE: Dr. Arlen Viste, professor emeritus of physics, visits with alumni.

The 2014 Alumni Achievement Recipients were honored during Viking Days. LEFT TO RIGHT: Mary Berglin ‘65, Vance Goldammer ‘72, Dr. Rosemary Erickson ‘64, Dr. Loren Tschetter ‘64, Dr. Richard Mandsager ‘73, Suzanne (Ness) Hegg ‘68, Rev. Dr. Max Johnson ‘74, and David Wolter ‘04 (Horizon Award recipient).

ABOVE: (Left) Dr. Gary Earl, professor emeritus of Chemistry.

ABOVE: Dr. Gil Blankespoor, professor emeritus of biology, at the open house.

ABOVE: President Rob Oliver, left, presents Dr. Rosemary Erickson ‘64 with her Alumni Achievement Medal at the Alumni Achievement Award Banquet while Alumni Council President Marty Moore ‘94 applauds.

Boe Forum Examines Rocky Waters of Data Security Former Microsoft executive Robbie Bach had a lot of advice for tech-nology users when he spoke on campus during the 2014 Boe Forum on Public Affairs, presented by the Center for Western Studies. During his time on campus, Bach talked with students and staff about privacy issues and addressed the public during his discussion on “Pri-vacy at Risk: Challenges to Protecting Personal Identity and Data.” In 1999, during his career at Microsoft, Bach was the chief officer for the creation of the Xbox and Xbox Live. The success of these products led to him being named president of the company’s entertainment and devices division. Through his various projects, he became aware of early encounters with the issues of personal data shared online. Bach and Microsoft maintained a commitment to supporting cyber security and protecting their users’ identities. As Bach will tell you, the issues with privacy and cyber security are not easy to control. “Digital information flows like water,” Bach said. “So the idea that you’re going to stop the data from flowing is impractical, but the idea that you can enforce the data is quite practical and that’s where the focus and the attention needs to be.” He regularly lobbied in Washington, D.C., while president of his divi-sion at Microsoft and discussed policy issues with government leaders regarding Internet regulation. During his speech at the Boe Forum, he encouraged everyone to think about policy changes that should be made in this country and called for Augustana students who might be interested in the subject to form a group on campus to look into Internet privacy rights. Before talking about the flip side of data security, Bach gave ev-eryone in the audience a few tips on how to keep themselves more se-cure. These included updating all mobile apps consistently, changing passwords to something other than your mother’s maiden name, and avoiding “link stupidity,” which he said refers to clicking on unknown links in emails. From all the warnings and stories people hear, many may believe what they do on the Internet should be completely private, but Bach

doesn’t see this as possible or even positive for society. “It’s not a black and white issue,” he said. He explains that there are criminals online who will steal your infor-mation if you aren’t careful and there are cases where the government does not use it properly, but data can also be helpful. “Data solves real-world problems,” he said. “You want to talk about creating efficient transportation systems? Guess what? If you track the GPS data of all phones across the city, you’ll know where people want to go, and you would be able to design a transportation system that takes them there uniquely and efficiently at the right time.” So what’s wrong with this data being taken from mobile apps? “My big beef with companies isn’t that they don’t try to make secure apps … because they do. My big complaint is that they don’t actually give consumers enough information about how their data is going to get used and give consumers a real chance to opt in or opt out.” Bach has ideas for how to solve this issue and he has plans to release a book sometime in the near future about giving consumers this choice.

“...the idea that you’re going to stop the data from flowing is impractical,

but the idea that you can enforce the data is quite practical and that’s where

the focus and the attention needs to be.”

– Robbie Bach, former Microsoft Executive and 2014 Boe Forum Speaker

Photo by Gene Smith ‘76.

The AUGUSTANA 23

The Class of 1964 showed its school spirit during its 50th class reunion over Viking Days, presenting President Rob Oliver with a check for $58,588.50 – the sum of gifts from 68 members of the class. This Class of 1964 Scholarship, which has now grown to $60,263.50, is a student schol-arship for the College to give based on finan-cial need. The scholarship description reads: “Given by members of the Class of 1964 in gratitude to God for the gift of Augustana. We wish to honor Augustana for what we have received as students: great faculty, great rela-tionships with students, and greatly equipped for a life of service, faith and integrity in the world.” Class Agent David Lerseth said the idea for the scholarship came about during reunion planning early this year. “The topic came up for how to show appre-ciation and thankfulness for what Augustana taught us,” Lerseth said. “We got to talking about having a class gift and doing some-thing significant instead of just a token.” Although they are not the first to give as a class to Augustana, Lerseth hopes they won’t be the last either. “We want to start a new tradition with Au-gustana classes setting goals and fundraising to give a gift,” he said. “I think it could be a sig-nificant thing if it continues to build and spur an interest. A reunion isn’t just a get-together to talk about the past, but to look ahead to the future.” The class presented the check to Oliver during its reunion banquet on Friday, Sept.

26, at the Sioux Falls Convention Center. The gift was also announced at the Blast, the all-Augustana celebration of Viking Days, later that night. President Oliver said he was humbled by the generosity of the class.

“This is the largest gift ever given by a re-union class for a class scholarship,” Oliver said. “And we are deeply grateful and appreciative of your generosity. This gift will make a differ-ence in the lives of students on campus today, and those who will join us in the future.”

ALUMNI NEWS

50th Reunion Class Endows Scholarship

24 The AUGUSTANA

THE CLASS OF 1964 50TH CLASS REUNION: ROW 1: Jan (Harvey) Mattson, Marion (Lindgren) McDonald, Sylvia (Lee) Aiello, Jan (Ustrud) Bruckdorfer, Mayone (Dahlik) Odenyo, Janet (Fujihara) Proehl, Borghild (Chris-topherson) Bonthius, Kate (Kilen) Wills, DeAnn (Hart) Winn, Karen (Henning) Smith and Steve Elkjer. ROW 2: Kathy (Howe) Mandsager, Jeanette (Larsen) Schmidt, Carol (Jukam) Bailey, Carol (Peterson) Gilbertson, Judy (Wulff) Dedrickson, Lyla (Carpenter) Kennedy, Laurel (Stordahl) Lee, Carolyn (Brue) Off, Bonnie Svarstad, Peggy (Fossum) Germain, Eloise (Spilde) Hefty, Marcia (Hoime) Odenbach, Jean (Clawson) Bourdon, Richard Kalleson, Lee Sather and Erwin Reiman. ROW 3: Sigrid (Running) Jablonka, Lowell Noteboom, Sonja (Nelson) Noteboom, Beverly (Iverson) Bedford, Carol (Johnson) Ihrke, David Gabel, Carmen (Broughton) Trampe, Evelyn (Sanders) Soli, Jackie (Groen) Kramer, Class of ’64 classmate, Barb (Saha) Nissen, Barbara (Haiker) LaFrenz, Joanne (Paul) Runge, Judy (Ehrhardt) Roskens, Rollie Larson, Carol (Wolsky) Schmiesing, Florence (Waxdahl) Smallfield, Sylvia (Thompson) Wood, Paul Knudson, William Krause, Roland Person, Don Evenson, Bruce Oden-bach and Les Svendsen. ROW 4: Marlin Fjelland, Roland Person, Charles Hoff, Charles Frasier, Jim Schmidt, Karen (Moore) Samp, John Lundin, Loren Tschetter, Rosemary Erickson, Jim Lindekugel and Arlin Ness.ROW 5: Lowell Satre, Mike Nelson, Clyde Anderson, Obed Nelson, David Lerseth, Karen (Johnson) Streeter, Don Snook, Mark Gilbertson and Class of ’64 classmate.

Class of 1964 Class Agent David Lerseth presents President Rob Oliver with a check during the 50th class reunion banquet, held during Viking Days weekend.

CLASS OF 2014Natalie Andreas and Kenny LeB-aron were married Aug. 2, 2014.

Audrey Burkart is employed as a manufacturing engineer and works for Aero-tek (at Synthes).

Alison Goers is a residential treatment coun-selor at Children’s Home Society in Sioux Falls.

Heather Jordan married Zachary Hagberg on July 12, 2014.

Kailee Koester married Riley Schwader on June 20, 2014.

Evan Pierce and Jasmine McDonald were married July 26, 2014. Evan is a human resources generalist at Hewlett-Packard.

Rachael Tinker is the owner of the Hill Av-enue Book Company store in Spirit Lake, Iowa.

Carrie (Hemeyer) Zachariahs is an LLP underwriting associate at Lincoln Financial Group and lives in Omaha, Nebraska.

CLASS OF 2013Thomas Davies and Kaitlin Rehder were married Aug. 22, 2014.

Hannah Gebauer is a client service manager at Paulsen Marketing in Sioux Falls.

Elizabeth Orris married Preston Nilson on July 19, 2014. She is a substitute teacher and tutor for West Sioux Community School Dis-trict in Hawarden, Iowa.

Sanna Horsley and Adam Strenge ‘09 were married June 28, 2014.

Thad Titze is an admission counselor at Augustana College.

Megan Ulbricht is a high school resource teacher with Sheldon Community High School.

CLASS OF 2012Katelyn Berg and Edgar Ramirez were mar-ried July 18, 2014.

Breanna Habbe married Nathan Jacobson on July 5, 2014.

Leah Hilsabeck married Nick Lowrey on Sept. 20, 2014. She is the office manager of Prunty Chiropractic in Pierre, South Dakota, and is completing her MFA in creative writing for children and young adults at Hamline University.

Emily Holck married Brent Sexton on Aug. 2, 2014. She is a special education teacher at Estherville Lincoln Central Community School District.

THE2010s

ALUMNI NEWS

The AUGUSTANA 25

Even though she was 1,300 miles away, de-pending how you get there, Kate (Knudson) Wolters ’02 still had South Dakota on her mind when she first arrived in Washington, D.C. That’s because after graduating from Augustana, Wolters took a position in then South Dakota Senator Tom Daschle’s office. More than a decade later, as the director of Protocol and Special Events for the House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi’s office, Wolters still reflects on her time at Augus-tana, and how her education and professors helped get her to this place.

Meeting Dr. Schotten Wolters grew up in Sioux Falls and said when it came to the big college decision, Au-gustana was an obvious choice. Wolters said she loved Augustana not just for the com-munity but because the College provided her a chance to grow intellectually. She majored in education with a minor in government and was involved in Viking Days and music on campus. Her family always paid attention to politics and Wolt-ers remembers going to events when she was young, but her personal interest in the political field didn’t come until she took a class from Dr. Peter Schotten, professor of government and international affairs and political science. “He challenged me more than others to think differently,” Wolters said. “He laid the pathway to view the world in a different way.” At the end of her senior year, Wolters made plans with four other female classmates at Augustana who wanted to move out to Washington, D.C., after graduation. “I signed a six-month lease thinking I would be back home before Christmas.” She found a job working for Senator Das-chle as a staff assistant in his office after hear-ing a presentation from another Augustana graduate who visited one of her classes. The interview process took four months. “There were six interviews – some in D.C. and some in South Dakota – and a number of writing tests,” Wolters said. The process was intense, but it has paid off immensely. It’s now been more than 10 years and Wolters has never looked back. After Daschle’s term ended, she began to look for work again. A few months passed before she received a call to interview for a position in then House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi’s office. Her name and a strong recommendation had been passed along from one of Senator Daschle’s top advisors. Within 36 hours of that call, she became Pelosi’s special assistant.

In the House Her job requires her to stay organized – a skill she prides herself on and used while on the Viking Days committee at Augustana. She travelled as Pelosi’s body person for

eight years and has visited cities all over the world. In this role, she witnessed many his-torical events including when Pelosi learned she would be the first-ever female Speaker. Wolters has met world leaders, presidents and many notable personalities through her job and her travels with Pelosi. “My favorite was going to Norway for the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in 2009, because [Norway] is part of my heritage,” Wolters said. While in Norway, she had the chance to speak with the king and queen of Norway, and they shared memories of Augustana from when the king visited. In her job, she finds herself spending many late nights in the office, but she made time to earn her graduate degree from Johns Hopkins University in government. She credits Augustana for helping to build the foundation of her education as she pursued her master’s. “One of the reasons I’ve been successful is my work ethic,” Wolters said. “It’s not just a job; it’s a way of life and if you want to suc-ceed, you put your whole heart into it.” Recently, her position changed in Pelosi’s office and Wolters is now serving as the director of Protocol and Special Events. She helps to coordinate events such as the Con-gressional Gold Medal Ceremonies and the State of the Union. “I’ve been so fortunate to be a part of so many historic events,” she said. Wolters says her office is like a train station where everything flows through. And she’s in charge of organizing that flow of traffic. “No day is the same,” Wolters said. “You never know what’s going to be coming down the pike.” She may not be sure what’s coming down the pike for her future in D.C., but she wants to remain involved in public service in what-ever she chooses to do next. Her dream job, she says, would be to eventually become the Social Secretary at the White House. For those who are interested in her line of work, Wolters has some advice. “Come when you’re young and hungry and eager,” she said. “If you’re interested in politics, give it your all. It opens your mind to a lot of different things and it’s not for everyone. I am a public servant. My job is to make things better for other people.”

Kate (Knudson) Wolters ‘02 Takes on WashingtonCLASS NOTESVisit www.augielink.com for daily updates & photos.

Carissa Hotovy is a registered nurse at the University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora, Colorado.

Kellie Merley and Alex Lancaster were married Dec. 28, 2013.

Margaret Olson is a marketing manager employed by Conservancy for CVNP.

Rika Peterson earned her Master of Social Work from the University of South Dakota in 2014. She is a project coordinator at Maximizing Excellence, LLC in Sioux Falls.

Renee Poirier is a marketing specialist at Lifetouch in Minneapolis.

Calie Roggatz and Jordan Dalton ‘10 were married Aug. 2, 2014.

Andrew Sogn is a graduate assistant in sports information at Fort Hays State in Hays, Kansas. He is pursuing a Master of Science in health and human performance.

Nathan Truex is a patient care technician at Sanford Health in Sioux Falls.

Laramie Walker married Matt Beck on Sept. 26, 2014.

Rachel Ward is a news reporter with Good Karma Brands.

CLASS OF 2011Jonathan Ask and Christine Hallenbeck ‘06 were married Aug. 16, 2014.

Mikhaila Baltes is an assistant buyer for Nike in Portland, Oregon.

Martha Barrett married Todd Ewing on June 15, 2013.

Robin Bennett married Brad Tyler on June 14, 2014.

Megan Brandsrud married Ben Lippert on Oct. 11, 2014.

Nicole (Lauck) Finnesand is teaching middle school language arts in the Tri-Valley School District in Colton, South Dakota.

Rachel Gerber is an account manager at space150 in Minneapolis.

Brenna Highby is a chiropractic student at Northwestern Health Sciences University.

Kimberly Hibma and Kyle Knips ‘08 were married June 20, 2014.

Jorgen Lervick is attending the University of Minnesota Law School.

Maren Peterson is attending graduate school at the Boston University School of Management, studying public and nonprofit management.

Katie Randall is an executive assistant at Karl’s TV & Appliance.

Elanor (Lundin) Rohlck is attending graduate school at America Band College studying con-ducting. She is employed as an instrumental/vocal music teacher with Baxter Community School.

Aaron Sherman and Melissa Austad ‘10 were united in marriage on June 14, 2014.

Mari Stensgaard married Patrick Klotzbach on Sept. 27, 2014.

Daniel Vos earned his master of education degree from South Dakota State University. He currently works as a volunteer educator in Car-men Pampa, Bolivia, at Universidad Campesina Academica.

CLASS OF 2010Melissa Austad and Aaron Sherman ‘11 were united in marriage on June 14, 2014.

Jordan Dalton and Calie Roggatz ‘12 were married Aug. 2, 2014.

Terra Goplen married Tim Falkena on July 5, 2014.

Kimberly Johnson is a consumer products marketing intern at Lil’ Drug Store Products in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Nicholas Lehnen married Tiffany Heck on Sept. 6, 2014.

Elizabeth (Singleton) McDuffie is a part time religion/philosophy/classics instructor at Augustana College.

Kayla (Graber) Norenberg is currently completing her residency in family medicine at the Center for Family Medicine in Sioux Falls.

Zephanie Skow graduated from the College of Chiropractic at Northwestern Health Sciences University in Bloomington, Minnesota in November 2013 as a Doctor of Chiropractic. In February 2014, she opened her own business, Align Chiropractic & Acupuncture, PLC in her hometown of Fairmont, Minnesota.

Ashley White is the digital content editor for the Kearney Hub in Kearney, Nebraska.

Kristie McDermott married Chris Wolbrink on June 29, 2013.

CLASS OF 2009Collin Authier is the assistant men’s basketball coach and exercise and sport sciences instructor at Augustana.

Ella Bresson is employed as a Spanish teacher at Internationella Engelska Skolan in Gothen-burg, Sweden.

Kelsey Bulock is the media services library assistant at Augustana College.

Kaari Espeland is the coordinator of academic/athletic success programs at Augustana College.

Paula (Lemar) Gibbins is an assistant editor at Sportman’s Guide and is living in Savage, Minnesota with her husband.

Marit Karbowski married Christopher Gurley on Aug. 23, 2014 in St. Paul, Minnesota. The couple resides in St. Paul.

Elizabeth Kunkel is a teen program coordina-tor at CommonBond Communities. She was also recently awarded a 2014-2015 NorthStar Youth Worker Fellowship position from the Minnesota Department of Education and the Center for Democracy and Citizenship at Augsburg College.

Justine Lueth married Jackson Murtha ‘06 on June 7, 2014.

Rachael Miedema attended Bellevue Universi-ty and completed her master’s degree in 2014, studying clinical counseling. She is employed at Carroll Institute as a chemical dependency counselor.

Matthew Schafer graduated from the Uni-versity of South Dakota Medical School in the spring of 2014. He is an emergency medicine resident at UNMC, in Omaha, Nebraska.

Molly Buyske married Shane Somerville August 30, 2014.

Adam Strenge and Sanna Horsley ‘13 were married June 28, 2014.

CLASS OF 2008Michael Billeter is a creative copywriting con-sultant at Good Samaritan Society in Sioux Falls.

Ben Hasche is a graduate student in the College Counseling program at South Dakota State University. He is a graduate assistant hall director on campus in Brookings, South Dakota.

Sara Hayes and Tony Dalle were married Sept. 20, 2014.

Kyle Knips and Kimberly Hibma ‘11 were married June 20, 2014.

Christian Mithelman married Amy White on July 25, 2014.

Jesse Vavreck is a business education teacher at Hopkins High School.

CLASS OF 2007Jennifer Fisher married Tony Adams on July 2, 2014. Jenni teaches band at Springville High School. The couple lives in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Nicholas Bentele married Sara Zacharias on Sept. 7, 2014.

Megan (Juran) Smith has returned to her home-town of Burke, South Dakota to serve as a medi-cal doctor at Community Memorial Hospital.

ALUMNI NEWS

The AUGUSTANA 2726 The AUGUSTANA

THE2000s

Shauna Swanson is employed as a scientist at Synereca Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in the Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina area.

Brian Werner is employed as a legislative aide in the office of Senator Amy Klobuchar.

CLASS OF 2006Erin (Toft) Castle is the office coordinator in the Center for Western Studies at Augustana.

Andrea Clatterbuck married Burness Broussard on July 26, 2014. She is a senior renewable energy analyst at Pacific Gas and Electric Company. They live in San Francisco.

Christine Hallenbeck and Jonathan Ask ‘11 were married Aug. 16, 2014.

Jackson Murtha married Justine Lueth ‘09 on June 7, 2014.

Rebecca (Lund) Sheridan has been called to serve as co-pastor of Bethel Lutheran Church in Omaha with her husband, Richard. They both will be serving as the ELCA’s Directors for Evangelical Mission in the Nebraska Synod.

Anna Lind and Shaun Sheridan were married May 10, 2014.

Graham Van Horn is the president of Van Horn Financial Services located in Sioux Falls.

Sara (Homan) Wiebelhaus and husband, Calvin, welcomed their third child, Aisley Elizabeth, on Aug. 7, 2014.

CLASS OF 2005Joshua Knudsen and his wife, Marti, welcomed a daughter, Mahalia Kay, on Jan. 11, 2014.

Kellie (Furman) Lindblom and Tyler Lind-blom ‘04 are the proud parents of Marshall, born Nov. 9, 2013.

Jennifer (Helland) Loven and Benjamin Loven welcomed their second child, Annika Marin Loven, on March 18, 2014.

Nicholas MacDonald is a business develop-ment manager at Kingstone Capital Partners in Sioux Falls.

Lacey (Oldre) Olinger and husband, Kevin, welcomed a daughter, Madeline Elaine, on May 24, 2014. Lacey is a human resources specialist-compensation with Sanford Health.

CLASS OF 2004Kira Christensen is an E-Learning Developer at Good Samaritan Society in Sioux Falls.

Amy (Magnuson) Golz and Jason Golz welcomed baby, Baker Evert Christian, to their family on May 5, 2014.

Michael Goodwin was appointed Assistant At-torney General of Minnesota on Dec. 30, 2013.

Brandon Hunt is the assistant baseball coach and athletic events assistant at Augustana.

Leah (Swanson) Khan and Michael Khan ‘03 welcomed a son, Ari Ezra Khan, in August 2014.

Laura Kunkel is a doctor of education gradu-ate student at Texas Wesleyan University.

Tyler Lindblom and Kellie (Furman) Lindblom ‘05 are the proud parents of Marshall, born Nov. 9, 2013.

Sarah Madden Woods and husband, Robert, welcomed daughter Lilly Eliza to their family on June 22, 2014.

Jessica (Sherard) Pickett and husband, John, welcomed daughter, Trinity Lynn Pickett on May 5, 2014.

Brandi (Koester) Sestak and Tim Sestak wel-comed a son, Anders Timothy Koester Sestak on June 19, 2014.

Derek Venenga and Tara (Boeve) Venenga welcomed a baby boy, Kinnick Rentje, on July 31, 2014.

Megan (Noem) Wiessner is a part time education instructor at Augustana College.

CLASS OF 2003Kim (Karli) Jensen and Erik Jensen wel-comed a baby boy, Crosby Karli, to their family on June 12, 2014.

Michael Khan and Leah (Swanson) Khan ‘04 welcomed a son, Ari Ezra Khan in August 2014.

Erick Lutt and his wife, Angie, welcomed baby girl Elsa Josephine on May 22, 2014. They live in Washington, D.C.

Mollie Madden graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2014 with a Ph.D. in history.

Erin Nelsen is employed as a speech language pathologist with the Cape Elizabeth Schools.

Matt Walz and wife, Laura, welcomed twins, Violet Pearl and Vivian Renee, to their family on July 23, 2014.

Aaron Weippert married Adriane Wegman on Sept. 20, 2014. He is employed at Volunteers of America.

CLASS OF 2002Katherine (Seedorf) Fick has been called to serve as associate college pastor with the St. Olaf Student Congregation.

Lars Gjerde has been appointed lecturer in sacred music at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music in New Haven, Connecticut for the spring of 2015. He is also the director of music at Bethesda Lutheran Church.

IN MEMORIAMMaxine (Killeaney) Amundson ’55, passed away on April 20, 2014, at the age of 81. Amundson taught music education and vocal music at Augus-tana for a number of years. She also directed the chapel choir, women’s choir, madrigal singers, and German round singers.

Blanche Peterson, 83, passed away on April 20, 2014, at the Southridge Health Care Center, Sioux Falls. She served Augustana as a housekeep-ing custodian for 11 years until her retirement in 1992.

Henry Meyer, 86, passed away on May 10, 2014, in Mesa, Arizona. He worked part time at Augustana as a custodian.

Harry Auchter, 93, passed away on May 24, 2014, in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Professor Auchter taught physics at Augustana for two years. He also served as faculty advisor for the KAUR radio station.

George Ahrendt, 74, passed away on May 29, 2014, due to complica-tions related to cancer. A farmer most of his life, he also served Au-gustana College as a night custodian from 1994-2006.

Mary Torness, wife of former Trustee Harold Torness ’41 (1961-1971), passed away on June 1, 2014.

Dr. Tom Kilian ‘49 passed away on April 26, 2014, at the age of 90. In 1952, he began working for Augustana as director of public relations and admissions and later as vice president of development and executive vice president. He served the college for more than 30 years. Kilian was also the co-founder of the Center for Western Studies.

In 1974, Governor Richard F. Kneip appointed him South Dakota Secre-tary of Education and Cultural Affairs.

An avid historian, amateur archae-ologist and conservationist, Dr. Kilian was a consultant to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and a member of the Badlands Natural History Association, The Wilderness Society, and the American Asso-ciation for Indian Affairs. He was instrumental in the establishment of South Dakota’s newest state park at Blood Run. He was a noted authority on the history of South Dakota and the Great Plains.

ALUMNI NEWS

The AUGUSTANA 27

Julie Kraft and Grant Simpson had a son, Henry Pierce Kraft-Simpson, on May 5, 2014.

David Rogers married Heather Werner on May 31, 2014. He is the CEO of Sanford Webster Hospital and Bethesda Home.

Michael Wiisanen is an anesthesiologist and an assistant professor of anesthesiology for Loyola University Chicago.

CLASS OF 2001Mark Doescher, 35, passed away July 2, 2014.

Thomas Madison and wife, Christina, welcomed Steven Thomas to the family on June 8, 2014.

Jesse Munkvold is employed as a cereal genomics scientist at Dow AgroSciences in Indianapolis.

CLASS OF 2000Adrienne (Hoverstadt) McKeown and Todd McKeown welcomed Luke Michael into their family on June 9, 2014.

Eric Meyer is the divisional operations man-ager at Nott Company in the Twin Cities area.

CLASS OF 1999Tanya Stember married Eric Dietrich on Sept. 17, 2013. Tanya is a

breast health manager at Avera McKennan Hospital.

Matthew McPhie is an assistant football coach at Augustana College.

CLASS OF 1998Brenda (Volkers) Petersen, 43, of Huron, passed away Aug. 6, 2014.

Loren Koepsell is an assistant professor of business administration at Augustana College.

Susan Semmler is a technology director at Rosemount High School.

CLASS OF 1997Jody DeStigter was one of twelve nurses from across the nation to be selected for a volunteer panel of judges for the National Council of State Boards of Nursing Licensure Examination.

Kari (Kirkeby) Heller and her husband Ron welcomed their second daughter, Brielynn Nicole, on May 28, 2014.

Michelle (Spence) Stevens wrote, illustrated and published a children’s book entitled “Bentley’s Preemie Blessing”.

Billie Jo (Wood) Waara is the chief marketing officer for Taco John’s International.

CLASS OF 1995Bridget (Krull) Nichols is a part time clinical nursing instructor at Augustana College.

CLASS OF 1994Jennifer Gerrietts-Masters is a sales and marketing content writer for Zuercher Tech-nologies in Sioux Falls.

John Haar is the associate general counsel for The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society in Sioux Falls.

Jennifer (Milbrath) Henson is the campus visit coordinator in admission at Augustana College.

Keith Voss and Sharon Gramm were married Aug. 30, 2013. Keith is a software engineer IV-manager at Meta Payment Systems.

Greg Woods is the vice president of consulting services at EarthBend in Sioux Falls.

CLASS OF 1993Nathan Kreps married Lara Pratt on Aug. 16, 2014.

Deborah McConahie is an assistant director of residence life at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Daniel Pagone is employed with the Depart-ment of Veterans Affairs as a chief in the pros-thetics branch.

CLASS OF 1989Clayton Birney is the president of Arista Home Care Solutions in Toledo, Ohio.

Kevin Koett is the dean of students at West-ern Carolina University.

ALUMNI NEWS

28 The AUGUSTANA

An Augustana alumna has taken her place among royalty. South Dakota royalty that is. Dr. Yvonne (Riswold) DeWitte ‘92 is this year’s Mrs. South Dakota. DeWitte has been a practicing dentist for more than 18 years. She dedicates her time to service as Mrs. South Dakota and puts her professional skills to use through her platform, Smile With Pride, a statewide association working to provide dental care to Native Americans on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. “I wanted to choose a platform that I experi-ence on a day-to-day basis and one that I could optimize my abilities to contribute to the cause. Being a dentist, I wanted to get my hands dirty and put in the work needed to help versus just talking about it,” DeWitte said in an email. This summer, she traveled to the Rosebud Indian Reservation to volunteer in their clinic. Services for those in need include dental exams, x-rays, fillings, cleanings, other treat-ments, and preventative education. “The goal is to raise awareness throughout our state and nation of the needs of the im-poverished people on our reservations and how we can help,” she said. DeWitte is always up for helping out a fellow Viking as well. Recent Augustana graduate Matt Anderson ’14 is doing an internship at Advanced Dental and accord-ing to DeWitte, bringing him on board was one of the best business decisions Advanced Dental ever made. She says she knew first-hand the “exceptional quality and work ethic” that would come with his Augustana background. “He is awesome,” she said. Looking back on her own time at Augus-tana, she said many of her fondest memories occurred in the Gilbert Science Center as a biology major and chemistry minor. “Very close friendships were made while discovering an ‘unknown’ in chemistry or

dissecting a cat,” she said. A good mix of brainy and glamorous, DeWitte represents Augustana well as Mrs. South Dakota. She participated in pageants while in high school, but her return to the pageant world just started with this year’s Mrs. South Dakota Pageant where DeWitte also won the Best State Costume Award, Swim Suit, Evening Gown and Ad Sale Awards. She enjoyed having her family, friends and coworkers at the pageant. “My husband got to escort me during the evening gown competition and I could tell he was so proud of me and it made me feel so confident,” DeWitte said. As Mrs. South Dakota, DeWitte holds responsibilities to be a spokesperson for her sponsors, to volunteer and make various appearances around the state to speak to groups, be in parades, and judge other contests. In August, she competed in the Mrs. America Pageant, a competition for married, accomplished women from all 50 states, plus one national candidate who earns her way to the pageant through votes on social media, held in Tucson, Arizona. DeWitte is married to Matthew DeWitte, and they have a son, Gilbert.

Dr. Yvonne (Riswold) DeWitte ‘92 Wears Augie Pride with her Crown

THE1990s

THE1980s

CLASS OF 1987Linda Schoon is the South Dakota case manager with the Aspire Program.

CLASS OF 1986Richard Binger is a director with Securian Financial Group.

Paul Nevin is the director of contracting/legal counsel for Recover Health, in Minnetonka, Minnesota. Paul and his family live in Woodbury, Minnesota.

CLASS OF 1985Myra Heckenlaible-Gotto is an assistant professor of psychology at Augustana College.

CLASS OF 1984Fred Hall, 57, passed away on July 4, 2014.

Jane (Peterson) Hannemann is the principal at Jane Addams Elementary School in Sioux Falls.

Denita (Eggum) Kovaleski is a special education instructional coach with the Sioux Falls School District.

Todd Sessler, 52, passed away on Aug. 24, 2014 in Goleta, California.

Lee Stryzewski passed away on Aug. 26, 2014 in Sioux Falls.

CLASS OF 1982Linda (Beck) Halliburton lives in Sioux Falls, and is the vice president of Beck & Hofer Construction.

Greg Johnson is the senior pastor at Beaver Val-ley Lutheran Church in Brandon, South Dakota.

CLASS OF 1981Betty (Smit) Anderson, 63, passed away July 25, 2014, after a lengthy battle with amyloi-dosis.

Kathleen (Hargens) Ballard, 55, died July 11, 2014 in hospice care after a courageous battle with cancer.

CLASS OF 1980David Grindberg recently published his first novel. His book is a work of contemporary fiction entitled “Rapture of the Deep”, and is published by IndianGrass Books.

Adam J. Kurzejeski, retired from federal service Aug. 17, 2014, after a career with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Kathryn (Tischler) Paa, 76, passed away July 7, 2014.

CLASS OF 1979Lonny Kvanli and Heidi Radmacher Kvanli became the co-pastors of First

Lutheran Church in Mitchell, South Dakota.

CLASS OF 1978Thomas (Tom) Braithwaite, age 57, passed away Aug. 28, 2014.

Sandra Thingelstad, 59, passed away June 26, 2014.

CLASS OF 1977Joel Blanchfield is a science and nature teacher with Win-E-Mac.

Steven De Haven, 62, passed away June 23, 2014.

Michael Dow died Oct. 7, 2014.

Stephen Elliott, 59, passed away from com-plications of pneumonia on June 29, 2014.

CLASS OF 1975Deanne (Rubin) Belzer retired from the Rapid City School District where she was employed as a deaf educator.

Christine Lund is employed as the director of lay ministry with St. Timothy’s Lutheran Church.

Valerie (Keszler) Malangko retired Sept. 30, 2014 from the Santa Barbara County Educa-tion Office after teaching and interpreting for deaf/hard of hearing students for 21 years in Santa Maria, California.

CLASS OF1974Gordon Thyberg and his wife Kim live in San Marcos, Texas where Gordon is the assistant vice president for budgeting, financial plan-ning and analysis at Texas State University. Both are also ordained ministers with the local congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Karen (Graalum) Yerkes is the assistant director of nursing services at the University of Central Florida.

CLASS OF 1973Nicholas Isika is the author of a book pub-lished in July 2014. The title of the book is “Rivers of Courage and Doubt - A Memoir”.

CLASS OF 1972Jean (Zetterman) Rudd, 92, passed away Sept. 23, 2014.

CLASS OF 1971Cheryl Dannenbring has published her sec-ond book entitled “My Puppy Gave to Me”.

CLASS OF 1970Dale Pommer is working part time at Little Tin God Music as a songwriter.

CLASS OF 1969Douglas Schueler, 67, passed away Sept. 8, 2014.

CLASS OF 1967Erlyn Baack, 68, died Feb. 15, 2014 in Quere-taro, Mexico.

Diane (Leaders) Lloyd, 70, passed away July 5, 2014 after a courageous battle with cancer.

Marlene (Richter) Duba died Sept. 11, 2014.

CLASS OF 1966Donald Knudson is publishing a book of spiri-tual reflections to accompany his friend and fellow former pastor’s cartoons. Published by Huff Publishing Associates, it is entitled “Grace Happens, Again,” to be released in late 2014.

CLASS OF1965Terry Clark, 71, passed away June 24, 2014.

Georgi (Streetman) Mauszycki, 70, died March 19, 2014, in Sioux Falls.

Sharon (Krumvieda) White passed away Aug. 15, 2014 at her home in Sioux Falls.

CLASS OF1964Lennice (Popken) Farnham, 72, died Feb. 28, 2014, after a year-long fight with pancreatic cancer.

Brent Hanson, 71, passed away March 31, 2014.

Robert Niebuhr died on Aug. 24, 2014.

CLASS OF 1963Barbara (Jensen) Aspaas, age 73, of Sioux Falls, passed away on Aug. 13, 2014.

David Hove, 73, died June 19, 2014 after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer.

Rudolf Jens Riessen, 73, died June 11, 2014.

CLASS OF 1962Dudley Harris, 73, died Feb. 23, 2014.

Linda (Miller) Rallis passed away June 3, 2014.

CLASS OF1961David Blegen, 75, died Sept. 5, 2014.

Tom Campbell and his wife Elizabeth (Thompson) Campbell returned to Spearfish, South Dakota, after he retired as senior chap-lain at Trinity School in Midland, Texas.

Glenda (Westphal) Gelston, 75, passed away June 25, 2014.

Beverly (Trygstad) Gold, 74, passed away, in Minneapolis, on April 10, 2013, after bravely battling Alzheimer’s disease.

CLASS OF 1960Jackson Herr, 77, passed away on May 30, 2014.

CLASS OF 1959At the University of North Dakota’s General Commencement Ceremony

in May, Dr. Gordon L. Iseminger led the academic procession as Honorary

Flag Marshall, his son received his undergradu-ate degree, and his grandson marched in the faculty processional. The event marked the first time since the school’s founding in 1883 that three generations of the same family took part in a commencement ceremony. Gordon, currently in his 53rd year of teaching History at UND, holds the rank of Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor, the highest academic honor the University can bestow on a mem-ber of the faculty.

THE1970s

ALUMNI NEWS

The AUGUSTANA 29

THE1960s

THE1950s

Catherine (Anderson) Kelley, 77, passed away on Nov. 19, 2013.

Carole (Nordseth) London, 76, of Rockville, Maryland, passed away on Jan. 28, 2014.

Lavelle (Rust) Olsen, 76, died Aug. 24, 2014.

Jan Aichele, 78, of Valley Springs, South Dakota, passed away on Oct. 4, 2014, at Avera McKennan Hospital.

Ernest Johnson, 81, of Piedmont Heights, passed away Aug. 11, 2014.

CLASS OF 1958Glenn R. Black, 78, passed away on Aug. 30, 2014.

Paul Eldridge, 82, died Aug. 30, 2014.

Merl Hokenstad is a professor at Case West-ern Reserve University and the honorary presi-dent of the Global Institute of Social Work.

Dale Norstrom, 83, passed away June 27, 2014.

CLASS OF 1957Priscilla (Berthelsen) Gunnarson, 80, died Sept. 29, 2014.

Cecil Jons, 81, passed away Sept. 6, 2014 in Tucson, Arizona.

Dorothy (Paulsen) Koolbeck, 81, died Sept. 11, 2014.

James Ontjes, 82, passed away Aug. 12, 2014.

Dorothy (Hoogestraat) Salberg, 81, of Sioux Falls, passed away on Oct. 9, 2014.

Arlene (Stratman) Walker, 78, died Feb. 28, 2014.

Charles Wilson passed away Oct. 7, 2014.

CLASS OF 1956Betty (Humphrey) Olson, passed away Sept. 22, 2014, at her home in Knoxville, Tennessee.

CLASS OF 1955Herbert Brende, 86, passed away July 6, 2014.

CLASS OF 1954Donald Salmon, 85, died Aug. 15, 2014, in Manly, Iowa.

CLASS OF 1953Pastor Fred Hallstrom, 83, passed away June 28, 2014.

Marvelle (Sorenson) Peterson passed away Oct. 13, 2014 in Minneapolis.

CLASS OF 1952Mary (Syverson) Scarbrough, 84, died Sept. 5, 2014, at Sanford Centennial Hospice.

Don Severson, 84, of Lindstrom, Minnesota, passed away July 18, 2014.

THE1940s

CLASS OF 1949Lorraine (Nelson) Mercer, 87, died June 7, 2014.

Jake Boomgaarden, age 93, of Luverne, Minnesota, passed away Sept. 19, 2014, at the Sanford Luverne Hospice Cottage.

CLASS OF 1948LaVerne (Kopperud) Aslesen, 89, died July 27, 2014.

Emalyn (Schmidt) Fritzler is retired from the State of Nebraska where she was employed as a care staff member.

Harlan Norem passed away Oct. 3, 2014, at Dow Rummel Village in Sioux Falls.

Roger Sogge died Aug. 16, 2014.

Allene (Heller) Skow passed away Aug. 20, 2014.

CLASS OF 1947Agnes (Braaten) Mahoney Akland died Sept. 4, 2014.

Dean Mehlum, 89, passed away July 13, 2014.

Ruth (Berg) Witte, 88, died July 22, 2014.

Betty (Olson) Young, 92, passed away on Aug. 5, 2014 at Sanford Hospital in Sioux Falls.

CLASS OF 1946James Kalz, 89, of Moorestown, New Jersey, passed away on July 27, 2014.

Lorraine Norman, 91, died Aug. 21, 2014, at Bethesda Nursing Home, Beresford, South Dakota.

CLASS OF 1944LaVerne (Howe) Sandgren, 92, passed away July 30, 2014.

CLASS OF 1943Gorden Beito, 95, passed away Sept. 11, 2014.

Leonie (Bly) Hanson, 93, of Garretson, died Oct. 8, 2014, at the Sanford USD Medical Cen-ter in Sioux Falls.

Mark Odland, 91, passed away Aug. 26, 2014, at Ecumen Emmanuel Nursing Home in De-troit Lakes, Minnesota.

CLASS OF 1942Viola (Anderson) Whipkey Knutson, 92, of Sioux Falls, died Aug. 24, 2014, at Avera Prince of Peace Retirement Community.

Grace (Dickey) Larsen, 94, of Sioux Falls, passed away Oct. 10, 2014.

Lenore Prostrollo, 94, passed away Aug. 28, 2014, at Arbor Rose Assisted Living in Mesa, Arizona.

Ophelia (Bogen) Wheeler, 94, died Aug. 3, 2014 at Good Samaritan Village in Sioux Falls.

We recognize the following Augustana Legacy Families and welcome these students to the Augustana class of 2018.

Emily Aanenson, Sioux Falls, daughter of Dennis ’79 & Lizette (DeVille) Aanenson ’86.Elizabeth Anderson, Sioux Falls, daughter of Rhon ’82 & Sarah (Hansen) Anderson ’82.Courtney Arthur, South Shore, South Dakota, daughter of Joseph & Tawny (Craig) Arthur ’83.Tyler Beck, Sioux Falls, son of Brian ’85 & Jillean (Abraham) Beck ’88.Megan Bertsch, Sioux Falls, daughter of Gregory ’87 & Nancy Bertsch.Miranda Bornhoft, Sioux Falls, daughter of Chad & Bethany (Shjegstad) Bornhoft ‘91.Kristen Carlson, Austin, Minnesota, daughter of Timothy & Kathleen (Nere) Carlson ’78.Simone Clark, Sioux Falls, daughter of Carl & Debra (Torgusen) Clark ’92.Jess Daniels, Sioux Falls, daughter of John & Kathryn (Menkevich) Daniels ’89.Berkley Darr, Sioux Falls, daughter of David Darr ’89 & Beth Ericson.Mark DeSpiegler, Watertown, South Dakota, son of Gregg ’85 & Ann (Morrow) DeSpiegler ’85.Brooklyn DeVries, Sioux Falls, son of Brian DeVries ’92 & Kristen Miller.Alexandra Fairchild, Watertown, South Dakota, daughter of Michael ’94 & Susan Fairchild. Sydney Gaede, Cathedral City, California, daughter of James ’75 & Victoria Gaede.Miranda Goldammer, Mitchell, South Dakota, daughter of Charles & Diana (Shelstad) Goldammer ’91.Katelyn Graber, Hurley, South Dakota, daughter of Calvin & Linda (Thompson) Graber ’77.Carter Gronseth, Sioux Falls, daughter of Dexter Gronseth & Jessica Armstrong Gronseth ’82.Abby Gustafson, Dunlap, Illinois, daughter of Michael ’80 & Cynthia (Tyler) Gustafson ’79.Britt Jacobsen, Sioux Falls, daughter of Todd ’84 & Camilla Jacobsen.Leah Jessen, Boyd, Minnesota, daughter of Mark & Beth (Jeremiason) Jessen ’92.Loghan Kern, Larchwood, Iowa, daughter of Mike & Audra (Huiskes) Kern ’91.Parker Klitzke, Sioux Falls, son of Richard & Joy (Knutson) Klitzke ’84.Tessa Knowler, Sioux Falls, daughter of Don Knowler & Darla Nelson ’85.Ben Konold, Owatonna, Minnesota, son of Kurt ’85 & Monica (Opland) Konold ’83.Carl Lang, Lennox, South Dakota, son of John ’84 & Joy Lang.Shelby Larson, Spring Valley, Minnesota, daughter of Rick & Georgina (Pfister) Jahn ’95.Emily Lidiak, Sheldon, Iowa, daughter of Tom & Leisl (Dover) Lidiak ’89.Kyle Marks, Estherville, Iowa, son of Randall & Brenda (Anderson) Marks ‘88.Alex Meyer, Sioux Falls, son of Thomas ’83 & Judy Meyer.Kami Miller, Brookings, South Dakota, daughter of Douglas & Pamela (Cragoe) Miller ’94.Trevor Naasz, Sioux Falls, son of Bart & Tricia (Sandal) Naasz ’88.Jake Niedringhaus, Brandon, South Dakota, son of Paul ’90 & Jill (Fering) Niedringhaus ’90. Shay Norris, Sioux Falls, son of Rick & Lisa (Nordmann) Norris ’89.Kiana Overby, Moorpark, California, daughter of Thomas ’91 & Kay Overby.Emilee Pierson, Sioux Falls, daughter of Donald & Rochelle (Phillippe-Carlson) Pierson ’99.Jesse Riddle, Rapid City, South Dakota, son of Brett ’91 & Lynne (Houk) Riddle ’90.Reed Ritterbusch, Sheridan, Wyoming, son of John ’75 & Penny Ritterbusch.Steven Schaefer, Rapid City, South Dakota, son of Troy ’87 & Kim Schaefer.Bailey Tomasek, Marshall, Minnesota, daughter of Timothy & Tonya (Hohwieler) Tomasek ’90.Tom Tow, Fairmont, Minnesota, son of Michael ’79 & Becky (Richard) Tow ’85.Taylor Van Dam, Baltic, South Dakota, daughter of Brian & Julie (Burkhart) Van Dam ’95.Mike Van Veldhuizen, Sioux Falls, son of Robert & Donna (Rehurek) Van Veldhuizen ’90.Luke Wanous, Owatonna, Minnesota, son of Doug & Kathryn (Halliday) Wanous ’88.Noah Watkins, Sioux Falls, son of Steven & Angela (Amdahl) Watkins ’91.Grace Winters, Lake Park, Iowa, daughter of Steven & Kathleen (McThompson) Winters ’82.

ALUMNI NEWS

The AUGUSTANA 31

CLASS OF 1941Selma (Thorson) Peterson, 96, Port Orchard, Washington, passed away Sept. 23, 2014.

Hazel (Klinger) Grond, 97, died July 14, 2014.

CLASS OF 1940Ihlene (Rud) Fillingsness, 96, died July 15, 2014.

Stanley Helgerson, 97, of Hopkins, Minne-sota, died July 26, 2014.

CLASS OF 1936Amy (Yahr) Urberg, 99, passed away Aug. 28, 2014, in N.C. Hospice

in Minneapolis.

CLASS OF 1934Clara (Lunden) Hegg, age 102, died Aug. 28, 2014, at the United Living Community in Brookings, South Dakota.

ALUMNI NEWS

The Alumni Council is the official voice of the Augustana College Alumni Association, representing more than 25,000 alumni from around the nation and world.

Council members provide regular advice and support to the professional staff of the Office of Alumni Relations and other departments as requested.

The Council strives to encourage alumni participation in the life of Augustana through event attendance, communication with class agents, and financial support. Members provide leadership for alumni programs on campus and in their respective hometown areas.

Join the Alumni Council

New members for the Alumni Council are needed each year.

We are especially seeking alumni from the 1970s and 1980s to join the Council.

Learn more about serving on the Alumni Council and submit an application at www.augielink.com/alumni-council

Applications are due each year by March 15 and are reviewed by the Council at the spring meeting.

Questions? Contact Mary Toso, director of Alumni Relations at 605.274.4404.

We’re Seeking Alumni from the 1970s and 1980s

THE1930s

PROTECTING THE

GOALMeet senior biology major Ashley Limmer.She’s setting records as the best goalkeeper in Viking soccer history.

Augustana Coach Brandon Barkus’ persistence was the key to signing the best goalkeeper in Viking soccer history. Prior to her graduation from Brandon Valley High School, Ashley Limmer planned visits to multiple colleges, including most members of the Northern Sun Intercol-legiate Conference (NSIC). Augustana was not on her list. “Augustana is so close to home I really didn’t give it much thought,” Limmer said, “but Barkus was my club coach and kept pushing me to at least visit.” Eventually Limmer relented and made the short drive from her home in Brandon, South Dakota, to Augustana’s campus. For Barkus, it was mission accomplished. “Strong academics are the first thing I look for in a recruit,” Barkus said. An excellent student, Limmer passed the grades test. Next, did she meet the physi-cal requirements to compete at the college level? “Unlike some teams, we use our goal-tender all the time,” Barkus said. “Ashley’s athleticism and ability to use her feet were so impressive I started recruiting her in the fall of her junior year in high school.” After her visit, Limmer was sold on Au-gustana. It was the ideal setting to hone her soccer skills while pursuing a career in veterinary medicine. “The coaching staff is great, the professors amazing, and the team awesome,” she said. “I didn’t see all this coming together at any other school, and I’m really glad I came to Augie. No regrets.” As for the time and effort Barkus invested in signing Limmer … well, the payoff was huge:• The senior biology major is the Vikings’

all-time winning goalie with 26 victories. • She is the first goalie in team history to

post a winning record for a career (26-20-1).•Her 14 wins in 2014 is the most by an

Augustana goalkeeper in a single season.• She tied the school record for career

solo shutouts with 10. •She was the NSIC Player of the Week for

Sept. 22, 2014, by recording a career-high nine saves against 10th-ranked Winona State and five more against Upper Iowa. Not to be overlooked was her durability. Limmer became the starting goalkeeper midway through her sophomore season. In 2013 she was in goal for all 1,769 minutes the Vikings were in action. She came close to going the distance in 2014 but had to leave the field against Minnesota State after taking a blow to the head defending a breakaway. So, did the four-year starter and team captain for the Brandon Valley Lynx meet Barkus’ expectations? “She exceeded them,” said Barkus, himself a goalkeeper at Benedictine College.

NAVY & GOLD

“In addition to what she accomplished on the field, she grew as a communicator. She developed as a leader, which has been outstanding.” Barkus, named 2014 NSIC Coach of the Year, pieced together a strong team featur-ing veterans and promising newcomers. Senior Payton Pry and junior Stephanie Ste-vens were chosen to the All-NSIC first team. Limmer was joined on the second team by senior Emily Hanneman and first-year forward Samantha Arnold, who was also tabbed the league’s Freshman of the Year.The Vikings’ 14-6 record for 2014 is the best in program history. “This season was really cool,” Limmer said.

“It’s great to see how far the program has come in the last four years. We had a good mix of older players to go with a group of younger players, who brought a lot of energy and provided a spark. There’s always excitement at the beginning of the season but this year was different. We had a great spring and the team really connected. “The freshmen arrived in the fall and really added to the excitement.” Limmer is on track to graduate in May. After the soccer season she began work-ing at All Animal Pet Hospital in Sioux Falls while awaiting word on graduate school. “I’ve applied to four schools,” she said. “It’s really competitive but hopefully I’ll get in.

I’ve always known I wanted to be a vet and I would prefer to work outside as opposed to a clinic setting. I would like to treat and rehab animals and then release them into the wild.” It appears Ashley Limmer was destined to be a protector.

“Ashley’s athleticism and ability to use her feet were so impressive

I started recruiting her in the fall of her junior year in high school.”

– Brandon Barkus

Head Coach, Viking Soccer

Ashley Limmer

The 2014-15 Augustana Viking Soccer Team.

A

34 The AUGUSTANA

The AUGUSTANA 35

Five former studentathletes who excelled in their chosen sports, were inducted into the Augustana College Athletic Hall of Fame over Viking Days weekend. Paul Schenkelberg (basketball), Kurt Jonker (football), Jenny Hill (softball), Jon Harris (football), and Leah Gifford Ohme (track/cross country) were honored at the Augustana Athletic Hall of Fame Banquet on Friday, Sept. 26, at the Sioux Falls Con-vention Center.

Paul Schenkelberg ‘79 Schenkelberg (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) was a starter on the Vikings’ 1977-78 basketball team that claimed Augustana’s first out-right North Central Conference champion-ship. Coached by Mel Klein, the team was the first in school history to win 11 games in North Central Conference competition and the first to go undefeated in league play at home. Schenkelberg is one of the most accurate field goal shooters in Augus-tana basketball history at .607 percent. Kurt Jonker ‘79 Jonker (Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota) lettered three years and posted 33 con-secutive starts on the Vikings’ offensive line. He earned honorable mention on the All-North Central Conference team in 1979. He was a key player with the Vikings’ 1977 team that earned conference runner-up

honors. He also played on the Vikings’ 1977-78 conference championship basketball team. Jonker signed with the Kansas City Chiefs (1980) and the San Francisco 49ers (1982) and with each team survived until the final cut.

Jenny Hill ‘01 Hill (Sioux Falls O’Gorman) was a four-time All-North Central Conference choice (1998-2001) and was tabbed conference player of the week six times. She was among the top 30 hitters in the NCAA for three years (1998, 2000, 2001) and in 2001 led the nation in hits (96) in and RBIs (74). In 2001 she earned the NCC Honor Athlete Award. Hill set school career records for hits in a season and career, most RBIs in a season and career, and most doubles in a season and career. She is a four-time All-America honoree and still holds the NCAA Division II record for doubles with 87.

Jon Harris ‘90 Harris (Sioux Falls Washington) was cho-sen to the 1989 All-North Central Confer-ence team at wide receiver. In 1989 he led Augustana in receiving with 45 receptions for 652 yards and five touchdowns. He led the team in punt returns, was third in kickoff returns, third in scoring, and second in all-purpose yards. In 1988 he had 27

catches for 342 yards and three touch-downs. He was a starter on Augustana’s NCAA playoff teams in 1988 and 1989, and helped the Vikings to an overall record of 17-7 for the two seasons.

Leah (Gifford) Ohme ‘99 Gifford Ohme (Balaton, Minnesota) was the North Central Conference indoor and outdoor 5,000-meter champion in 1999. During her career she earned NCAA All-America recognition for the indoor 3,000-and the indoor 5,000. She was the NCC cross country champion in 1998 and 1999 and was a two-time NCAA cross country All-America. In the fall of 1998 she won the NCC cross country title; in the winter of 1999 she won the NCC indoor 5,000 championship; in the spring of 1999 she set a track record by winning the NCC outdoor 5,000 in 17:34.37.

Other Awards In addition to the Hall of Fame inductees, Augustana honored:

• Don ‘76 and Donna Karras and Lee Goldammer (Milt and Clara Harvey Award)

• Jim Hoyme ‘78 (Lefty Olson Award)

• Melissa Olson Guebert ‘87 (Ole Odney Award).

2014 HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

NAVY & GOLD

LEFT TO RIGHT: Paul Schenkelberg, Jon Harris, Jenny Hill, Leah (Gifford) Ohme and Kurt Jonker.

36 The AUGUSTANA

SNAPSHOTS

Construction continues on the Dr. Sven G. Froiland Science Complex, the $35 million project that includes a 41,000-square-foot new addition to the Gilbert Science Center and a complete renovation of the existing facility. Trees were removed in August to make way for geo-pier work that began in September. Concrete footings and foundation installments began in October. Structural steel work is scheduled to begin early next year. Phase one of the project will open in December 2015. See more construction photos and watch the progress live via our webcam at www.augie.edu/science.

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NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDPERMIT NO. 5

SIOUX FALLS, SD2001 South Summit Avenue

Sioux FAllS, South DAkotA 57197

Wishing You and Yours a Blessed Christmas and Happy New Year