Board of Trustees voted unanimously to move forward on the project. “Now is the time. This endeavor paves the way for our strong programs to grow stronger and for our already extraordinary student outcomes to advance to new levels,” said Board Chair John Thomas. “This project will allow Augustana to combine the best of the liberal arts with the best of scientific research and discovery to create an even better learning environment for generations to come, particularly the doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers and scientists who will lead our world tomorrow.” The College’s undergraduate Summer Research Program is also growing. From May through August, 69 Augustana students were hard at work conducting scientific and biomedical research and/ or completing internships or volunteer positions at facilities throughout the U.S. as part of the Program, an initiative that places undergraduates in the field at laboratories, hospitals and study tanks throughout the U.S. The existing 85,550-square foot Gilbert Science Center is home to the Natural Science Division that includes the departments of biology, chemistry, physics, nursing, computer science and mathematics. The building was named in honor of Gerhard A. Gilbert, a South Dakota-based businessman who served as mayor of Watertown, S.D., from 1948-1954. With a new science facility, College officials say, Augustana has the potential to send even more graduates on to master’s and Ph.D. programs within the sciences, as well as to top-ranking medical schools. Over the last three years alone, Augustana graduates have enrolled at Duke, Princeton, Kansas, the University of South Dakota School of Medicine, South Dakota State University, Yale, Harvard, North Carolina, Mayo and Washington University, among others. About Dr. Sven Froiland Born in Astoria, S.D., in 1922, Froiland attended Clear Lake High School and graduated from South Dakota State University in 1942. He earned his master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Colorado. Additional study included work at the University of Minnesota; a visiting scholar appointment at the University of Arizona; and work at the National Science Foundation Institutes at the Universities of Michigan, Indiana and North Carolina. He was awarded a honorary doctorate in the humanities from Luther College. Froiland entered the U.S. Army immediately upon graduating from SDSU in 1942. He served four years and was wounded in the second wave of the Normandy invasion in 1944 and was awarded a Purple Heart. He was honorably discharged from the Army at the rank of captain in 1946. Froiland began his teaching career at Augustana in 1946 as a biology instructor. He moved through the faculty ranks to full
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The Growth in Augustana Natural Science Majors Biology Majors:h 42% Chemistry Majors: h 51% Physics Majors: h 28% For the 2011-12 academic year; growth from five years prior.
professor in 1958 and served as chairman of the biology department for 17 years until 1970 and the Division of Natural Sciences for 20 years until 1976. He was also heavily involved in the Center for Western Studies, serving as its executive director on a part-time basis from 1976-1983 and fulltime from 1983-1987. During his academic career, Froiland was active in other positions, including the Research Association with the USDA Forest Service and served as director of the Black Hills Natural Sciences Field Station. He was recognized as South Dakota Conservation Educator of the Year in 1976, named to American Men of Science, Outstanding Educators of America, Who’s Who in American Education, Faculty-Administrator of the Year in 1976 and received the 125th
The AUGUSTANA
Anniversary Award from Augustana College in 1986. He was inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame in 1987 as an “Outstanding Educator.” Veteran and retired professors and administrators at Augustana always identify Froiland as the driving force behind biological research at the College and the construction of Gilbert Science Center. At the critical juncture when the decision to build a new science building was reached, President Lawrence Stavig, content that the funding for a new facility was secured and plans were approved, retired. His successor, Dr. Charles Balcer, also felt that being new precluded him from making decisions on the new building and assigned the final planning and supervision of the construction to Froiland. Froiland has been identified as one of the true giants who served Augustana with distinction. He influenced the lives of thousands of future physicians, nurses, researchers, educators and business leaders. Athletic coaches sought him out to meet with talented student-athletes who desired to pursue careers in medicine. His love for his family; hunting, fishing and the Black Hills; history; and Augustana were core to his being. His legacy lives on in the lives of those he taught; those with whom he served; and has been a major influence on those who teach and learn at Augustana today.