Luther magazine feedback, inquiries, and ideas may be sent to the Editor, Luther Magazine, Luther College, 700 College Drive, Decorah, Iowa 521011045; magazine@luther.edu; phone (563) 387-1483.
Class Notes submissions, changes of address, and alumni news may be sent to the Advancement Office, Luther College, 700 College Drive, Decorah, Iowa 52101-1045; alumni@ luther.edu; (800) 225-8664; (800) 2 ALUMNI.
Find us online at luther.edu/ magazine.
Cover: President Jenifer K. Ward, Luther’s 11th president, is retiring from the college in 2025. Read more on page 9. Photo by Armando JenkinsVazquez ’21.
Since 2013, the Driftless Jazz Ensemble has changed and grown in lockstep with its members, delighting audiences along the way. Read more on page 14.
Contents
The Luther Blue Thread
President Jenifer K. Ward, retiring in 2025, has strengthened the fabric of Luther.
Always Driftless
A close-knit ensemble grows and changes alongside its talented members.
Someone like Coach
A great coach can shape a lifetime. His mentees can too.
The Plume Hunter
Ujjwal Raut ’01 searches for life on Europa.
LET’S STAY IN TOUCH
Update your contact information to hear about class reunions, events in your area, and college and alumni news. You can also update your personal and professional news or submit a birth/adoption or marriage announcement. Scan the code, email alumni@luther.edu , or call 800-225-8664.
In September, Cheryl
and her husband,
the first Coach Finanger Invitational. The event was a community-building day of competition, celebrated by many Luther fans—and many Finangers! Read more on page 18.
Forward
REACHING AND BACK
Dear Luther Community,
When you receive this magazine in your mailboxes, I will be handing over the keys to the president’s office to my successor, Dr. Brad Chamberlain. Brad serves as Luther College’s provost, and–while we did not anticipate that he would be taking the relay road race baton from me one day–we have been running side by side for some time now.
I likened the college presidency to a relay road race in a chapel talk in 2021. The legs (presidencies) themselves have a beginning and an end, but they are part of something bigger. And while presidents need to run the best race possible while holding the baton, they are only one leg in a race that started before they arrived and will continue long after they are gone.
When a new president arrives from outside the institution, the pass of the baton can be abrupt: one runner stops, and the next runner starts. In Luther’s case, Dr. Chamberlain and I have the opportunity to make this transition more like a true relay, where I am reaching forward and he is reaching back to receive the baton. We are losing no time with a hard stop.
Certainly there have been obstacles in the path during my leg—a
pandemic here, a shifting higher education landscape there—but there have also been great gifts along the way. What I wish for my successor is that he will have what I did: the constant presence of supporters cheering and shouting encouragement and running alongside on the road, hands outstretched with bottles of water and other forms of sustenance.
Thank you, Norse, for running with me. The race will continue, and as of February 7, 2025, Dr. Chamberlain will carry the baton and I will be cheering with you in support of his leadership of this great college.
Soli
Deo Gloria, President Jenifer K. Ward
President Jenifer K. Ward
(Westrum ) Mishek ’79
Walter, hosted
LUTHER’S NEXT PRESIDENT
Brad Chamberlain was selected by Luther’s Board of Regents to serve as the college’s 12th president.
Chamberlain’s career at Luther spans more than two decades. A graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College, he began teaching chemistry at Luther in fall 2001, earning tenure in 2007, becoming a full professor in 2014, and chairing the chemistry department from 2014 to 2018. His collaborative research with students was a hallmark of his time in the classroom, with more than 60 mentored undergraduates, three-quarters of whom entered graduate or professional programs.
Chamberlain’s administrative leadership at Luther includes serving as vice president for mission and communication from 2019 until 2022, during which time he led implementation of Luther’s first integrated brand strategy, developed the college’s first strategic internal communications plan, and co-led the COVID Response Team. He was appointed as provost in 2022 and has since brokered new academic programs, shepherded Luther through a successful interim evaluation by the Higher Learning Commission, and spearheaded an integrated student success model, the first of its kind at Luther.
Chamberlain will be the first president promoted from within the college in more than a century; Luther’s third president, Oscar L. Olson, class of 1893, was on the faculty before becoming president in 1921.
“It is unusual to have an internal candidate with the breadth and depth of experience he has, both a long tenure as a very successful and respected professor but also as an administrator who has had the opportunity over the past years to hold a number of essential positions,” says Bob Paulson ’78, chair of Luther’s Board of Regents.
“Our search consultants shared with us that he brings a national-level caliber set of experience and skills, and they made clear that we have a national candidates right in our backyard,” says Shannon (Miller) Duval ’95, vice chair of the board.
“Our ability to attract and retain a talent like him is a huge win for Luther College.”
In his remarks at the event announcing his future presidency, Chamberlain spoke about leveraging Luther’s model of education to serve the larger world.
“At liberal arts colleges, we talk about the power of ideas, and we teach our students how to evaluate ideas and connect ideas, how to activate ideas. This is what I think the world needs right now,” he said. “As we look at the challenges that society is facing, these are not necessarily technical challenges—they are adaptive challenges. This is what a place like Luther College prepares students to do. They are prepared to lead and to serve, but above all, through their leadership and service to others, to make everyone around them better.”
Chamberlain will begin his duties as president in February 2025. President Jenifer K. Ward will continue to serve the college on special projects through June 2025.
The Chamberlain family in Norway in May 2024. From left: Drew ’26, Brad, Julie (Torkelson) ’96, and Liam, a Decorah High School senior.
MOVING UP IN RANKINGS AND ENROLLMENT
Luther has been getting high marks! U.S. News & World Report ranked Luther second in the state of Iowa and moved the college up 8 spots to 108 in their national liberal arts college rankings. Luther also made the Top 500 American colleges and universities in the Wall Street Journal and was named a top college in the Midwest region by Princeton Review. Even better? Students and their families are noticing—fall enrollment shows a 6.6 percent increase in the first-year class, with 402 new students.
LUTHER IMPACT AWARD EXPANDS TO WISCONSIN
Luther expanded its Impact Award scholarship program to Wisconsin for students entering college in fall 2025. Impact Awards, which are also available for students from Iowa and Minnesota, provide free tuition for up to four years to students with a 3.5 grade point average and whose families earn an adjusted gross income of $80,000 or less. These scholarships are valued in excess of $51,000 annually and are available for both new first-year students and transfer students.
CRAFT BEER OF THE COLLEGE
Luther and Pulpit Rock Brewing Company have collaborated on the first official craft beer of the college. Under the agreement, a portion of all sales from Alma Mater, an American pale ale, will benefit Luther. “This is a great partnership, and, even more than the support it will provide for Luther, it demonstrates our shared commitment to the community of Decorah,” says President Jenifer K. Ward. “We know that many Luther alumni are part of the Pulpit Rock group, from ownership to their employees to their graphic designer, and we’re grateful for their support.” The artwork for the cans was created by Hannah Tulgren ’18. T-shirts with the same Alma Mater design are available at the Luther Book Shop.
NEW REGENT
Mike Anderson ’99 of North Liberty, Iowa, chief operating officer for Heartland Anesthesia and Consulting, joined the Luther College Board of Regents in October. Welcome, Mike!
SEVENTH
CONSECUTIVE GRANT
Physics professor Todd Pedlar received his seventh consecutive National Science Foundation (NSF) research grant—this time a three-year grant totaling $185,000. Since 2006, NSF grants have allowed Pedlar and Luther students to participate in international collaborations that conduct research in elementary particle physics, seeking to understand the basic building blocks of our universe.
The grants particularly support Luther’s participation in the Belle and Belle II collaborations, which operate experiments at KEK, the High Energy Research Organization, in Tsukuba, Japan. The collaborations include more than 128 institutions. Luther is the only liberal arts college participating.
This kind of research is transformational for Pedlar’s students, who often go on to become the next generation of physicists.
“Luther is known nationwide for excellence in wrestling,” Hartl says, “and in the future, we expect to see that excellence on both the men’s and women’s teams.”
ROSSING PHYSICS SCHOLAR
Jack Moriarty ’25, a double major in physics and mathematics from Waukee, Iowa, will receive $10,000 from the Thomas D. Rossing Fund for Physics Education. Moriarty, who has been part of professor Todd Pedlar’s NSF research, plans to pursue a career in theoretical physics and says, “My experimental research has given me the drive to build and understand models to answer the open questions about the universe.”
WOMEN’S WRESTLING JOINS NORSE ATHLETICS
In 2025–26, women’s wrestling will become the college’s 11th varsity sport for women and the 22nd Norse varsity sport. “With both the NCAA and the American Rivers Conference set to add women’s wrestling as a championship, the moment to join in is now,” says athletic director Renae Hartl. The program will have a strong start. For the past two years, Luther has offered a summer wrestling team camp for girls, and the Gerdin Fieldhouse renovation, currently underway, includes a wrestling facility expansion and a dedicated women’s wrestling locker room. A nationwide search for a women’s wrestling coach begins this winter.
A-R-C TITLE
WINNERS
Congratulations to the Norse men’s soccer team, which captured the American Rivers Conference regular season title with a dramatic home victory!
THANK YOU to everyone who donated to Norse athletics on this year’s One Team Day, November 21.
More than 1,100 supporters gave a total of $394,356 to Luther’s 22 varsity programs— a One Team Day record!
NEW BOOK REFLECTS ON LUTHER AND DECORAH
In November, interim provost and professor of physics Jeff Wilkerson published 23 Woodcock in 22 Years: Reflections on Hunting, the Night Sky, and Our Place in the Universe with the University of Iowa Press. The book revolves around his time in Luther classrooms and on Decorah public lands, so we asked him to tell us about writing it.
The day I was teaching physics for the very first time in graduate school, I had what I refer to as a lightbulb-over-the-head moment. I realized that if I could build my life around replicating that experience with students, I would have won the lottery. Naively, I thought place didn’t matter, so long as I could work shoulder-to-shoulder with students in the classroom and the laboratory.
Fortune smiled on me when that moment in the classroom—melded with a desire to find a location close to dark skies and with a planetarium—landed me at Luther, a special place situated in a special space.
Nearly 28 years later, I can see that, to borrow from John Denver, I was born in the summer of my thirty-third year, coming home to a place I’d never been. And not to try upstaging Lou Gehrig, but
I am truly the luckiest person on the face of the earth for having had the chance to carve out a career, to build a life, at Luther and in the paradise that surrounds the college.
Now, my good fortune continues with the publication of my book. The metronome that keeps time in the story is the opportunity to go afield each autumn to bag a woodcock, a migratory upland bird, for a special holiday meal. The entire book, and thus this woodcock hunting spine, grew from a single short story I wrote for the Ruffed Grouse and American Woodcock Society. After writing that story, I awoke each day with a compulsion to write, and more stories began to appear, as did, perhaps, a thread weaving the stories into a tapestry about time and place, grounding and evolution, in the forests and fields of northeast Iowa and in the classroom and research lab.
At some point in the writing, I asked my wife, professor of religion Kristin Swanson, “Is this a book?” Apparently it was and, after decades of collaborative work in the lab with physics students, I got the reward of working with talented art students, Ava Shively ’24, who produced the cover art, and L’Engle Charis-Carlson ’26, who provided sketches for the text.
—Jeff Wilkerson, interim provost and professor of physics
Homecoming
We had a delightful Homecoming 2024! Here are the people we honored for their impacts through service, music, and athletics.
Sherry (Braun) Alcock ’82 (center) with Joy and Dave Roslien ’59 at Sherry’s retirement reception at The Landing during the Homecoming parade on October 26. David was a vice president at Luther when he hired Sherry in 1990.
Thank you, Sherry!
At this year’s Homecoming, we were grateful to celebrate Sherry (Braun) Alcock ’82. Readers of this magazine will recognize her name—and many of you have the good fortune to know her.
Sherry worked at Luther for 33 years, most recently as executive director of alumni relations, planning Homecoming events from 1990 through 2023. Through her decades at Luther, she was a dream colleague and collaborator—considerate, gracious, hard-working, enthusiastic, and with an abiding love of Luther.
Jeanie Lovell, senior director of foundation and government relations, worked with Sherry for more than three decades and says, “Sherry dedicated her entire career to serving her alma mater. She personally connected with thousands of alumni of all ages over the years and nurtured special bonds to Luther. Those lasting friendships are part of her legacy.”
It’s a beautiful legacy, Sherry, and we’re all the better for it!
Music Awards
Weston H. Noble Award
David Judisch, professor emeritus of music, taught at Luther for 40 years. Since 1975, he has directed the Luren Singing Society, leading it on five tours to Norway, which included performances for royalty. He has significantly contributed to the Decorah Lutheran Church choir for 24 years.
Carlo A. Sperati Award
Justin Knoepfel ’04, an associate professor of music and department chair at Gustavus Adolphus College, is conductor of the Gustavus Symphony Orchestra. He has performed violin with distinguished orchestras and musicians and at venues across the United States and Europe.
Richard C. and Joann M. Hemp Family Prize for Orchestral Performance
Mark Severtson ’25, a music major, has been principal tubist in Symphony Orchestra, Concert Band, and the Noble Brass Quintet. He won the 2023–24 Band Concerto Competition, the first Joan deAlbuquerque Memorial Prize for Band, and the 2022 Tim and Sandra Peter Music Leadership Award.
left: Mike Voltmer
Mary
Distinguished Service Awards
Mike Voltmer ’74 launched Voltmer Electric his senior year at Luther. Today, it is a multistate company known for its work on Iowa highways, airports, and underground. In Decorah, Mike has served in leadership roles with the Decorah Area Chamber of Commerce, Spectrum Network, Sunflower Childcare Center, Nordic Fest, and Vesterheim.
Mary (Burbridge) Kreger ’79 is a public education leader and advocate who served for the past six years as superintendent of Minnesota’s third-largest school district, District 196. Now retired, she led the district through the pandemic, helped win voter
approval for $493 million in school facilities improvements, and secured additional public funding for student mental health.
Doug Knutson ’84 founded Knutson Photography in Minneapolis in 1986. He has photographed Nobel Peace Prize laureates, including the Dalai Lama and Elie Wiesel. His work has appeared in Time, Business Week, and Sports Illustrated. He has served as a volunteer photographer for the Highland Friendship Club, Three Rivers Park District, Art Buddies, and Boy Scouts of America. Ellie (Stack) Shaw ’94 is director of federal government affairs at American Express Co. She serves on the executive commit-
tee and board of directors for the Public Affairs Council and is advisory council co-chair for the Public Leadership Education Network. The network’s Ellie Shaw Scholarship, named in her honor, promotes diverse and inclusive leadership in policymaking.
Sam Yamoah ’04 is chief strategy and innovation officer at Cambia Health Solutions. He was a mentor with Big Brothers Big Sisters and served in leadership roles with the American Red Cross of the Tri-States and the Dubuque Rescue Mission. He also cofounded a nonprofit that has distributed more than 10,000 books to learning centers in Ghana.
Athletics Awards
Inductees into Luther’s Athletics Hall of Fame included (from left): Dave Happel, former diving coach; Janet (Dobyns) Mundell ’09, cross country, track and field; David McKay ’09, cross country, track and field; Merle Foss, former wrestling coach; Kara (Reiman) Cordes ’99, golf; Becca (Girvan) Zellmer ’14, softball; Alec Bonander ’09, wrestling; Mike Jefferson ’04, football. The event also inducted the 1963 football team. The 1965 men’s track and field team will be inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame during the Alumni Track and Field Meet on Saturday, February 8.
From
’74,
(Burbridge) Kreger ’79, President Jenifer K. Ward, Ellie (Stack) Shaw ’94, Sam Yamoah ’04, and Doug Knutson ’84.
EXPLORING LUTHER’S NORWEGIAN ROOTS
Last fall saw the culmination of a yearslong project with the publication of Sagas of Luther College: Norwegian and Lutheran Identities Past, Present, and Future.
As the first college in the United States founded by Norwegian immigrants, Luther has been broadly and deeply shaped by Norwegian Lutheran traditions, education, and culture. The anthology—edited by Maren Anderson Johnson, associate professor of Nordic studies, and Rachel (Andersen) Faldet ’78, assistant professor emerita of English—explores this using a 21st-century lens, through 13 personal essays and one intergenerational interview. The book’s authors include alumni, current and emeritus professors, and Lutheran pastors who consider “how a Luther education shapes you, helps you navigate the challenges of the world, and invites you to serve others and the Earth,” its editors say.
The range of voices and experiences portrayed in the book is diverse. Andrew Ellingsen ’03 reflects on how learning a traditional Norwegian folk craft led to a career change. David Faldet ’79, professor emeritus of English, writes about how the Norwegian spiritual sense of place has left its mark on the college and on those who have filtered through it. Wanda Deifelt, professor of religion, considers how the hallmarks of a Luther education have roots in traditional Norwegian Lutheran education. Edis Pajic ’22 reflects on her identity as a Norwegian “on paper,” born to refugee parents who lived in Norway temporarily.
In addition, Rebecca (Mehl) Gamble ’08, Jim Martin-Schramm, John Robert Christianson, Chris Johnson ’87, Hans Brattskar ’79, Berit Skogen ’23, Melissa Bills, Scott Meyer ’05, and Maren Anderson Johnson wrote chapters. Marilyn (Haugen) Roverud ’66, Kirsten (Roverud) Heine ’92, Suzanne (Roverud) Mineck ’96, and Mari Mineck ’26 contributed an intergenerational interview.
The book was published by Luther’s Richard L. and Judith A. Torgerson Center for Nordic Studies and funded by a Reframing the Institutional Saga grant of nearly $40,000 from the Council of Independent Colleges’ Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education. The leadership team for the grant project included Johnson; Jeanie Lovell, senior director of foundation and government relations; and Brad Chamberlain, provost and professor of chemistry.
“It’s been a joy to work on this project,” Johnson says. “Through learning the authors’ stories, I’ve grown in my appreciation of how Luther’s history can and does shape the education our students receive today.”
The book was published just ahead of the 200th anniversary of the first organized emigration of Norwegians to the U.S., which will be celebrated in 2025. Copies of Sagas are available for purchase through the Luther Book Shop.
THE BLUE THREAD
by Kate Frentzel
During a tenure that spanned a global pandemic and a challenging higher ed landscape, President Jenifer K. Ward strengthened the fabric of Luther College.
President Jenifer K. Ward loves to point to “the Luther blue thread.” It pulls through the tapestry of the college, connecting past, present, and future. It pulls through the fabric of higher education, improvising through and over challenges and changes. And it pulls through the fabric of our world, “even when—especially when—the fabric is taut, frayed, or in need of repair,” she says.
As Ward, who’s retiring from Luther College in June, has led the college over the past six years, she’s thoughtfully, strategically, and masterfully guided that Luther blue thread through the tapestry of the college in a way that leaves it stronger, more flexible, and more resilient.
Leading through a Pandemic
The full circle that Ward navigated during her presidency began with a major wobble. Just a few months in, she was deeply tested when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world. “In some ways, being a new president was not that much different from being a seasoned president in the sense that nobody knew what to do with a novel virus,” she says.
The life-and-death stakes of the challenge were intense. And it should be noted that during this time, Ward was navigating not just community health but her own cancer diagnosis (she is now cancer-free).
“There are all kinds of challenges that I face as president that are not truly life or death,” she says. “But because this was a novel virus, every decision felt weighty. Should we have this policy or this other policy? Should we have this mitigation effort or not? All decisions were informed by the question in the back of my mind: Will the decision I make have an impact on actual human lives?”
In addition to shaping policies with literal life-and-death stakes, the virus required a shift to online learning that was a radical pivot for a residential college like Luther. As the pandemic progressed, calming and surging in unpredictable measures, Ward and others developed a thoughtful, flexible approach that allowed students to live and learn—and sing, eat, practice, compete, worship, and celebrate—together in person as much as possible.
BOB PAULSON '78, BOARD OF REGENTS CHAIR
"In her inaugural address, President Ward shared that her service as Luther’s 11th president would be grounded in “always becoming”—adapting to changing circumstances, “embracing questions, uncertainty, and forced detours with a sense of adventure.” At that time, none of us had any idea of how important this belief would be in facing the challenges and uncertainties of COVID-19, the rapid changes in higher education, and the impacts on Luther College. The Board of Regents is grateful to President Ward for her steadfast leadership, vision, and unwavering commitment to the mission of Luther College and the perseverance, achievements, and well-being of Luther’s students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends over these past six years."
Alignment on Campus
Alignment—of resources and purpose—has been a hallmark of Ward’s presidency. “A lot of the work that I’ve done is moving logs out of a logjam,” she says. “We tended to some processes, procedures, structures, and systems that needed attention.”
Rather than a need for new buildings, Ward saw a need to repurpose existing buildings for today’s learning. Renovating the Regents Center into the Gerdin Fieldhouse will, she says, still support training, competition, and physical health, but it will also offer spaces for gathering, studying, and engagement. Preus Library, which is in the early stages of a reimagining, will still be a repository for print resources, but it will also have more gathering and engagement spaces and will headquarter all student services in the same place, turning the building from a traditional library into a learning commons. In addition, several classrooms on campus have been or will be renovated for 21st-century learning. These sorts of changes steward resources while also allowing Luther to flex and grow along with student needs.
During a time when colleges across the country have been struggling to maintain enrollment, some of the work that fell under Ward’s tenure was especially difficult, like reductions in staffing and academic programs. As alignments of resources have unfolded, Ward has asked the Luther community to align their sense of purpose as well.
“I’ve asked people to build a notion that we need to make decisions based on the needs of students and not have student needs subservient to our conveniences or desires,” she says. “In order to get an institutional focus, an institutional path, and institutional results, we have to integrate and coordinate. I can see a lot of the shifts that we’ve done as an institution that align with that.”
Centering Students
During her time at Luther, Ward has been especially proud of work the college has done to deepen a holistic approach to student education and success. At the heart of this work is the Office of Student Success, led by dean Kate Elliott under provost Brad Chamberlain, which coordinates and leverages staff and faculty in all areas.
This integrated model gathers together under one umbrella key elements of student support, including academic advising, tutoring, career and internship support, disability services, and more. It also improves and augments student support through new software, revised policies, and team-based approaches.
Also during Ward’s time at Luther, the college developed a new core curriculum, which hadn’t happened since 2005, emphasizing skill-building and experiential learning. It introduced new majors—like global health, law and values, and engineering science—and a counseling minor that reflect student interest and societal needs.
Under Ward, the college also developed regional partnerships that open up pathways for Luther students, like the AA to BA Social Work Transfer Pathway with Northeast Iowa Community College and the 4+1 Bachelor’s to Master’s Degree Program in public health with the University of Iowa.
Strengthening Ties to Decorah
The joke, Ward says, is that the Venn diagram of Luther and Decorah is a circle. “It’s a very close-knit community in all kinds of ways—not just by virtue of being geographically in the same place, but by having a shared history and in some senses a shared culture.”
She continues, “We are too small a town, and Luther College has too much outsized influence, not to be joined at the hip. We have mutual interests, and the degree to which Luther is healthy is going to be the degree to which the town is healthy—and vice versa.”
Ward has been pragmatic about Luther’s core function—education—and about where Luther should lean on community partners. In 2022, she led the college to a strategic partnership with WinnMed to provide student health services and athletic training on campus. “They do health care. We do education. Why don’t we make common cause?” she says.
She also recognizes a mutual benefit when it comes to student learning, saying, “There is great opportunity for us to do curricular work using Decorah as our classroom while providing needed service to local employers.”
Historic Giving and Spotting Talent
Under Ward, the college has seen historic philanthropy, including its largest single year of fundraising, with just over $34 million committed in the 2023–24 fiscal year. Credit for this lies in the generosity of Luther donors, but Ward is also pleased with the stellar work of the Advancement Office under Ward’s 2022 hire for vice president for advancement, Mary Duvall.
Ward’s gift at spotting talent has had repercussions throughout the college. About her cabinet members, Ward says, “I’ve been able to witness how a group of people from different divisional commitments can
come together and think institutionally.” She’s proud to have given deserving people these opportunities.
Key among them is current provost and future president of Luther College, Brad Chamberlain, who will assume the role of president on February 7, 2025, while Ward continues with the college on special projects through June. “I was here for two weeks when I said, I want him on the cabinet,” Ward says. “I’ve seen him step up to every challenge.”
Looking Forward
Whether it’s owing to an alignment of purpose and resources, a laser focus on student experience, the rejuvenation of campus facilities, a dedicated staff and faculty under a talent-spotting leader, or something ineffable—let’s call it some Luther magic— Luther is entering its next era with reason for optimism.
Trends in higher ed nationwide have shown a decline in college enrollment over the past decade, but Luther’s 2024 fall enrollment in its first-year class was up 6.6 percent.
Coinciding with this is the college’s high rankings on national lists this fall, including those from the U.S. News & World Report, Princeton Review, and Wall Street Journal.
It’s a satisfying state in which to leave a college, and she recognizes that one year’s data is not a trend, but she’s buoyed by the Luther community’s commitment to the college’s future health. “The tapestry may be changing all around it,” she says, “but that Luther blue thread that pulls through it holds from one generation to the next.”
What’s Next for President Ward? Changing the Wallpaper
A scholar of German, Ward points to her favorite German phrase: Der Tapetenwechsel. “It literally means ‘the changing of the wallpaper,’” she says. “In a figurative sense, it has to do with the change of perspective or refreshment that comes from changing your environment or frame of reference.” It’s key to a successful college presidency and also integral to a college. “The reason for being on a college campus is to foster curiosity, expand your horizon, and widen your lens,” she says. “It’s 24/7/365 Tapetenwechsel.” Ward, who’s lived or worked on a college campus since her freshman year in 1976, will certainly miss the higher ed atmosphere. But, she says, “I’m too curious, too hungry for experiences to be a candidate for the remote control and the recliner.” She imagines that eventually she’ll consult or serve in interim positions. She’ll pursue her many creative interests. She dreams of hosting a European-style salon, “exploring big ideas with thoughtful, creative people who might make the world better by the sheer force of synergy.” “It’s hard for me to rule things out during retirement,” she says. “I have a little bit of choice paralysis, but I suspect that the first little bit will be devoted to saying yes to lots of things I’ve had to say no to.”
BRAD CHAMBERLAIN, PROVOST AND PRESIDENT-ELECT
“President Ward modeled how to recognize and lean into the hyphens, the connections that expand and enrich identity—connections such as teacher-scholar or student-athlete. In my mind, a core aspect of the liberal arts is building in students the ability to articulate, connect, and activate ideas. President Ward kept the entire Luther College community grounded in this focus throughout her presidency, and I am grateful to her for it.”
President Ward has been steadfast in her attendance of student performances, concerts, athletics events, poster sessions, and in her support of students generally. It’s no surprise that she’s garnered tons of student supporters, who’ve come to treasure their special bonds with her.
Jaraad Ahmed ’25
My relationship with President Ward really bloomed in our “leader-to-leader” gatherings. We spoke at length of our experiences with community engagement and servant leadership, but more importantly our discussions included our individual experiences and feelings about being in positions of responsibility. It was here that I learned to truly appreciate the microcosm that Luther is able to foster for student voices.
Matthew Franzen ’24
President Ward’s support for athletics has been incredibly meaningful to my teammates and me during my time at Luther. It was inspiring to see her in the stands, cheering us on and cele -
brating our hard work. It really showed how invested she was in our success.
Eric Head ’23
President Ward was such an involved and supportive figure in many aspects of student life during my time at Luther. During one teary-eyed performance of Puccini’s La Bohème during Symphony Orchestra’s Vienna Residency, she offered me what she called “the best tissue you’ll ever experience,” a German fourply. When we got back from the tour, she had a whole pack of tissues waiting for me.
Samuel Scheffler ’26
President Ward's support for students is always present, from sitting front row at Christmas at
Luther and CFA performances to being a regular attendee at chapel and athletic competitions. She has gone out of her way multiple times to acknowledge me, check in on my well-being, and answer my questions. It is with a heavy yet grateful heart that I bid farewell to her.
Lani Himegarner ’24
I really appreciated that President Ward made an effort to get to know students from all areas. It’s very common that we hear names of administration without really knowing them, but she prioritized her presence among us. I have many stories I could share about her, which is really just a testament to her involvement with the community and building relationships with students.
ONCE DRIFTLESS, ALWAYS DRIFTLESS
Since 2013, the Driftless Jazz Ensemble has cultivated a close-knit group of Luther students and alumni to share jazz favorites with the Decorah community and beyond.
by Sara Friedl-Putnam
It’s a Sunday afternoon in early November, and Luther students in the Driftless Jazz Ensemble have gathered in Jenson-Noble Hall of Music to start planning for their 2024 “Very Merry Driftless Christmas” holiday concert.
The energy is palpable, the banter playful as the 10-member group brainstorms its set list for the mid-December gig at Impact Coffee in Decorah. Potential songs (think “Last Christmas” by Wham!, “My Favorite Things” by Tony Bennett, and other popular holiday tunes) pipe through the speakers mounted high on the walls as the musicians work to whittle down the list and organize selected songs into sets.
“We’ve got to do ‘Hot Chocolate,’” urges Geoff Hjerleid ’86 of Byron, Minnesota, a self-proclaimed “DJE groupie” who sparked the creation of the ensemble in 2013 and today volunteers as its coordinator and an occasional vocalist. “Remember, this is your last time to cut loose before exams.”
Over the next 90 minutes, Christian Montover ’26 riffs on guitar, Simon McDonald ’26 fine-tunes his drums, Leif Carey-Odden ’25 runs scales on alto sax, and Ellie Hoehne ’26 (vocals) and Noah Bowers ’26 (guitar, bass, vocals) take turns rearranging song names on a large whiteboard in the center of the room. Jonas Haugland ’25 (trombone), David Helbling ’26 (soprano and tenor sax), Kristian Stordalen ’26 (trumpet), Mike Van Meter ’26 (bass), and Linaea Walsh ’28 (vocalist) add to the spirited debate. Eventually, all the musicians agree the song list looks, well, just right, and the playing of music begins.
“The band always makes decisions as a group,” observes Hjerleid of the dynamic that produced the set list. “There’s no hierarchy here.”
Hjerleid, an attorney with the Olmsted County (Minnesota) Attorney’s Office, provided the impetus for the group’s formation more than a decade ago. In 2013, he was helping organize the annual
Olmsted County Bar Association fundraiser for a local nonprofit that provides free civil legal services to low-income individuals. When the topic of entertainment arose, Hjerleid pitched the idea of getting a band to play the event. “The best way I can describe my thinking at that moment was: go big or go home,” he says with a smile.
The idea was greenlighted, and Hjerleid started his search at his alma mater (of course!), where he knew that the jazz program, under the longstanding leadership of Tony Guzmán ’90, professor of music, attracted an array of talented young musicians each year. “I contacted Luther and essentially said, ‘Can you help an old alumnus? I need a band for a fundraiser,’” he recalls. Jon Ailabouni ’10, a gifted trumpeter then serving on the Luther music faculty, didn’t hesitate to answer the proverbial call.
“I’ve always been very supportive of students performing and working professionally,” says Ailabouni, today an assistant teaching professor at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse. “This seemed like a great opportunity, and Geoff, as a Luther alumnus, was especially enthusiastic about the idea.”
And just like that, the formation of a small jazz band of student musicians began. (Credit Ailabouni with the apropos “Driftless Jazz Ensemble” name.) The group has played at the Olmsted County Bar Association fundraiser ever since—and, as its reputation has grown, especially around Decorah, at as many other gigs as its schedule can accommodate. “The students are really busy,” Hjerleid says of the challenge of booking events. “They’re involved in so many other things at Luther.”
In the first couple of years, Ailabouni took the stage
with the students at the Rochester fundraiser.
“Performing with students in professional settings taps into the spirit of mentorship and learning on the bandstand that is integral to the jazz tradition,” he reflects.
“This is music that was meant to be learned aurally from elders (though when I played with DJE, I was only in my 20s)—and, as any musician knows, we all learn so much by performing.”
Over time, however, the students in the ensemble took the reins: “As the students grew in their abilities and independence, it was good to see them handle the leadership, communication, and logistics to make this commitment on their own, as that’s also an important part of formation as a professional musician,” Ailabouni says.
A big part of that commitment, Hjerleid points out, is ensuring the continuity of the band: “It’s very much driven by the students—the current members are always thinking about who is coming onboard next, who might be a good fit to fill a future opening.”
Sam Liska ’23 of St. Paul, Minnesota—who played trumpet for the ensemble as a student and continues, as he puts it, “to jam with the group” if asked—well remembers the moment he was approached about becoming part of DJE. “I was playing my trumpet late one night in the orchestra room in Jenson-Noble, and I looked up to see two seniors standing at the door,” he says. “They asked me if I’d like to join their group, and thus my time in Driftless began.”
Liska recalls many wonderful moments performing with DJE but says one was particularly moving. “Playing at Impact Coffee during Nordic Fest 2022 was unforgettable,” he says. “That performance drew one
of the largest crowds the group had ever attracted, and I can remember the floor literally shaking from so many people dancing.”
Ellie Hoehne was hooked when she heard the band perform a few months later at its 2022 holiday show at Impact. “The music they made that night felt like a living thing, like something taking shape right in front of the audience, and I wanted to be a part of it,” she says. Much to her delight, she was asked to join the band her junior year. The experience hasn’t disappointed.
“Every once in a while, we’ll be performing a tune and something will just click,” she says. “The music suddenly takes over, and all we can do is try to keep up. It doesn’t happen every time, but when it does, it’s absolutely magical.”
It was the high standard of musicianship that immediately impressed Christian Montover when he was asked to sit in on a DJE rehearsal in 2022. Over the past couple years, he’s loved playing music without boundaries: swing and jazz, rock and blues, country, and material he can only describe as “pretty off-thewall.” “I’ve really enjoyed being in a group where no holds are barred,” he says. “The theme for me would be continual reinvention—it’s fun to be in a group where being a static entity doesn’t work by its nature.”
That’s because, as Jackson Kates ’24, an alumni member now living in St. Paul, Minnesota, emphasizes, “The beauty of the band is that it’s always
reforming—people drift in and out because members graduate or study abroad, and new people then come in to fill their spots.”
Kates was recruited to DJE by Hjerleid and by drummer Nolan Mancl ’23. “I remember it just being fun from the start,” he recalls. “It was all about friends making live music together the best we possibly could. It was magical, and Geoff helped create this space where we could create that magic.”
Ailabouni agrees. “Geoff should get a lot of credit for doing much of the legwork, scheduling and booking gigs and pulling the groups together around a fixed date on the calendar,” he says. “That’s a huge part of putting a band together.”
Hjerleid himself downplays his role in the ensemble, emphasizing instead that it’s the band members who log the hours of practice and deliver onstage time and again. “I get to listen to a fantastic band when we rehearse, and when we have a gig, sometimes, I get to sing,” he says. “But either way, I get to see my favorite band live, and I get the best seat in the house. It’s an absolute blast.”
There’s at least one thing upon which all the musicians involved with DJE, including Hjerleid, can agree: once Driftless, always Driftless. “This group has such a special sense of community because we know we’re a part of something larger than us,” says Liska. “After graduating and leaving the group for the next generation of Driftless members, I feel an even stronger sense of community with my Driftless peers, because there’s a degree of trust in giving away something you hold dearly.”
Coach WE ALL NEED SOMEONE LIKE
by Kate Frentzel
A good coach can shape an athletic career. A great coach can shape a lifetime.
According to Cheryl (Westrum) Mishek ’79, Coach Kent Finanger ’54 was a great coach. Her experience as a distance runner under Coach Finanger illustrates how impactful the relationship between a student-athlete and coach-mentor can be. And the ways she’s honored that relationship in recent years have the power to shape generations of student-athletes to come.
A Fateful Encounter with a Coach
When asked to cast his mind back to his youth, 92-year-old Kent says he was ready to attend St. Olaf until the last weekend in August before his freshman year. That’s when Luther coach and athletic director Hamlet Peterson ’54 showed up at his family home in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. “He spent some time with me and my family talking about Luther, what it is and what it meant,” Kent recalls. “At the end of that time, I drove to Decorah in the car with him and never looked back. It unfolded for me four wonderful years as a student and 40 years as a physical educator, coach, and colleague at Luther College.”
Kent started teaching at Luther in 1956. He chaired the health and physical education department from 1964 to 1996. As a coach, he logged 93 seasons in five sports: baseball, basketball, cross country, football, and track and field. He especially distinguished himself in coaching runners:
• He led 17 teams to the NCAA national cross country championships, finishing in the top-10 10 times.
• He coached an NCAA Division II national track and field team to a second-place finish in 1965.
• He coached an NCAA Division III national championship cross country team in 1985.
While Kent loved the competition element of sports
and building harmony among a team, the hundreds of students he mentored were the highlight. “I loved the kids,” he says. “I loved them for where they came from, for who their families were, what major they were taking, and what they wanted for their future. I loved being part of that. And it was inspiring to me to be helpful in the molding of that future for them.”
A Second Fateful Encounter with a Coach
Cheryl graduated from high school in 1972, right before Title IX was signed into law. She was athletically inclined, but with few opportunities—girls at Waseca (Minn.) Central High were allowed to use the gymnasium one night a month.
As a new student at Luther, she was looking for ways to improve her fitness. She started running the track at night to avoid “fourth meal,” an evening snack service on campus that Cheryl remembers as “piles of doughnuts at 10 p.m.” (Fourth meal came to a grinding halt in 1974—RIP.)
One night, she and Coach Finanger crossed paths. They introduced themselves, and he invited her to practice with the men’s cross country team. Soon, Cheryl and two other women formed the college’s first women’s cross country team.
Despite having never run a marathon, Cheryl ran the race in the Drake Relays—twice. She finished seventh for women in 1977 and fourth in 1978, shaving more than 40 minutes off her time. That same year, she placed second in the Chicago Marathon and won Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota, with a time of 2:57:14. She won collegiate races of many distances as a student and still holds the Luther College record for the marathon. “Running cross country for Luther sharpened my foot speed for distance running,” she says.
Cheryl fell hard for road racing and wanted to make it a career, but she heeded her father’s advice to make her money elsewhere and race on the weekends. “I went into real estate, and that worked beautifully with racing because I could make my own schedule,” she says. “I got faster, better, and my real estate practice flourished—so it turned out to be a good decision.”
Cheryl ran major races, like the New York City Marathon. In 1985, she won the Royal Victoria Marathon in British Columbia with a time of 2:56:04. When she won the Mercer Island Half-Marathon in 1986, seven years out of college, she says, “Coach put together a whole poster with a photo of us standing together, with notes written on it like ‘Go, fun, win!’ and ‘Congratulations, Cheryl, you’re a winner!’ Just classic Coach. He never gave up on me. Once you’re one of his coachees, he just wants you to keep going.”
For Cheryl, running has been a lifelong love. At 70, and with a particular zest for running uphill, she says, “Running at Luther is an incredible springboard for people to continue running after college. It gave me a foundation to keep myself on track.”
Building a Legacy
In 2017, Cheryl and her then husband, the late Dick Bressler, provided a gift of $1 million to establish the Kent Finanger Endowed Chair for Women’s Cross Country and Track and Field. It was the first endowed coaching position in college history. “I really wanted the women to have the dynamic coaching and capabilities that men have for sports,” Cheryl says.
Naming the chair after Kent was, to her, obvious. “He always made sure to lift everybody up,” she says. “Even the people who never scored for the team always felt like their place was critical.”
The chair allowed Yarrow Pasche to move from part-time to full-time coach of women’s cross country and distance running. It also allowed more funding for recruitment and program enhancement.
Yarrow knows firsthand the impact a coach can have on a student. “I see my team members six days a week, through the whole academic year, for four years,” she says. “I have more contact time with them than professors or any other adult on campus. I get to be part of their college journey and their evolution as they kind of come out into the world. The role coaches play in students’ development extends far beyond athletics.”
Yarrow sees this reflected in Cheryl and Kent. “I think Cheryl has that same relationship with Coach Kent,” she says. “His support, guidance, and mentorship made a huge impact on not only her time in college but beyond. She really values the role he played for her. It’s just palpable—you can feel the level of trust, respect, and love she has for what he gave her. That in itself is such a great thing to be a part of, and it’s also super rewarding to know that I could be giving that to my runners now.”
Upper left: Cheryl shakes the mayor's hand after placing second in the Chicago marathon in 1978. Lower left: Cheryl won the Mercer Island Half-Marathon in 1986. Right: Cheryl (standing, far left) invited the Luther women's cross country team to visit her home in Wyoming, train at Yellowstone, and race in Montana in 2019.
Competing in Community
Cheryl and her husband, Walter Mishek, honored Kent and Luther cross country in another way last fall, when they hosted the inaugural Coach Finanger Invitational on their property, Calonett, in Waseca, Minnesota.
The first time Cheryl visited Calonett, Walter was just retiring from raising champion-level Arabian horses on the 80-acre property. She thought to herself, Wow, what a great place to run. After the couple managed a years-long remodel of the grounds, they wanted to find ways to use it that would also benefit people. A cross country course was a no-brainer. “There was one person’s name I wanted to put on it,” Cheryl said.
Walter, a logistical whiz who’s become a Norse fan in his own right, was fully on board. He and Paul Mullen ’79, former Luther runner and development officer, plotted out a 2.5-km groomed-grass course that ends in a stunning promenade of maples. Walter leveraged goodwill around Waseca to find vendors and services for the inaugural Coach Finanger Invitational. He also oversaw design of the winners’ podium and the distinctive medals that bear Kent’s image.
The event, on September 6, hosted six teams and hundreds of spectators for a 5-km race that saw Luther runners crack the top three in the men’s and women’s races. “It was a glorious day,” Kent says. “It warmed my heart, to be very honest. There’s a lot of giving and
a lot of terrific feelings in this experience that Cheryl and Walter provided.” Kent’s wife, Lois, and his five kids were there, with his son Mark ’77 announcing the event.
Before the gun went off, Cheryl welcomed the runners and told them she hopes that everyone has a Coach Finanger in their lives at some point. “Whether it’s in a coaching or teaching capacity, or as a friend or business partner, knowing somebody of his caliber would shape their lives too,” she says.
After the event, Cheryl and Walter invited all the teams to a giant picnic overlooking their pond. “It really fostered a sense of community,” Yarrow says. “There isn’t normally the space for that to happen at a meet. Competition is phenomenal—it can raise the bar and get us to invest in something. But when you can do that with a community and work on it together, it’s much greater.”
Kent was deeply touched by the event. “I worked because of the fun and enjoyment of being a part of Luther College and its celebration,” he says, “and then all these things have come, not by my design or plan. It’s breathtaking—it’s beyond me, to be honest.”
“I don’t think, when I was in college, that I knew how to say thank you,” Cheryl reflects. “But I figured it out later in life. I learned gratitude, and so as long as it’s not too late, you can always go back and thank those people who were monumental during your formative years.”
On this page: photos from the day of the invitational, including (above) Cheryl and Kent pictured with Walter.
THE PLUME HUNTER AND THE ICY ORB
by Kate Frentzel
Planetary scientist Ujjwal Raut ’01 joins a NASA mission exploring a moon with the potential for life in our solar system.
A LAB THAT SHAPES A LIFE
Ujjwal Raut ’01 could have excelled in a number of fields, but he happened to share a first year at Luther with Jeff Wilkerson, a physics professor newly arrived from UC Berkeley with instruments on loan to set up a research lab for Luther students. This serendipity would turn out to shape Ujjwal’s life.
“We’d be studying thermodynamics, and he’d be so animated and full of energy, with funny anecdotes to share,” Ujjwal recalls. “Physics can be a dry, boring subject, but the way he presented the material was fun and interesting. If it weren’t for Jeff’s mentorship and guidance over those undergraduate years, I probably would have had a change in career.”
In Wilkerson’s lab, Ujjwal investigated whether you could detect gamma ray bursts—very high-energy events in the cosmos—via infrared light. “It was very hands-on, hardware-oriented, experimental work using the instrumentation and equipment Jeff had brought from Berkeley,” Ujjwal says. “It really cemented that this is what I wanted to do in the future.”
AN EXPERT ON PLANETARY SURFACES
Ujjwal earned a PhD in engineering physics at the University of Virginia (UVa) during a time when planetary science was making great strides. NASA’s Cassini mission was exploring Saturn, finding methane lakes on Titan and plumes erupting from its tiny moon, Enceladus, reminiscent of Yellowstone’s geysers. After a postdoc stint at UVa, Ujjwal moved to San Antonio, Texas, to start his own lab at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), a nonprofit that partners with global governments and industries to conduct research in space physics, planetary science, and astrophysics.
SwRI has had a hand in many high-profile missions, including Cassini, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mapping the moon, the European Space Agency’s Juice mission to Jupiter’s icy moons, the New Horizons mission exploring Pluto and the outer edges of our solar system—the list is long.
Ujjwal’s lab at SwRI specializes in investigating planetary surfaces. He was a co-investigator of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission and a science team member of the Juice mission to the Jovian system. When it came time to launch a mission to study Europa, Jupiter’s icy moon with potential conditions to support life, NASA reached out to Ujjwal.
THE PLUME HUNTER
NASA’s Europa Clipper mission, a space probe launched in October 2024, aims to help us better understand this unique moon. One of the four brightest moons of Jupiter, Europa is a really compelling celestial body because it likely has three qualities essential to life:
• organic compounds
• a liquid ocean—even if it’s covered by a 20- to 25-kilometer-thick sheet of ice
• a heat/energy source—the friction produced as Europa flexes from the gravity of Jupiter and passing moons, which could lead to volcanoes heating the ocean from below
Ujjwal’s role on the mission is co-investigator on the ultraviolet spectrograph (UVS), one of the two instruments on board Clipper that SwRI built. “We like to call the UVS the plume hunter,” Ujjwal says, because when the Hubble Space Telescope was studying Europa using UV in 2012–14, it observed what looked like geysers—water vapor signatures that
extended about 100 kilometers above the surface.
This means that Clipper may be able to fly through the plumes and directly sample the oceanic material, otherwise inaccessible beneath 20–25 kilometers of icy crust.
Ujjwal explains, “UVS is like a small Hubble that we’ve put on the Clipper spacecraft, but it gives us a much closer flyby. You can go from thousands of kilometers in orbit all the way down to about 25 kilometers above the surface of Europa. And when we’re having that encounter, we’re looking for these plumes erupting. If they’re made of water vapor, when those water vapor molecules interact with Jupiter’s plasma, they’ll get excited and emit wavelengths that are easily picked up by the UV spectrograph that we’ve built. So the idea is to find and characterize the nature of these putative plumes of Europa.”
Before Clipper even samples these plumes, Ujjwal and his team will already have run many analog experiments in his lab that simulate possible conditions on Europa. As the measurements from the mission are transmitted back to Earth, they’ll have a rich trove of data from the lab to draw on to interpret
those measurements.
Clipper should reach Mars this February and Jupiter in 2030. After completing 49 close flybys of Europa and following extended campaigns, the spacecraft is perhaps bound for a cataclysmic end, with a planned crash into Ganymede, another of Jupiter’s moons. But even this, Ujjwal says, may offer scientific insight. Because Juice will also be studying Jupiter at that time, it will be able to investigate the ejecta that the planned crash kicks up.
BECOMING BIGGER THAN YOURSELF
During the daily work of precise instrumentation and measurements, Ujjwal admits that it’s hard to keep the big picture in mind. But ultimately, he says, “Exploring the cosmos and trying to understand what’s out there eventually comes back to answering the bigger questions of who we are and where we come from. Those are grand questions, really big questions. They’re not something you can answer in a lifetime or even multiple generations.”
So part of his life’s work is as a physics professor at the University of Texas, training the next generation of scientists to take up this mantle. “Looking back,” Ujjwal says, “I was really lucky I arrived at Luther the same year that Jeff did. He was a wonderful mentor to me—he convinced me that physics is a worthy profession. I try to communicate that to my students. Through research, they make a small contribution that adds to the bigger picture. They become part of something bigger than themselves.”
In October, Ujjwal and his family attended the Europa Clipper launch at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Ujjwal used two of his limited launch tickets to invite Jeff Wilkerson, who was a critical mentor for Ujjwal, and his spouse, Luther religion professor Kristin Swanson. Unfortunately, Hurricane Milton interfered with Jeff and Kristin’s travel plans, but the launch on October 14 was a huge success.
Europa Clipper ’s ultraviolet spectrograph
TURNING HOUSES INTO Homes
TURNING HOUSES INTO Homes
When Luther grads connect to share professional insight, great things happen for everyone.
CHANGING LIVES IN THE SAME WAY
Last spring, after 15 years in corporate sales, Ian Cawley ’06 was feeling a disconnect. “I somewhat blamed Luther,” he jokes, “because I didn’t feel that my work was aligned with my values.” His daughter, about to turn five, was newly curious about different kinds of jobs. Listening to himself explain to her what he did for work was the push he needed to make a change.
In April, Ian landed a position as director of operations at Houses into Homes, a furniture bank helping people in Johnson County, Iowa, to furnish homes as they exit homelessness, domestic violence, and other crisis situations. While it’s a different universe entirely from corporate sales, it turns out there’s a throughline: managing relationships. “That’s a really big part of what we do here. With the staff, certainly, but also with our hundreds of volunteers—and we are fully dependent on our volunteers,” Ian says. “We also cultivate relationships with people who are donating
furniture and people in the community, letting them know that that’s what we’re here for.”
Houses into Homes started out of a garage in 2017. Last year, they provided 425 beds to 350 households. They’ve been troubleshooting as they learn and grow. During a leadership meeting in June, when the team had a problem to solve, they thought of Bridging, a Twin Cities–based furniture bank that’s a leader in the field. Maybe Bridging could share a solution based on their years of experience serving more than 5,000 households per year. Ian decided to cold-call the person who holds his position there.
That turned out to be Jen Nielsen ’98.
LEARNING FROM EACH OTHER
Bridging is a streamlined organization. Started in 1987, today it employs 40 full-time staff and relies on 650 weekly volunteers out of two locations to provide furniture and a foundational home setup to more than 5,000 people each year. “Our volunteers are really
Ian set up the living room of a group home just two blocks away from his own home.
“I’m particularly proud of the matching lamp, and the circles in both the rug and the artwork. Learning new skills!” he says.
operational,” Jen says. “The work that they do is equivalent to about 30 full-time staff. This also means that we’re really engaged in the community, because those 650 people are from all over the Twin Cities metro area, getting the word out and recruiting their friends to donate.” Bridging also offers group volunteer experiences for corporations, churches, and other organizations, which brings in another 3,000 volunteers per year.
Jen says that the robust volunteer pool creates an energetic and welcoming vibe: “People come from different communities and backgrounds, but they’re all here to get to do this work so that we can support the community. That really inspires me every day.”
Before the pandemic, it was common for Bridging to host other furniture banks. Since Jen started there two years ago, Ian’s was the second similar organization to visit.
On a Friday in September, Ian’s team made the trip up from Iowa City to spend the morning shadowing volunteer-led shopping appointments and helping with intake at Bridging. Then, the two leadership teams had lunch together—and were so engrossed that lunch lasted three hours.
Ian’s team left with takeaways that they immediately put into practice, like lowering the height of their warehouse shelves to fit in more inventory and changing some of the language they use around donations.
Jen’s team also learned from Ian’s. Because they’re such a well-oiled enterprise, “We’ve gotten pretty accustomed to and maybe settled in our ways of doing things,” she says. The visit made her think about how
to innovate when it comes to inventory and truck deliveries.
BETTER LIVING THROUGH FURNITURE
When you make a radical life change, like Ian did, there’s plenty of room for doubt. But Ian can point to moments that confirm and reconfirm the decision. One involves a house just two blocks away from his. “The proximity was meaningful,” he says, “because it shows how invisible furniture poverty is. Sometimes the people in need are in your neighborhood, on your same street. You drive by without even a second glance.”
During the pre-visit, Ian learned that this was a group home for adults with disabilities. While his team had been planning to deliver a bed to a single resident, the common areas were pretty bare. “There was a lot of isolation because there wasn’t a comfortable place for people to gather,” Ian says.
Houses into Homes set the group home up with, among other things, a patio table and chairs for the big empty deck. When Ian returned for another delivery, he recalls, “It was a beautiful Saturday in May, the first really nice Saturday”—here, he takes pause, overcome with emotion—“and they were all sitting around the patio table on the deck outside. It was a moment when I realized that this wouldn’t be happening if we hadn’t done the work that we did.”
What’s more? With the house only two blocks away, Ian’s wife and his job-curious daughter can see the difference that Ian has helped make too.
Postscript: Ian was named executive director of Houses into Homes starting January 1, 2025.
—Kate Frentzel
Ian addresses his furniture bank’s largest-ever volunteer delivery crew in November.
Ian, alongside a Houses into Homes founder and volunteer coordinator, receives a puzzle donation from a local retirement home in August.
Elena (Karadjova) Ateva ’03 attended the White House Forum on Advancing Inclusive Climate Action in Foreign Policy and Development in October 2024.
Resilience BUILDING
Elena (Karadjova) Ateva ’03 works at the intersection of health and climate change.
Poor air quality, infectious diseases, and lack of access to clean water are just a few of the health implications of climate change. Whether it’s a hurricane, flood, or wildfire, the effects of weather disasters on health often require an emergency response. That’s where Americares comes in.
The health-focused relief and development organization, supporting more than 4,000 health centers in the U.S. and worldwide, helps communities prepare, respond to, and recover from disasters with emergency programs, medicine security, and health services. Leading its work on climate and disaster resilience is Elena Ateva ’03.
“I advise on how to integrate climate change into every aspect of our work because what we know, unfortunately, is that disasters will become more and more frequent. They also overlap, so we are dealing with more than one at a time,” says Elena.
When Hurricane Helene hit the southeastern United States in September, it caused extensive damage to communities across the region. Americares responded to the emergency in western North Carolina with medicines and relief supplies, mental health support, support for local health facilities, and a mobile medical clinic that prescribed essential medications, administered tetanus vaccines, and refered patients to local health facilities as needed.
“With more frequent and intense storms like Helene, it’s more important than ever that we prepare healthcare providers to prevent or address the health impacts of climate change,” Elena says. “My team at Americares creates tools to help healthcare providers serving
low-income and uninsured patients better prepare for extreme weather events that can disrupt essential health services.”
One of those resources is the Climate Resilience for Frontline Clinics Toolkit, created by Americares and the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health to help patients, providers, and clinic administrators manage extreme heat, wildfires, hurricanes, and flooding.
Elena graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science and German and earned a law degree at what is now Mitchell Hamline School of Law. Before Americares, she was deputy director of Heat, Health, and Gender at the Atlantic Council’s Climate and Resilience Center. She also held leadership roles at the White Ribbon Alliance.
“I don’t have jobs; I have passions that I follow,” says Elena, who lives outside of Washington, D.C., with her husband, fellow Bulgarian Stefan Atev ’03, and their two children.
Elena says the most rewarding part of her job is hearing how much community partners are doing with very little resources and how they’re supporting each other.
“Recently, we were working with a border community in this small town that works with homeless people, which is one of the populations at a heightened health risk from climate change,” she says. “Seeing that community’s resilience, ingenuity, and solidarity—that’s what gives me hope for the future.”
—Amy Carlson Gustafson
Recruiting AND EMPOWERING
From the Navy to the White House, Rachel Madryga ’16 champions diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.
Rachel Madryga ’16 is a master at pivoting.
Initially pre-med, she switched her focus at Luther to art and biology. Post-graduation, she pursued three master’s degrees in architecture, urban planning, and construction management at Washington University in St. Louis before working for the Navy, where she held various roles, including as an architect, construction manager, and diversity and STEM program manager with Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Northwest.
In August, Rachel moved to Washington, D.C., for a job as diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) champion detail in the Office of Management and Budget under the Executive Office of the President. As a human capital specialist within OMB’s Management and Operations Division (MOD), she partners with staff on several initiatives, including implementing DEIA strategy.
“We are the backbone and operations part of the government,”
she says about MOD. “No matter which administration is in the White House or when politically appointed people leave, we are the ones still running the government. It’s a department that keeps the lights on and the wheels turning.
“A big part of my job is helping with recruiting efforts and ensuring that they’re done with a more diverse, equitable lens,” Rachel continues. “I’m working on marketing materials, policy, strategic planning, and hiring efforts—recruiting for the federal government as a whole.”
Rachel also supports special events where she engages with staff and the public. She helped put on a children’s Halloween party in October attended by President Joe Biden. She says one
Disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed in this piece are solely those of the author and do not reflect the official policies, positions, or endorsements of the federal government.
of the most rewarding aspects of her job is her equity work with employee resource groups.
“I worked on a new symposium for Muslim Americans in Public Service (MAPS),” she says. “It was a panel of people talking about what it’s like to be a Muslim American working for the government. It was a very powerful event. And the fact that this was the first of its kind—that was rewarding. This is why I practice this type of work—to empower others and to make space for people who may or may not have a seat at the table.”
She regards Luther as a stepping stone to changing everything in her life, especially the mentoring from Professor Richard Merritt, who helped her create an independent studies program in her senior year to prepare her for advanced studies in architecture.
“I’ve had a very interdisciplinary and overlapping journey,” says Rachel. “Many pivots have happened in my life, and they’ve informed where I am today. When I was in grad school, I thrived because I had a biology and art degree, and I wasn’t afraid to challenge things and do things differently. In each of my jobs, there’s been something different to do and learn every day.”
— Amy Carlson Gustafson
Class Notes
Notices as of October 31, 2024
’69 Gracia (Kraabel) Blanchard of Coralville, Iowa, is retired.
Steve Blanchard of Coralville, Iowa, is retired.
’74
Vicki (Koestner) Blake of Porthill, Idaho, celebrated 20 years as a choral conductor and toured countries all over the world.
Joel Mjolsness of San Jose, Calif., is the CEO of Growth Tech Advisory.
’75 Erica (Trytten) Helmick of Boise, Idaho, retired and is a private duty nurse with MultiCare Home Health and Personal Care Services.
Mike Osterholm of Minneapolis, a leading infectious disease epidemiologist, will be honored with the Michael T. Osterholm Endowed Chair in Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, where he has served on the faculty for the past 48 years.
Gordon Peterson of Lenexa, Kan., is retired.
’76
Marilyn Ronnei of Olympia, Wash., retired from the Office of Forensic Mental Health Services, state of Washington.
’77 Steve Emerson of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, is retired.
Jim Fowler of Vermillion, S.D., is retired.
’78 Steve Dahl of Dent, Minn., is retired.
Debra (Stinogel) Kalish of Grand Junction, Colo., was elected board chair of the Colorado Humanities Board of Directors.
Seth Myers of Kansas City, Mo., retired from Air Evac EMS, where he was president and CEO.
Dale Thompson of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, retired from State Farm Insurance, where he was an insurance agent.
’80
Debi (Effertz) Burns of Greenwood, Ind., is a coordinator of worship and creative arts with St. John’s United Church of Christ.
Barbara (Hodge) Miller of Edina, Minn., retired from the Office of the Executive Vice President of the University of Minnesota.
Tim Welch of Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico, is retired.
Mark Werning of Bettendorf, Iowa, retired from BankORION, where he serves as a board member.
’81 Rich Allen of Colorado Springs, Colo., retired as a senior structures engineer at Pratt & Whitney.
Pete Espinosa of Edina, Minn., is the CEO of MileMaker, headquartered in Chicago.
Judith (Tollefsrud) Halverson of New Orleans, La., is an assistant professor and director of clinical education at Delgado Community College.
’82
Carol Hagen of Decorah published her second children’s book, How Many Kransekaker?! It is available in the Luther College Book Shop.
Peter Hasvold of Fort Collins, Colo., is quality manager for North America with Vaisala, a Finland-based manufacturer of weather and industrial instruments, including sensors used by NOAA.
’84
Steve Berg of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is a gift specialist at Coe College.
’85
John Anderson of Washburn, Wis., was appointed chief judge of the 10th Judicial District in Bayfield County, Wis. Kari (Severson) Toft of Pine Island, Minn., is retired.
’86
Chris Gade of Chicago was named vice president for communications for the five-campus University of Minnesota system.
’87
Patricia Beech-Dziuk of Duluth, Minn., owner of Patty Beech Consulting, was awarded the Northern Light Award for Inspiring Organizational Leadership by the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless, recognizing her organization’s significant contributions to advancing housing stability in Minnesota.
Caryn Humble Peterson of La Crescent, Minn., is a lecturer in educational studies at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse.
’88
Michelle (Bargren) Adam of Rockford, Ill., is a school social worker for Belvidere Community Unit School District.
Jim Stover of Bondurant, Iowa, is a retired lieutenant after 33 years of service with the Nebraska State Patrol. Jim is the training specialist for the Iowa Governor’s School Safety Bureau within the Iowa Department of Public Safety.
Leah Vriesman of Hermosa Beach, Calif., is associate dean of academic and faculty affairs at UCLA in Los Angeles.
’90
Dan Coleman of Camp Lejeune, N.C., is a colonel and chief of staff for the Second Marine Logistics Group with the United States Marine Corps.
Lisa (Martzke) Deemer of Oostburg, Wis., retired as a school social worker from the Marshfield School District.
Bonnie Gunzenhauser of University Heights, Ohio, was named vice president for academic affairs at John Carroll University.
’91
Cassondra (Harkrader) Hulshizer of Utica, Minn., was promoted to senior statistical programmer at Mayo Clinic.
’93
Andrea Barth of Lime Springs, Iowa, is CFO of Kinseth Hospitality in Coralville, Iowa.
Cindy (Berner) Greene of Marion, Iowa, earned an MS in higher education–student affairs from Purdue University Global.
Kristian Moe of Burnsville, Minn., is a high school counselor with Edina Public Schools in Minneapolis.
’94
Rachel (Robeck) Breyfogle of Gilbert, Iowa, is a population health coordinator at McFarland Clinic in Ames, Iowa.
’95
Jo Foy of Weatherford, Texas, is a fitness instructor for Pure Barre in Aledo and Fort Worth, Texas.
Heidi (Waxenberg) Huff of Palatine, Ill., is the senior vice president of consumer engagement at Alliance Retail Group.
Melissa (Schindler) Miroslavich of Woodbury, Minn., is the owner, estate planning attorney, and mediator at Miroslavich Law.
’96
Andrea (Wehrmacher) Chung of Lakeville, Minn., is managing director at KPMG.
Amy (Carlson) Floan of Evansville, Wis., is a program manager for Community Action of Rock and Walworth Counties.
Beth Jensen of Atlanta, Ga., is an associate professor of chemistry at Oglethorpe University in Brookhaven, Ga.
Christy (Palmer) Rusdal of Libby, Mont., is a physical therapist at Empower Physical Therapy.
Helga (Consiglio) Swatzak of Madison, Wis., is a piano teacher at the PianoPath Music Studio.
’98
Nathan Ersig of Decorah is an associate vice president at BWF in Minneapolis.
Jessica (Olsen) Etten of St. Paul, Minn., is the associate vice president of advancement at the University of St. Thomas.
’99
Shannon (Burhop) Bruskiewicz of Rogers, Minn., is principal at Princeton Primary Public Schools.
Martha (Rockenstein) Eklund of Minneapolis is a connectional ministries program assistant with the Minnesota Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.
Laura (Kling) Harding of Alexandria, Minn., is a teaching specialist in music at the University of Minnesota–Morris.
’00
Brian Eklund of Minneapolis is an orthopedics operator/scheduler at Allina Health.
’01
Matt Herrick of Papillion, Neb., is a senior principal systems engineer at SAIC.
Robyn (Siedschlag) Wangberg of Winona, Minn., is an associate professor of physics at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota.
’02
Molly Goodwin of Davenport, Iowa, is a production stage manager for the Hadestown national tour through RCI Theatricals in New York.
Jennifer (McAllister) Rose of Hartland, Wis., is a pastor at All Saints Lutheran Church in Wales, Wis.
Julie (Duhme) Vande Hoef of Clive, Iowa, earned an MBA from the University of Iowa and is senior manager of customer solutions and policy at Alliant Energy.
’03
Jessica Aguilar of Sioux Falls, S.D., is vice president of operations at Sanford Health.
Kate (Swenson) Cinnamo of Lakeville, Minn., is executive director at Explore The Trades and a founding member of the Skilled Trades Advisory Council.
Jamie (Thoelke) Hay of Houston, Texas, is a division order supervisor with GulfMark Energy.
Lena Johnson of Kent, Wash., earned an MBA in health care management from Western Governors University and is the owner of Roundtable Therapy and Consulting.
Anthony Pizer of Sioux Falls, S.D., is owner and wealth manager of WillowRidge Financial Solutions.
Lindsay (Lehmann) Reiten of Greeley, Colo., is an associate professor of mathematics education at the University of Northern Colorado. Lindsay received the 2023 Excellence in Teaching Award from UNC’s College of Natural Health Sciences.
Nathan Voight of Mount Vernon, Iowa, is vice president and general manager of business and regional avionics at Collins Aerospace.
’04
Sara (Goudschaal) Blessing of Cedar Falls, Iowa, is an assistant professor of instruction in choral music
education at the University of Northern Iowa.
Barry Bosacker of Las Vegas, Nev., was promoted to region superintendent of the Clark County School District.
Rachel (Friedrich) Harken of Runnells, Iowa, is a payroll and HR compliance manager at Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines.
Cody Tigges of Grinnell, Iowa, is a clinical associate professor and program director of the pediatric critical care medicine fellowship program at University of Iowa Health Care.
’05
Nicole Cain of Grand Rapids, Mich., published Panic Proof, a book on overcoming panic and anxiety that uses research from trauma-informed neuroscience, psychology, and holistic medicine.
Chris Hoegh of Minneapolis is a client services manager at Securian Financial in St. Paul, Minn.
Sarah Koch of Alexandria, Va., is a program officer for U.S. Economic Mobility and Opportunity at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Anna (Osterbur) Petersen of Cincinnati, Ohio, is an elementary teacher with Cincinnati Public Schools.
Mary (Hernandez) Trujillo of Loves Park, Ill., is a licensed clinical social worker and mental health program manager for the city of Rockford.
’06
Brandon Caswell of Shakopee, Minn., is an instrumentation and quality specialist at Valley Medical & Wellness.
Rachel (Bails) Jeffrey of Colorado Springs, Colo., is an education technology specialist in School District 49.
Justin Papka of Castle Rock, Colo., is director of contracts administration for the Water Research Foundation in Denver.
John Sill of Long Lake, Minn., is a provider hub product manager at the Minnesota Department of Human Services in St. Paul, Minn.
Heather (Buckner) Wilensky of Coralville, Iowa, is a develop-
ment officer at Luther College.
’07
Tim Bruett of St. Paul, Minn., is a payroll specialist at Wells Fargo Bank in Minneapolis.
Hemie Collier of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is the head coach of the women’s lacrosse team at Augsburg University in Minneapolis.
Cody Dannen of Mooresville, N.C., is the owner of Dannen Event Consulting. Cody worked in sports presentation for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Alex Ford of Niagara, Wis., is a worship musician at Grace Lutheran Church in Pembine, Wis.
Dan Le Guen-Schmidt of Goleta, Calif., is an assistant superintendent and vice president of human resources at Santa Barbara City College.
’08
Jenny (Harrison) Caswell of Shakopee, Minn., is a speech-language pathologist at Eden Prairie Schools.
Joe McAndrew of Arlington, Va., is an assistant secretary at the Maryland Department of Transportation.
’09
Ashley Beek of Decorah is a technical support manager at Motorola Solutions.
Johanna Bergan of Decorah is a program manager at the University of Connecticut’s Innovations Institute.
Ashlee (Wicks) Carpenedo of Woodbury, Minn., is a K–5 English language teacher at Liberty Ridge Elementary.
Kristine Dennis of Baltimore, Md., is a senior research scientist at NutritionFacts.org.
Andrea (Johnson) Mierau of Andover, Minn., earned a doctorate in education health professions education from A.T. Still University in Kirksville, Mo.
Matt Orth of Aurora, Ill., is a material planner at Glanbia Performance Nutrition in Downers Grove, Ill.
’10
Ben Zamora-Weiss of Minneapolis is an implementation specialist at Orange Logic.
’11
Andrew Bhagyam com-
pleted a residency in oral and maxillofacial surgery and is now in private practice in Houston, Texas.
Laura (Davis) Dahlke of Hugo, Minn., is a first-grade teacher at Magnuson Christian School in White Bear Lake, Minn.
Brett Epperson of Hastings, Neb., earned a PhD in music education–choral conducting from Florida State University.
Laura Forst of Hutchinson, Minn., works at the Education Design Lab.
Kiran Kurmi of Brookline, Mass., completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School and began an assistant professorship at University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine.
Sarah Stadie of St. Paul, Minn., is an early childhood outpatient therapist at the Amherst Wilder Foundation.
Kate (McDonald) Sutherland of North Kingstown, R.I., is dean of students at Rocky Hill Country Day.
’12
Amy Dorman of Centerville, Minn., is a research and training director for the Office of Justice Programs at the Minnesota Department of Public Safety in St. Paul, Minn.
Hilary (Garringer) Klyn of Marshalltown, Iowa, is an English language teacher in the Marshalltown Community School District.
Alison Vandegrift of Sparta, Wis., is a physical therapist at Gundersen Health in Sparta, Wis.
’13
Kevin Wenger of Ferndale, Mich., earned a doctorate of education in higher education from Indiana University Bloomington and is a postdoctoral associate and data manager at the University of South Carolina.
’14
Benjamin Anderson of Minneapolis is a special education teacher with Minneapolis Public Schools.
Zach Aschim of Des Moines, Iowa, is a staff software engineer at SPS Commerce.
Transform Lives by Creating or Updating Your Will
Your will is more than a legal document–it’s a heartfelt expression of your values and your life’s purpose. Through thoughtful planning, your generosity can create a lasting impact long into the future.
By including Luther in your will, you can shape the lives of our students, open doors to opportunities, and inspire a brighter tomorrow. Your legacy becomes a testament to the countless lives you’ll transform.
Together, we can shape a future filled with hope and possibility.
Discover how your generosity can have an enduring impact at Luther College! Visit legacygiving.luther.edu, scan the QR code, or contact Kelly Sorenson at kelly.sorenson@luther.edu or 563-387-1861.
Chloe (Beck) Moel ’20 and Isaac Moel celebrated their wedding alongside many Luther well-wishers!
Friends from the class of 2007 traveled from three states to reconnect at a park in Burnsville, Minn., last August. Back row (from left): Kenny Wiegand, Emily Endert, Pamela (Berg) Hamann, Frank Albach, Laura (Sisler) Ahlbach, Jacob McCracken-Holm, Chandi McCracken-Holm, Luke Peterson, Jennifer (Jirak) Peterson, Joan (Widin) Schroeder, Jon Schroeder. Front row: Hannah (Bowman) Shibeshi, Rebecca Westphal
Jamison Schuh ’20 and Ann Holmes ’20 celebrated their wedding with a lot of Luther love!
A group of Luther Pi Sigs from the class of 1964 gathered at Rubaiyat to celebrate their 60th class reunion at Homecoming. It was also the 25th anniversary of their yearly gatherings around the U.S., beginning in San Diego in 1999. Back row: Emily (Homstad) Bodensteiner ’64, Richard Amundson ’64, Barbara (Moen) Amundson ’65, Richard Ashland ’64, Dan Thurmer ’66, Jim Fogdall ’64, Dennis Birkestrand ’64, David Kundert ’64, Barry Behnken, Jim Matter ’64, Mary Ann (Skifton) Thurmer ’68, Luther Nervig ’64, James Boyce ’64. Front row: Sharon Boyce, Susan (Savre) Ashland ’66, Judy (Larson) Fogdall ’65, Suzanne Birkestrand, Marilyn Nervig, Bonnie (Curtis) Behnken ’64, Linda Matter, Bill Upton ’64
The wedding of Solveig (Nelson) Kusmik ’17 and Kyle Kusmik was celebrated by Luther grads ranging from 1963 to 2019!
A huge and heartfelt congratulations to Christion Pinkney ’22 and Jaqueline Luna ’21, who were married on May 4th, 2024.
Ann (Mahon) Hedges ’75 sent in this fun photo with some class of 1975 friends. She writes, “In 1971, there was a group on campus called the Rakeops. Here, in 2024, we gathered in Decorah and call ourselves the Rakeups.” Left to right: Kyle
Chad Sonka ’12 performed works by Ravel and Leigh as the featured baritone soloist for the Central Iowa Symphony concert in Ames on October 5. Sonka (center) is pictured with symphony members Solveig Orngard ’16 (left, violin I) and Cara Stone ’05 (right, principal bass and ensemble librarian). Also in the Central Iowa Symphony but not pictured is Kelly Kestner ’23 (violin I).
Cody Torkelson ’17 and Jacey Burns ’20 celebrated their wedding with a sea of Luther supporters.
Jake Noble ’19 and Rachel Koller ’20 were surrounded by Luther love on their wedding day.
(McCausland) McCullough, Ann (Mahon) Hedges, Kim (Tenold) Hagen, Jana (Tatman) Bruns, Sue (Berger) Oltrogge, and Chris Craig
Chloe (Gumpert) Douglas of Portland, Ore., is an assistant professor for the Department of Pediatrics at the Oregon Health and Science University.
Sarah (Sindelar) Garness of Grand Marais, Minn., is an office manager at Wilderness Canoe Base.
Spencer Garness of Grand Marais, Minn., is a site manager at Wilderness Canoe Base.
Chelsea Hall of New York, N.Y., is an executive assistant at KKR.
Brittney (Leemon) Mitchell of Stoughton, Wis., is a grants project manager for the state of Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services.
Katie Scherr of Denver is a federal reporting administrator at the Colorado Department of Human Services.
Shelby Steele of Minneapolis is a financial analyst at Imagine Print Solutions.
Brett Steelman of Ankeny, Iowa, is a school counselor at Roosevelt High School.
Nara Tashjian of Rochester, Minn., is a breast surgical oncology fellow at Mayo Clinic.
Maria (Ellingson) Thom of Windom, Minn., is director of digital marketing at Bullseye Media.
Cydney (Roelandt) Weitzel of Decorah is a news reporter at DecorahNews.com.
’15
Michaleen Melby of Bayfield, Wis., is an FDA tobacco enforcement specialist for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
Josh Nelson of Overland Park, Kan., earned a DO from Des Moines University College of Medicine and is a resident physician–anatomic and clinical pathology at the University of Kansas Medical Center.
Nikki Thompson of Saint Louis, Mo., earned a master’s degree in higher education administration from Vanderbilt University and is a higher education strategy and operations associate consultant at Huron Consulting Group.
Andrew Withers of Norwalk, Iowa, is an application and data
support specialist for the Southeast Polk Community School District.
’16
Cory Anderson of Eagan, Minn., received the President’s Student Leadership and Service Award and the Harold R. Shipman Award from the University of Minnesota, where he later earned a PhD in environmental health–infectious diseases. He is co-director of the Chronic Wasting Disease Program at the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.
Krista Anderson of Minneapolis is a perianesthesia pre/post registered nurse at the University of Minnesota Children’s Masonic Hospital–Fairview West Bank.
Makayla (Marinack) Dahleen of Plymouth, Minn., is a pastor of family life at St. Philip the Deacon Lutheran Church.
Jesse Hitz Graff of St. Paul, Minn., earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Minnesota and is the STEM department head at Kay Tutoring.
Paul Larson of Carson City, Nev., is a pastor at St. Paul Lutheran Family.
Raleigh Sims of Washington, D.C., is an account executive at Scale AI.
Amanda (Jenkins) Walch of Jamestown, N.D., is the director of libraries at the University of Jamestown.
’17
Kayla (Ingvalson) Frisbie of Overland Park, Kan., is a talent partner at Cardamom Health. Kayla also teaches yoga and fitness at Power Life.
Annie Versnik of St. Francis, Wis., is a registered client care services consultant at Northwestern Mutual in Milwaukee, Wis.
’18
Hannah Potter of Chicago earned an MSW from Loyola University and is an HS/PRS regional supervisor at Global Refuge.
’19 Nikita Daly of Moab, Utah, is a forestry technician for the U.S. Forest Service.
Chase Gilson of Faribault, Minn., is a food safety and quality manager at Hormel Foods.
Catelyn Janda of Ankeny, Iowa, is an instructional designer II at Iowa State University.
Vivian (Hustad) Luna of Des Moines, Iowa, is an accountant for the city of Urbandale.
Anna Restemayer of St. Paul, Minn., earned a master’s degree in occupational therapy from St. Catherine University and is an occupational therapist at National Dizzy and Balance Center.
Brittney Sjulstad of Columbus, Ohio, earned a PharmD from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and is a pharmacy resident at the Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center.
’20 Calli Jo (Wagner) Benth of Epping, N.D., is an accountant with Mountrail-Williams Electric Co-Op.
Jorge Chavez of Alpharetta, Ga., is a biologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Holly (DeSerano) Jensen of Newton, Iowa, is a project manager at Latitude Signage + Design.
Katelin (Parkinson) Krizmanich of Beloit, Wis., earned an MA in music education from Eastern Illinois University and is a music teacher at Delavan Darien School District.
Morgan Niner of Des Moines, Iowa, is an assistant registrar at Grand View University.
’21
Ben Seavey of Minneapolis was commissioned as an ordnance officer with the U.S. Army.
’22
Abbe (Lacey) Altman of Coralville, Iowa, is an assistant director at the Regina Early Childhood Education Center.
Greta Carlson of St. Paul, Minn., is a clinical intern/therapist at Elevated Therapy Solutions in Eden Prairie, Minn.
Alex Dikelsky of Seattle is a software developer at Bayer.
Kristen Flathers of Madelia, Minn., is an admissions counselor at Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato, Minn.
Sarah Halverson of Winona, Minn., earned an MS in sport pedagogy from Baylor University and is a clinical athletic trainer at Allina Health.
Alice Odame of San Jose, Calif., is a financial analyst at ServiceNow.
’23
Molly Graff of Holmen, Wis., is a PreK–8 music teacher at St. Mary’s School in Caledonia, Minn.
Hallie Johnson of Decorah received a $50,000 Rotary 2024–25 Global Scholarship from the Decorah Rotary Club to pursue a master’s degree in comparative education and international development at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.
Ashley (Karas) Moses of Onalaska, Wis., is a perioperative technician in the GI lab at Gundersen Health Systems.
Rose Sieve of St. Paul, Minn., is an analytic consultant at Strategic Education.
William Tuchtenhagen of Minneapolis is a sales and project developer at ZEF Energy.
’24
Eva Anderson of Fitchburg, Wis., is an RN at UW Health American Family Children’s Hospital in Madison, Wis.
Jessica Dahl of Maple Grove, Minn., is central assurance staff 1 at Ernst & Young.
Griffin Glassel of Madison, Wis., is an associate analytical chemist at Eurofins Food Chemistry Testing.
Sidney Miller of Hokah, Minn., is a data analyst at Emplify Health.
Isaiah Nordine of Rochester, Minn., is a researcher at Mayo Clinic.
Anders Peterson of Faribault, Minn., is a junior high band director at Waseca Public Schools.
Samuel Zegler Evans of Rochester, Minn., is a registered nurse at Mayo Clinic.
Marriages
’85
Paul Tjostem and Anne Sieber, July 2024
’94
Elaina Lee and Steve Patterson, June 2024
’04
Barry Bosacker and Chad Gregorius, April 2023
Katie Konrath and Josh Labau, June 2024
’05
Michelle Weber and Jason Wendt, Sept. 2023
’10
Audrey Seitz and Shane Murphy, Oct. 2024
’11
Jaye Hobart and Sam Wais, May 2024
Kim Horner and Thomas Carr, August 2024
’14
Shelby Steele and Catherine Kerwin, Sept. 2023
Emily VanderStel and Steven Nersesian, Aug. 2024
’16
Cory Anderson and Abby Gohl, Oct. 2023
Sara Schloesser and Keaton Meyer ’20, July 2024
’17
Solveig Nelson and Kyle Kusmik, Nov. 2023
Cody Torkelson and Jacey Burns ’20, June 2024
Victoria Torrillas Pizzorno and Tim Spencer, Oct. 2023
’18
Megan Bonnett and Isaac Highum ’19, Nov. 2024
’19
Jake Noble and Rachel Koller ’20, May 2024
’20
Chloe Beck and Isaac Moel, Nov. 2024
Bailey Fields and Austin Willhite, Sept. 2024
Ann Holmes and Jamison Schuh, Sept. 2024
McKenna Ruchti and John Ellis, March 2024
Births & Adoptions
’85
Myon, born Aug. 2018, adopted Dec. 2023, child of Cynthia and Lee Whitcher
’06
Alice, Oct. 2022, child of Allison and John Sill
’07
Anja, April 2023, child of Lauren and Craig Myrum
’08
Isla, Jan. 2024, child of Christina and Matt Eng
Kya, June 2024, child of Melissa (Hunter) and Jake Schneider
’09
Dominic James, March 2023, child of Ashlee (Wicks) and Tom Carpenedo
Henry, Aug. 2024, child of Erin (Torkelson) and Jesse Bunge ’11
’10
Julian, Dec. 2023, child of Sara Leahy and TJ Phillips
’11
Callum, July 2024, child of Megan (Bailey) and Kyle Holder ’12
’12
Emma, April 2024, child of Hannah (Swanson) and Matthew Booth
Nora, Feb. 2024, child of Alison Vandegrift and Sam Kim
’14
Charlotte, March 2024, child of Carson (Lilly) and Zach Meier
Kroy William (photo 1), Jan. 2024, child of Breanne (Rosonke) ’15 and Judd Landers
Luca, June 2024, child of Austen (Perry) and Benjamin Anderson
Nina (photo 2), May 2024, child of Jessa Anderson-Reitz and Luke Hanson
Nora, Jan. 2023, and Otto, Sept. 2024, children of Maggie (Jas-
per) and Alex Wolf
’15
Charlie Danielle, March 2024, child of Brittany and Aldon Severson
Ihsan Mohamed, May 2024, child of Nikki Thompson and Mohamed Salih
Margot, April 2024, child of Dani (Basche) and Ryan Readinger
Wyatt (photo 3), Oct. 2023, child of Caitlin (Olson) and Kyle Petersen
’16
Myla, May 2024, child of Saydi (Stewart) and Josh Olson
Simon Aaron, Dec. 2023, child of Makayla (Marinack) and Jacob Dahleen
’17
Henry, June 2024, child of Anna (Beamsley) and Zach (Souhrada-Rogers) Rogers
Hallie Simon and John Miller ’21, Aug. 2024
’21
Carson Davenport and Madison Yaeger, Aug. 2024
Kristen Erickson and Dan Bonazza, Oct. 2024
Isabel Iverson and Henrik Marquardt, Sept. 2023
Jaqueline Luna and Christion Pinkney ’22, May 2024
Svea Smith and Brad Crisamore, Aug. 2024
’22
Abbe Lacey and Kale Altman ’23, Aug. 2023
Willy Moses and Ashley Karas ’23, July 2024
’18
Lyla, Feb. 2024, child of Kaitlin (Bratland) and Bobby Augedahl
’19
John (photo 4), July 2024, child of Emily and Dan Swehla Madelyn, May 2024, child of Elizabeth (Johnson) and Andrew Houdek
’20
Adalynn, June 2024, child of Holly (DeSerano) and Cole Jensen
Evelyn Marie (photo 5), May 2024, child of Anna (Hug) and †Matthew Harper
Kenzo, March 2024, child of Ali (Voigt) and Sammy Camacho
† deceased
In Memoriam
Notices as of November 15, 2024
Faculty emeriti
Richard Simon Hanson ’53 of Decorah died September 23, 2024, age 93.
Harley Refsal of Decorah died September 8, 2024, age 79.
John Tjostem of Decorah died August 23, 2024, age 89.
’47
Ione (Wennes) Hagen of Spring Grove, Minn., died August 24, 2024, age 99.
’48
Arlene Matson of Albert Lea, Minn., died September 25, 2024, age 98.
’50
Rolf Giere of Rosemount, Minn., died August 15, 2024, age 98.
Theodore “Ted” Johnson of Atascadero, Calif., died October 25, 2024, age 96.
’51
Donald “Don” Blockhus of Wells, Minn., died November 8, 2024, age 95.
Helen (Bothel) Lien of La Crosse, Wis., died August 1, 2024, age 93.
’52
Richard “Dick” Franzmeier of Minneapolis died September 26, 2024, age 92.
Harold Peterson of Sun City, Ariz., died September 14, 2024, age 93.
Beverly (Neufeld) Solotti of Chassell, Mich., died May 19, 2024, age 95.
Robert Thompson of Roseville, Minn., died September 14, 2024, age 93.
’53
Walter Cherwien of Minnetonka, Minn., died October 26, 2024, age 93.
’54
Gerald “Neil” Christopherson of Blue Earth, Minn., died September 6, 2024, age 93.
Marcia (Miller) Lee of Beloit, Wis., died August 4, 2024, age 90.
’55 Ruth (Sorlien) Larson of Williamsburg, Iowa, died August 3, 2024, age 91.
’56 Harlan Wilson of Albuquerque, N.M., died February 15, 2024, age 89.
’57
Marolyn (Sersland) Bostrom of West Union, Iowa, died October 9, 2024, age 89.
Pierce “Perry” Brown of La Crescent, Minn., died July 31, 2024, age 91.
Glenn Sapienza of Las Vegas, Nev., died March 22, 2024, age 88.
’58 Waldron “Wally” Rosheim of Fredericksburg, Va., died July 21, 2024, age 88.
’59 Linda (Switzer) Lasota of Athens, Ala., died September 6, 2024, age 86.
’60 Ruth (Nielsen) Heggen of Wells, Minn., died October 16, 2024, age 85.
Michael “Mike” Ritland of Eau Claire, Wis., died October 20, 2024, age 88.
’61 John Braaten of Rochester, Minn., died August 17, 2024, age 85.
’62
Judith “Judy” (Lueder) Torson of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, died August 29, 2024, age 83.
’63 Lois (Mikkelson) Marty of Madison, Wis., died August 15, 2024, age 83.
Gary Olson of Spirit Lake, Iowa, died August 30, 2024, age 89.
’64 Julie Helgeson of Spencer, Iowa, died June 7, 2022, age 80.
Duane Osheim of Charlottesville, Va., died October 31, 2024, age 82.
’66 Richard Amundson of Des Moines, Iowa, died October 15, 2024, age 79.
’68
Carol (Fritz) Barr of Brentwood, Tenn., died August 6, 2024, age 78.
Hubert “Bert” Henderson of Golden, Colo., died October 1, 2024, age 78.
Mark Wardell of Sarasota, Fla., died October 14, 2024, age 78.
’69 Larry West of Clive, Iowa, died August 11, 2024, age 78.
’70 Sonja (Peterson) Chamberlain of Anoka, Minn., died September 25, 2024, age 76.
John Melin of Rochester, Minn., died September 28, 2024, age 77.
’71
Elaine (Gottschalk) Grimes of Decorah died November 6, 2024, age 93.
’73
Shirley (Newman) Harrold of Minocqua, Wis., died October 12, 2024, age 73.
Erik-Hans Vagen of Southampton, N.J., died August 28, 2024, age 71.
’74
Joel Preus of Tours, France, died June 26, 2024, age 71.
’75 John Seboldt of South Milwaukee, Wis., died July 24, 2024, age 71.
Martha “Misty” (Schweizer) Weber of Sammamish, Wash., died July 28, 2024, age 70.
’78
Gerald “Jerry” Wright of Hayward, Wis., died August 22, 2024, age 68.
’79
Jeff Meyers of Waverly, Iowa, died September 19, 2024, age 67.
’80
Patricia Crane of Medford, Wis., died August 8, 2024, age 64.
’85
Troy Schoonover of Blue Mounds, Wis., died April 24, 2024, age 61.
GIVING DAY
Thursday, March 6, 2025
Luther College
COMMENCEMENT
Sunday, May 25, 2025
Luther College
NORDIC FEST
July 24–26, 2025
Decorah
FAMILY WEEKEND
September 19–21, 2025
Luther College
HOMECOMING
October 3–5, 2025
Luther College
CHRISTMAS AT LUTHER
December 4–7, 2025
Luther College
On December 4, during a Christmas at Luther dress rehearsal, President Jenifer K. Ward heard the world premiere of a surprise composition the Board of Regents commissioned in her honor. The piece, “Refugee” by James Deignan ’15, celebrated the theme of her inauguration: always becoming. Conductor Andy Last ’97 presented her with the framed sheet music for the piece. Ward similarly commissioned a hymn as a gift to the college for her inauguration ceremony in 2019. “It felt like a full-circle moment,” she says.
