On July 12, chemistry alumni spanning more than a half century of graduating classes, met on the Augsburg campus. They renewed friendships and swapped stories with favorite chemistry faculty including emeriti Arlin Gyberg and John Holum and current chemistry department chair Dr. Sandra Olmsted ’69. They toured Science Hall with outstanding  science faculty and learned first-hand of impressive research by Augsburg science students in chemistry, biology and physics.
Following the tour the group gathered in the Marshall Room to learn from a distinguished faculty panel representing the  Center for Science Business and Religion (CSBR) related disciplines: Drs. Vivian Feng ( chemistry) Benjamin Stottrup  (physics) Matthew Beckman  (biology), Dale Pederson ’70 (biology chair), Jeanne Boeh (economics), and Phil Quanbeck (religion).
The faculty articulated what a CSBR would mean for Augsburg student learning, laboratory and research experience. A lively conversation about teaching at the interface of science, business and religion ensued. Chemistry alumni joined in sharing their own experiences of Augsburg’s rich legacy over several decades. Specifically the intellectual freedom to explore all these ways of understanding the world where our Lutheran heritage is a real but not required foundation.
There was a strong sense from alumni that a CSBR would serve to enhance these continued curricular and co-curricular conversations which have always been at the heart of Augsburg’s tradition.
Ruth Johnson ’74, MD
on what would have been his 100th birthday on Sunday, October 13, 2013, at 4:00 p.m., at Normandale Lutheran Church in Edina, MN. This celebration will honor the legacy of “Doc.”
90, MAL ’97 is on a mission. For the last five years she has been coaching small businesses as an AdviCoach franchises and along the way she has learned a few things about what makes them tick and what holds them back. And through this experience, she realized that the conversations surrounding small business were not telling the real story – that the challenges these small businesses faced were bigger than taxes, access to capital and regulation. She also realized that millions of dollars and thousands of hours of effort were being dedicated by non-profits, government organization, chambers and the like to help them be successful, but no one was working together.
de job opportunities.
During the last weekend of June, Alumni who attended Augsburg in the 1970s were invited to campus to share fellowship and meet with Augsburg’s President, members of the faculty and student researchers. This “Alumni Leadership Summit” was organized by Mike Good ’71 and Wayne Jorgenson ’71 who are both serving as leaders in the campaign to build the Center for Science, Business, and Religion.
After graduating from Augsburg in 1971 with a degree in music education, Robert Stacke wanted to share his love for music with the next generation so he became a music teacher at Jefferson Junior High school for three years before moving on to the Minneapolis Edison High School where he taught for six years. It was that love for music that took him to Venezuela for a year to play in the Maracaibo Symphony before returning to Minnesota to play in the band at the Chanhassen Dinner Theater, where he entertained the guests for 13 years. During this time he also taught at Hopkins High School and the University of St Cloud.
On June 21 and 22, former Augsburg classmates, roommates and teammates from the 1980s reunited on campus for the 1980s Leadership Summit to learn about the college’s top priority, the Center for Science, Business, and Religion. The Summit began with a warm welcome from Karina KarlĂ©n ’83 and an inspirational speech from Chris Ascher ’81 who encouraged his classmates to invest in this new signature facility that will engage future leaders in collaborative inquiry and, through them, shape our world.