Spring 2013
Hello 66er,
Exciting opportunities are going on at Luther right now. Over the Christmas holidays, I had an opportunity to talk to Marilyn Roverud. As many of you know she is a Luther regent. She told me about President Torgerson's future retirement and the selection process that was continuing at that time. Well, the process is still going on. Until a few weeks ago, there were two candidates being interviewed: Dr. Ann Hill Duin and Dr. Mark Hagerott. I won't get into a lot of detail about either one, but I will say that Dr. Duin, a professor at the University of Minnesota, is an alumnus of Luther (Class of 1977) and is a recipient of Luther's Distinguished Service Award. Dr. Hagerott is a Naval Academy graduate and is currently a professor there. If you want more detailed info about either of them, there is a plethora of info on on the Internet. It doesn’t appear that either candidate is being considered any longer at this point.
I was really as much interested in the process as I was with the candidates. In talking to Marilyn, I was most impressed with the thoroughness they went through. There was the selection committee of course. The faculty, students, administration, and regents were brought into the process. I was also impressed with the inclusion of Decorah representatives. Anyway, it is a really involved process, and I give a pat-on-the-back to everyone involved and also pray that they make the best decision for Luther going forward. Marilyn was nice enough to send me the following details of the process.
Marilyn wrote:
It has been a real privilege to be on the Luther College Board of Regents! It is the responsibility of the Board to hire a president and to be sure the college is in good financial stead. We have been blessed with the strong leadership of Rick and Judy Torgerson and now as they look forward to their retirement we are in the process of naming a new leader for Luther College. This is a very thorough process and one that is open for many constituencies’ participation. The engagement of a consultant took place in October 2011; AGB Search was selected, with Bruce Alton as our consultant. In February 2012 we had a board workshop with our consultant. We broke into discussion groups and reviewed some of the Articles of Incorporation and at that same meeting six regents were selected to serve on the search committee. The additional faculty, student, and staff participants were appointed or elected shortly thereafter. A search profile was finalized in early June, and advertising was placed in countless publications. Nominations and self-nominations were received from a variety of sources. The committee has had a huge workload and they have been diligent in narrowing the field, checking resumes, and then finally having off-site interviews with a narrowed pool. The end result was the recommendation to bring two candidates to Luther College for on-site visits. They had open forums, met with students, Senior Staff, and the Cabinet, as well as having dinners and lunches with Decorah community members and others. It is a full two days! All people are welcome to make comments on the candidates and reflect their opinions. All evaluations are read and used in the final evaluations. That is where we are right now. Keep Luther College in your prayers as we go through this historic process.
Humbly, Marilyn Roverud
As you can see, Marilyn is very involved and we all certainly appreciate her work. Thank you Marilyn for that and the insight you provided us. Thank you as well for your involvement and contributions to Luther.
Dave Rovang
rovangdandk@msn.com
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