Luther College announces 2025 Distinguished Service Award recipients

Luther College President Brad Chamberlain announced the 2025 recipients of the Distinguished Service Award during a celebration ceremony on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025 in the Center for Faith and Life.

The award is presented to alumni or individuals with strong connections to Luther College who have exhibited admirable service to society in areas such as education, government, the arts, business, church, labor, industry, agriculture, research, medicine and community affairs. The recipients are announced each year during Luther’s Homecoming weekend.

This year’s recipients are Allan Solomonson ’60, Linda (Olson) Bieri ’75, Michael Goze ’75, Perran Wetzel ’79 and Loretta Dooley Wetzel ’80, Esther Menn ’80, Erika (Barth) Cottrell ’95 and Ryan Nilsestuen ’05.

Allan Solomonson ’60

After earning a degree in history from Luther College in 1960, Allan Solomonson continued his studies at the University of Iowa. In 1962, he received a master’s degree focused on German history before embarking on a 37-year teaching career at Wausau West High School in Wausau, Wisc. In 1989, Solomonson received the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point annual award for outstanding high school history teaching.

Solomonson’s impact extends beyond the classroom. Throughout his career, Solomonson worked to improve the standing of teachers and their working conditions. He served as an officer of the Wisconsin Education Association and led the effort with that group and local unions to negotiate and secure an employment contract that greatly improved working conditions and job security for Wausau educators.

Solomonson continues to serve his community through his local Sons of Norway chapter, Habitat for Humanity, the Golden K Kiwanis Club and the Marathon County Democratic Party. Solomonson and his wife, Vonnie, who graduated from Luther in 1961, are longtime members of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Wausau.

Linda (Olson) Bieri ’75

Linda (Olson) Bieri, a Luther class of 1975 graduate, is a dentist at Great Lakes Dental Associates in Spirit Lake, Iowa. She is also an adjunct faculty member with the University of Iowa College of Dentistry and Dental Clinics.

As a student at the University of Iowa College of Dentistry, Bieri was awarded the highly esteemed Hancher-Finkbine Medallion Award. After completing the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery in 1978, Bieri joined her father in his practice in Laurens, Iowa. Later, Bieri and a fellow Luther alum opened a satellite clinic in Spirit Lake. Bieri received the 2005 Outstanding Dentist of the Year from the Pierre Fauchard Academy and has been honored by the American College of Dentists and the International College of Dentists.

In addition to her professional commitments, Bieri volunteers in her community, with sports organizations and at her church.

Michael Goze ’75

Michael Goze is a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and he has been an elected legislator for the Ho-Chunk Nation. He still serves on a committee for the tribe in support of enrolled members. Goze was involved with the Twin Cities Urban Indian Community for more than 30 years. Goze was the chief executive officer of the American Indian Community Development Corporation for 16 years before retiring in 2024. In recognition of his work, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz declared Dec. 11, 2024, as Michael Angelo Goze Day in the state of Minnesota.

Goze has served on numerous boards and committees, including the Federal Reserve Bank 9th District Community Advisory Committee, the Little Earth of United Tribes Board of Directors, Neighborhood Development Center of St. Paul, Minn., the Global Market Minneapolis and the Ho-Chunk Housing and Community Development Agency.

Goze earned his degree from Luther in 1975. He is married to Rebecca Faust Goze, a fellow Luther 1975 graduate. The couple has four children and lives in St. Paul, Minn.

Perran Wetzel ’79 and Loretta Dooley Wetzel ’80

Chicago residents Perran and Loretta Dooley Wetzel met when they were students at Luther. Perran earned his degree in accounting in 1979. Loretta studied psychology and graduated in 1980. The couple has been married for 45 years.

Throughout Loretta’s professional journey, she has served as a business strategist and belief catalyst, helping high-achieving professionals break free from paycheck-to-paycheck survival and enter into business ownership. Currently, Loretta is the chief executive officer of The Wetzel Group. Perran is the chief executive officer of PG Wetzel and Associates and PG Wetzel Consulting.

As the first co-presidents of the Black Alumni Association — established in 2019 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Black Student Union — they co-founded the Luther College Black Alumni Association Scholarship. Their initiatives have ranged from the Holiday Happiness Treat Bag campaign, providing holiday gifts to all students of color and international students, to mentoring in the Vocation Inspired Alumni Mentoring Program and hosting the Black Alumni Association Game Night during Homecoming weekend.

Esther Menn ’80

While studying at Luther, Esther Menn learned that she had a Jewish great-grandparent. This discovery prompted Menn to study Hebrew and spend a year in Israel. Her experiences in Israel, with both Jews and Muslims, ignited her lifelong passion for intercultural and interreligious understanding.

Menn graduated from Luther with a degree in art in 1980. She has two master’s degrees, one in religious studies from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC) and one in history of religions from the University of Chicago Divinity School. She earned her Ph.D. in Biblical Studies with a concentration in Hebrew Bible/Old Testament in 1995 from the University of Chicago. In 2001, Menn joined the faculty of LSTC. Now, she is the Ralph W. and Marilyn R. Klein Professor of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible at LSTC, where she teaches courses and organizes events in support of Jewish-Christian relations.

For the past 20 years, Menn has offered global travel seminars designed to facilitate interreligious understanding. Texas Lutheran University named Menn the 2009 recipient of the Distinguished Church Service Award.

Erika (Barth) Cottrell ’95

In 1995, Erika (Barth) Cottrell graduated with a degree in anthropology from Luther. She earned a master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School. Cottrell received her Ph.D. in sociology and demography from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Currently, Cottrell has a joint appointment as associate professor at Oregon Health and Science University’s School of Medicine and senior investigator and director of clinical research networks at OCHIN, a national nonprofit focused on equitable health care.

Cottrell conducts research focused on the non-medical factors that shape inequalities in health outcomes. Her research, which draws from multiple disciplines and works at local, state, national and international levels, has resulted in 73 peer-reviewed publications and numerous invited lectures and presentations. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

Ryan Nilsestuen ’05

In 2023, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers appointed Ryan Nilsestuen to the Dane County Circuit Court, a seat Nilsestuen retained in the next election. Nilsestuen also presides over the Dane County OWI Treatment Court. In this role, Nilsestuen leads a comprehensive team of treatment professionals, prosecutors, defense attorneys and parole agents to help individuals recover from addiction.

Before becoming a judge, Nilsestuen was chief legal counsel for the Office of the Governor and the chief legal counsel and an attorney for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

Nilsestuen studied history and political science at Luther and graduated in 2005. He graduated cum laude with a law degree from the University of Wisconsin in 2012. Nilsestuen is a board member of the Ralph K. Morris Foundation. He serves as a mentor to law students and former colleagues. Nilsestuen and his wife, Stephanie Mock, who also graduated from Luther in 2005, live in Madison, Wisc.

Watch videos celebrating the Distinguished Service Award winners