Endowed Fellowships and Faculty Development Awards

The Luther College endowed fellowships and faculty development awards include the following:

  • The H. George Anderson and Jutta F. Anderson Faculty Development Fund
  • The H. George Anderson and Jutta F. Anderson Sabbatical Endowment Fund
  • The Ruth Caldwell Endowed Faculty Fellowship
  • The Paideia Endowment Sabbatical Leave Supplemental Grant
  • The Paideia Faculty Fellowship
  • The Marilyn Roverud Endowed Fellowship in Lutheran Studies
  • The Uwe J. Rudolf Endowed Faculty Fellowship
  • The Sootheran-Simmonds Endowment for Peace Fellow
  • The Tomson Family Faculty Fellowships
  • The Doris and Ragnvald Ylvisaker Endowment for Faculty Growth

Anderson Faculty Development Fund

Headshot of Alexander Meszler.
Assistant Professor of Music
Organ

Office: Jenson-Noble 212

Phone: 563-387-1205

Email: alexander.meszler@luther.edu

In 2020, Alexander completed his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree at Arizona State University under Kimberly Marshall. Read More

Professional headshot of Hongxiao Yu against a white background.
Assistant Professor of Management

Office: Olin 332

Phone: 563-387-1706

Email: yuho02@luther.edu

The H. George Anderson and Jutta F. Anderson Faculty Development Fund was established by H. George Anderson and Jutta F. Anderson to provide support for summer faculty development projects for faculty members in the early years of their careers. It facilitates scholarship, research, and creative and artistic work in a wide range of disciplines, in recognition that such work contributes to the vitality necessary for strong undergraduate liberal arts education.

The Anderson Faculty Development Fund award recipients for 2026–2027 are Alexander Meszler and Hongxiao Yu.

Anderson Sabbatical Endowment Fund

professional portrait of Orçun Selçuk
Associate Professor of Political Science
International Studies Program Director

Office: Koren 304

Phone: 563-387-1250

Email: selcor01@luther.edu

Headshot of Amy Weldon.
Professor of English
English Department Head

Office: Main 603A

Phone: 563-387-2224

Email: amy.weldon@luther.edu

The H. George Anderson and Jutta F. Anderson Sabbatical Endowment Fund was established by H. George Anderson and Jutta F. Anderson in recognition of the central importance of teaching and scholarship at Luther College, and to encourage creative, scholarly work which significantly deepens the faculty member’s understanding of a discipline in which he or she teaches regularly.

The Anderson Sabbatical Endowment Fund award recipients for 2026–2027 are Orçun Selçuk and Amy Weldon.

Caldwell Endowed Faculty Fellowship

Headshot of Nancy Gates Madsen.
Professor of Spanish
Modern Languages and Cultures Department Head

Office: Main 406

Phone: 563-387-2982

Email: madsna01@luther.edu

The Ruth Caldwell Endowed Faculty Fellowship honors Professor Ruth Caldwell for her dedicated service to Luther College, its students, the liberal arts, and the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures. In order to enhance and promote excellence in student learning, the fund provides awards for faculty in the department in support of their research, scholarship, and other professional development activities.

The Caldwell Endowed Faculty Fellowship award recipient for 2026–2027 is Nancy Gates Madsen

Paideia Endowment Sabbatical Leave Supplemental Grant

Steve Holland headshot
Professor of Economics
Law and Values Program Director

Office: Olin 334

Phone: 563-387-1130

Email: steve.holland@luther.edu

Jon Jensen
Professor of Philosophy and Environmental Studies
Director of the Center for Sustainable Communities

Office: Valders 372D

Phone: 563-387-1696

Email: jon.jensen@luther.edu

The Paideia Endowment Sabbatical Leave Supplemental Grant is awarded to a current or prospective faculty participant in the Paideia Program (either Paideia I or Capstone) whose sabbatical leave–either in whole, or that part of the leave for which funding is requested–will enrich the Paideia Program.

The Paideia Endowment Sabbatical Leave Supplemental Grant award recipients for 2026–2027 are Steve Holland and Jon Jensen.

Paideia Faculty Fellowship

In May 2024 the Paideia Steering Committee, in consultation with the Provost, established the Paideia Faculty Fellowships funded by the Paideia Endowment.

The Paideia Faculty Fellowship for 2026–2027 received no applications.

Roverud Endowed Fellowship in Lutheran Studies

Portrait of Wanda Deifelt.
Professor of Religion

Office: Main 203A

Phone: 563-387-2147

Email: deifwa01@luther.edu

The Marilyn Roverud Endowed Fellowship in Lutheran Studies was established in celebration of our namesake, Martin Luther, and in honor of the inspired leadership of Marilyn (Haugen) Roverud ’66, alumna, regent, synod volunteer, mother, patron of the arts, friend, and more, by the Roverud Family. As a liberal arts institution and college of the church, Luther embraces a way of learning described by Dr. Darrell Jodock as the “third way” – committed to academic freedom to seek the truth, respectful of other faith traditions, and disciplined to seek whatever will truly serve the needs of the neighbor and make the world more trustworthy. It is the Roverud Family’s intent that this fellowship serve as a catalyst for lively and informed discussion about what it means to be a college of the church.

The Roverud Fellowship for 2025–2027 is awarded to Wanda Deifelt.

Rudolf Endowed Faculty Fellowship

Professional headshot of Hongxiao Yu against a white background.
Assistant Professor of Management

Office: Olin 332

Phone: 563-387-1706

Email: yuho02@luther.edu

The Uwe J. Rudolf Endowed Faculty Fellowship honors Professor Uwe Rudolf for his dedicated service to Luther College, its students, the liberal arts, and the Department of Economics, Accounting, and Management. The Rudolf Faculty Fellowship will be awarded to faculty in economics, accounting, and management to support their scholarly work and other professional development with the goal of enhancing and promoting excellence in student learning.

The Rudolf Endowed Faculty Fellowship for 2026–2027 is awarded to Hongxiao Yu.

Sootheran-Simmonds Endowment for Peace Fellow

Anne Marine
Associate Professor of French

Office: Main 604

Phone: 563-387-1185

Email: featan01@luther.edu

Funded by the Lynne Sootheran and Kent Simmonds Endowment for Peace, Research, Education, and Development, the Peace Fellows Program supports the study of peace and dialogue studies at Luther College. Grounded in academics, the program seeks to engage students, faculty, and the broader community in dialogue and academic projects around peace. The program recognizes and uplifts that everyone and every academic discipline is relevant to peace, just as everyone and every academic discipline is relevant to the transcendentals that permeate and hold together all things.

The inaugural Faculty Peace Fellow for 2024-2027 is Anne-Marine Feat. With a master’s degree in Celtic Studies from the Université de Bretagne Occidentale and a doctorate in Irish Studies from the Université Bordeaux III, Anne-Marine focuses her research and teaching on group identities in the context of national identity and democracy.

Anne-Marine’s dialogue-centered, role-immersion pedagogy draws on Reacting to the Past simulations to explore peacebuilding and political negotiation. She has taught The Collapse of Apartheid and the Dawn of Democracy in South Africa, 1993; and The Needs of Others: Human Rights, International Organizations, and Intervention in Rwanda, 1994. Her current project involves Ending the Troubles: Religion, Nationalism, and the Search for Peace and Democracy in Northern Ireland, 1997–98.

Tomson Family Faculty Fellowship

Du Huang
Professor of Music
Piano

Office: Jenson-Noble 173

Phone: 563-387-1056

Email: du.huang@luther.edu

Headshot of Alexandra White.
Associate Professor of Management

Office: Olin 344

Phone: 563-387-1812

Email: whital04@luther.edu

The Tomson Family Faculty Fellowships, established to honor the tradition of great teaching in the liberal arts, provide tenured faculty in accounting, economics/management, mathematics, and music with the opportunity for study and for rethinking the ways they enable Luther students to learn. The awards provide recipients with a limited amount of reassigned time and/or funding to support their scholarly work.

The Tomson Family Faculty Fellowship in Music for 2026–2027 is awarded to Du Huang.

The Tomson Family Faculty Fellowship in Economics/Management for 2026–2027 is awarded to Alexandra White.

Ylvisaker Endowment for Faculty Growth

Headshot of Marie Drews.
Associate Professor of English

Office: Main 505

Phone: 563-387-1181

Email: drewsmar@luther.edu

Sarah Fleming Portrait
Assistant Professor of Social Work

Phone: 563-387-1622

Email: flemsa01@luther.edu

Gereon Kopf in a restaurant.
Professor of Religion

Office: Main 302

Phone: 563-387-1497

Email: kopfg@luther.edu

Maryna Bazylevych
Professor of Anthropology

Office: Koren 320

Phone: 563-387-1349

Email: bazyma01@luther.edu

The Doris and Ragnvald Ylvisaker Endowment for Faculty Growth was established by the generous support of Doris and Ragnvald Ylvisaker.

The Ylvisaker Endowment for Faculty Growth award recipients for 2026–2027 are Marie Drews, Sarah Fleming, Gereon Kopf, and Maryna Nading.