Homecoming 2025
The 2025 Distinguished Service Award recipients include (from left): Ryan Nilsestuen ’05, Michael Goze ’75, Esther Menn ’80, Linda (Olson) Bieri ’75, President Brad Chamberlain, Loretta Dooley Wetzel ’80, Perran Wetzel ’79, Erika (Barth) Cottrell ’95, Allan Solomonson ’60.
Distinguished Service Awards
Allan Solomonson ’60 spent 37 years teaching at Wausau (Wis.) West High School, earning recognition for outstanding high school history teaching. As an officer of the Wisconsin Education Association, he helped improve working conditions for educators. He continues to serve through his local Sons of Norway chapter, Habitat for Humanity, the Golden K Kiwanis Club, and the Marathon County Democratic Party.
Linda (Olson) Bieri ’75 is a dentist at Great Lakes Dental Associates in Spirit Lake, Iowa. She earned the Pierre Fauchard Academy’s Outstanding Dentist of the Year Award and has been honored by the American College of Dentists and the International College of Dentists. Linda volunteers in her community, with sports organizations, and at her church.
Michael Goze ’75, a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin, was CEO of the American Indian Community Development Corporation for 16 years. He has a long record of service, including for the Federal Reserve Bank 9th District Community Advisory Committee; Little Earth of United Tribes Board of Directors; Neighborhood Development Center of St. Paul, Minn.; Global Market Minneapolis; and the Ho-Chunk Housing and Community Development Agency.
Perran Wetzel ’79 and Loretta Dooley Wetzel ’80 served as the first co-presidents of the Black Alumni Association and co-founded the Luther College Black Alumni Association Scholarship. Loretta is CEO of The Wetzel Group. Perran is CEO of PG Wetzel and Associates and PG Wetzel Consulting.
Esther Menn ’80 is the Ralph W. and Marilyn R. Klein Professor of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible at Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, where she teaches courses and organizes events in support of Jewish-Christian relations.
Erika (Barth) Cottrell ’95 has a joint appointment as associate professor at Oregon Health and Science University’s School of Medicine and as senior investigator and director of clinical research networks at OCHIN, a national nonprofit focused on equitable healthcare. Her research focuses on the nonmedical factors that shape inequalities in health outcomes.
Ryan Nilsestuen ’05 is a judge for the Dane County (Wis.) Circuit Court and presides over the Dane County OWI Treatment Court. He is a board member of the Ralph K. Morris Foundation and serves as a mentor to law students and former colleagues.
Distinguished Service Award (DSA) nominations may be made here.
Inductees into the 2025 Athletics Hall of Fame
Athletics Awards
Inductees into Luther’s Athletics Hall of Fame included (from left): Tiffany (Kruse) Rave ’10, softball, volleyball; Holly (Wendt) Crowser ’00, softball; James Garcia-Prats ’14, soccer; Jeff Patzke ’05, wrestling; Katie (Dolan) Gerber ’10, cross country, track and field; Matthew Louder ’00, soccer; Gene Adams ’00, wrestling; Michael Pettengill ’10, swimming and diving; David Lee ’80, football.
Music Awards
Weston Noble Award
Juan Tony Guzmán ’90 is director of the jazz program and professor of music at Luther College. An active arranger and widely sought-after conductor who has presented, led clinics, and conducted around the world, Guzmán is among an elite list of people who have earned both the Weston Noble Award and the Carlo A. Sperati Award.
Dr. Carlo A. Sperati Award
Jon Ailabouni ’10 is director of jazz studies at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse, where he directs the Jazz Orchestra, Jazz Ensemble, jazz combos, and the Hoefer Brass Quintet. An in-demand trumpeter, educator, guest artist, and clinician, he released a debut album of original music, You Are Not Alone, in 2023.
Richard C. and Joann M. Hemp Family Prize for Orchestral Performance
Audrey Zielstra ’26 is principal percussionist of Symphony Orchestra and Concert Band. A history and anthropology major, she is the first percussionist in the scholarship’s history to receive the award.