Leaders in Healthcare, Tax Accountancy and Ed-Tech Join the Luther College Board of Regents

The three Luther alumni 'represent a forward-looking mindset with a love and respect for the way their own Luther experience shaped them,' said President Ward.

Luther College President Jenifer K. Ward announces that Brent Asplin, M.D., CEO of Gather Health; Kelly Birkenholz, MBA, director of the Ernst & Young Center for Executive Leadership Chief Tax Executive Program; and Brad Miller, Ph.D., president of Runestone Academy Ltd., will join the Luther College Board of Regents this fall.

“I am delighted to welcome these new regents to the board at Luther College. In my conversations with them during the process leading up to their selection, I was impressed by the way in which they represent a forward-looking mindset with a love and respect for the way their own Luther experience shaped them as citizens and professionals,” said Ward. “They will be instrumental in working with me and their board colleagues to ensure that we expand our reach, strengthen our organization, and align our resources and student experience to our brand promise, as called for in our strategic framework.”

Asplin, Miller and Birkenholz will attend their first Board of Regents meeting in October. The regents serve as trustees and stewards, ensuring that Luther fulfills its mission by providing fiduciary and strategic oversight in collaboration with college constituents.

About the New Regents

Dr. Brent Asplin, Luther College class of 1990, is the CEO and co-founder of Gather Health.

Dr. Brent Asplin, Luther College class of 1990, is the CEO and co-founder of Gather Health, a holistic, socially-supported primary healthcare service for older adults. Launched this year in Boston, Gather Health is driven by the community for the community, using primary care as a catalyst for positive change. Prior to Gather Health, Brent served as VillageMD’s chief operating officer and as the inaugural president of Village Medical, the medical practices group within VillageMD. An emergency physician, Brent previously served as chief clinical officer for both Fairview Health Services in Minneapolis and Mercy Health in Ohio and Kentucky. He also served in a range of academic emergency medicine and other leadership roles with the Mayo Clinic and HealthPartners in Minnesota. Brent graduated from Luther College in 1990 with a music major in trumpet performance. He earned his M.D. at the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine in 1995 and Master of Public Health in health management and policy from the University of Michigan in 1999. Brent and his wife, Suzy, live in Barrington, Illinois.

Kelly Woods Birkenholz, Luther College class of 2003, is the director of the Ernst & Young Center for Executive Leadership Chief Tax Executive Program.

Kelly Woods Birkenholz, Luther College class of 2003, is the director of the Ernst & Young Center for Executive Leadership Chief Tax Executive Program. She joined Ernst & Young in 2003 in the Minneapolis audit practice, and her 20-year career spans leadership roles in audit, operations, human resources, talent deployment and leadership development. In her current role, Kelly is responsible for all aspects of the program design, development and delivery of the Ernst & Young Chief Tax Executive Program, which includes leadership development and executive transition support to Fortune 500 and high-growth elite Ernst & Young clients who are new to their chief tax executive role. Kelly graduated from Luther College in 2003 with a major in accounting and earned her MBA from the University of St. Thomas Opus College of Business in 2013. She is the vice president of the Alzheimer’s Association Board of Directors for the Minnesota-North Dakota Chapter. Kelly and her husband, Matt (Luther College class of 2003), live in Chanhassen, Minnesota, with their daughters, Kya and Sage.

Brad Miller, Luther College class of 1986, is founder and president of Runestone Academy Ltd.

Brad Miller, Luther College class of 1986, is founder and president of Runestone Academy Ltd., a non-profit organization that partners with institutions and professionals to make high-quality interactive textbooks for math and computer science available to all students at no cost. This entrepreneurial venture grew from a sabbatical project at Luther College, where he taught computer science and data science from 2003 to 2018. In 2019, he was an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota; he  also served as an instructional design consultant for Google from 2018 to 2020. Prior to moving into academia, Brad worked in industry as founder and vice president of product development for Net Perceptions and senior software engineer for Apertus Technologies. During his 15 years in Decorah, Brad was an active volunteer, serving in community leadership roles for the Winneshiek County Community Foundation, Winneshiek County Habitat for Humanity and First Lutheran Church Council. He served on the Concordia College Board of Regents from 2019 to 2023. Brad graduated from Luther College in 1986 with majors in computer science and physics and earned his Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Minnesota in 2003. He and his wife, Jane Dalen Miller (Luther College class of 1986), live in Luck, Wisconsin, and they have two adult children, Kaia and Joshua (Luther College class of 2017).

About Luther College

At Luther College in beautiful Decorah, Iowa, students explore big questions and take action to benefit people, communities and society. Our academic programs, experiential approach to learning and welcoming community inspire students to learn actively, live purposefully and lead courageously for a lifetime of impact. Learn more at luther.edu.