Meet the 2023 Augustana Alumni Achievement Award Winners

By Keeley Meier '20 | August 17, 2023
2023 Alumni Achievement Award Winners

Each year, 校友成就奖颁发给在各自领域做出杰出贡献的12bet中文官方平台校友, communities and/or churches. 地平线奖旨在表彰在过去15年内毕业并迅速表现出杰出职业成就并为社区和/或教会提供忠诚服务的年轻校友. 这两个奖项的获得者必须体现出大学共同的核心价值观之一:基督教, liberal arts, excellence, community or service.

🏅 Dr. Paul W. Barnes ‘78

Dr. Paul W. Barnes ‘78 is the J.H. Mullahy是新奥尔良洛约拉大学环境项目和生物科学系的环境生物学教授. The Conde, South Dakota, native attended Northern State University in

Aberdeen, South Dakota, 后来因为奥古斯塔的学术声誉和对文科的重视而转学到奥古斯塔. Barnes was a biology major at Augustana and earned both a master’s and Ph.D. in biology/ecology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Barnes was a postdoctoral research associate at Utah State University, then held faculty positions at St. Olaf College and Texas State University. Prior to beginning at Loyola, he was a project leader at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Environmental Research Laboratory in Oregon. 巴恩斯12bet游戏平台全球环境变化的生态影响的研究已被广泛发表, and has been supported by the National Science Foundation, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and EPA. 巴恩斯还是联合国环境规划署(UNEP)环境影响评估小组的联合主席. 

🏅 Dr. Kathleen Digre ‘72

Dr. Kathleen Digre ‘72 is a neuro-ophthalmologist at the John A. Moran Eye Center, as well as a distinguished professor of neurology and ophthalmology & visual science at the University of Utah. Digre grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and graduated from Augustana with majors in English and German. With help from the late Dr. Gerhard Schmutterer ‘50, professor emeritus of German, Digre taught in a German high school in Neuendettelsau, Germany, after graduation and later earned a master’s degree in English at the University of Arkansas. Digre then pursued medical school, a neurology residency and neuro-ophthalmology fellowship at the University of Iowa. 她被招募到犹他大学,在那里她建立了神经眼科和头痛的临床和培训项目. Digre曾担任北美神经眼科学会(NANOS)和美国头痛学会的主席, as well as authored 250 articles, three books and presented lectures worldwide. 她建立了神经眼科学虚拟教育图书馆(NOVEL)和莫兰临床眼科学教育资源(CORE)。. Digre received the University of Utah Rosenblatt Award, University of Iowa Distinguished Alumni Award, was named the first Hedi Fritz Niggli Guest Professor at the University of Zurich, from which she also received an honorary degree, 并被The Opthamologist评为2021年眼科100强女性力量名单的成员. Digre and her husband, Dr. Michael Varner, have two daughters.

🏅 Dr. Nancy Floros Rajanen ‘77

Dr. Nancy Floros Rajanen ‘77 is a former superintendent, educator and administrator — having served 37 years in school districts across Minnesota. The Mount Prospect, Illinois, native was a special education and elementary education double major at Augustana. After graduation, Floros Rajanen taught special education in Austin, Minnesota — the first year that special education was mandated in U.S. public schools. There, 她开创了明尼苏达州第一个针对0-5岁残疾学生的早期干预项目. Floros Rajanen then earned a Master of Public Health in maternal & child health from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities (U of M). In Minnesota’s Anoka-Hennepin School District, she led the reintegration of students with disabilities into regular education programs. For St. Francis Public Schools in Minnesota, 弗洛罗斯·拉贾宁被任命为特殊教育主任,负责学生住院治疗项目设施的建设. After earning a Ph.D. in educational administration at the U of M, 弗洛罗斯·拉贾宁曾在明尼阿波利斯的三所学校担任助理督学和人力资源总监. In 2008, she was named superintendent of Waconia Public Schools until she retired in 2014. Upon retirement, Floros Rajanen taught for seven years at the U of M, preparing postgraduate students for administrative roles. Throughout her educational tenure, 弗洛罗斯·拉贾宁(Floros Rajanen)曾担任明尼苏达州学校人事管理协会主席 & 州谈判代表,并担任教育公平学校和明尼苏达州学校管理人员协会的立法领导角色. Floros Rajanen and her husband, Greg, have two children and three grandchildren.

🏅 Gerald Saetveit ‘63 

Gerald Saetveit ‘63 is a musician, performer and former educator. A New York native, Saetveit followed closely in his parents’ footsteps by majoring in music at Augustana, where he played in the concert, marching and Northlander’s Jazz Bands, brass ensemble and orchestra. Saetveit also sang in the chapel choir and formed a folk song trio, The Kinsmen. After graduation, Saetveit taught K-12 music in Ellsworth, Minnesota, and advised a church youth group. He also earned a Master of Music Education from Indiana University. In 1968, he moved to the New London-Spicer School District in Minnesota, where he served for 35 years as a music teacher, K-12 music director, junior/senior high school music director, elementary music & band director and violin teacher for adults and children. Saetveit has been engaged in each community he’s been part of — churches, festivals, orchestras, community bands, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), as well as environmental and community education centers. Saetveit和他的四个儿子在明尼苏达州和科罗拉多州的文艺复兴节上分别演唱了18年和10年的Allen-a-Dale和Singing Pages, respectively. Saetveit continues to play violin at the Minnesota and Arizona Renaissance Festivals, as well as perform with the fiddling group he founded, Coffee Shop Fiddlers. Saetveit’s father, Joseph ‘34, was a 1959 Augustana Alumni Achievement Award recipient and his mother, Helga (Hanson) ‘33, was the 1933 Viking Days Queen.

🏅 Deanna (Levsen) Wehrspann ‘80

Deanna (Levsen) Wehrspann ' 80是南达科他州大学和苏福尔斯大学的教师钢琴伴奏/合作者, as well as the music & worship professional at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls. At Augustana, Wehrspann was a music major, section leader of The Augustana Choir and 4-time winner of the Concerto-Aria Competition. Following Augustana, she earned a master’s degree in New Testament studies from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, 堪萨斯州恩波里亚州立大学图书馆学硕士学位以及莱比锡路德神学院一年的奖学金, Germany. Wehrspann多年来一直担任南达科他州全州合唱团和高中荣誉合唱团的首席伴奏,并获得了2019年南达科他州高中活动协会(SDHSAA)杰出服务奖. She also served as the production pianist for Opera South Dakota for more than 10 years. Wehrspann has composed more than 80 compositions for voice, choir, piano and orchestra. She is a founding soprano of the Grammy-nominated South Dakota Chorale. Wehrspann and her husband, Joel, have two daughters.

🏅 Dr. Peter C. Young ‘74

Dr. Peter C. Young ' 74是一名教授,也是英国圣何塞大学(University of St. Thomas Opus College of Business in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Young grew up in Spearfish, South Dakota, and followed his sister, Pamela (Young) Baum ‘71, to Augustana, where he majored in history. He credits the late Dr. Lyn Oyos, professor emeritus of history, for helping him develop an interest in a life of academia, and the late Dr. 12bet游戏平台合唱团指挥奥拉夫·马尔明,感谢他教他演唱挪威国歌. Following his time at Augustana, 杨获得了内布拉斯加大学奥马哈分校的公共管理硕士学位和博士学位.D. in risk management from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. He joined St. Thomas’ faculty in 1994, and held the E.W. Blanch Senior Chair in Risk Management until 2011. Young is the co-creator of the University of St. Thomas Actuarial Science Program. Young has been a visiting professor at City, University of London in England, Aoyama Gakuin University in Japan, held a distinguished honorary professorship at Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland, and awarded the Otto Mønsted Visiting Professorship at Copenhagen Business School in Denmark. 他已经出版了十几本12bet游戏平台风险管理主题的书籍和许多学术期刊.

2023 Horizon Award Winners

🏅 Valerie Anderson-Boudaka ‘08

Valerie Anderson-Boudaka ‘08 is the president of Farmers State Bank in Canton, South Dakota. Raised in Canton, 安德森-布达卡在12bet中文官方平台主修工商管理,前校长罗布·奥利弗帮助她在富国银行找到了一份银行出纳的工作. After graduation, she served as an assistant manager at TCF Bank, a personal banker at U.S. 2011年,他被任命为农民国家银行副行长,并于2019年成为行长. 安德森-布达卡是南达科他州独立社区银行家(ICBSD)董事会和12bet游戏平台校友会的成员, ICBSD federal delegate and president-elect of Canton Lutheran Church. She and her husband, Moe, have one son.

🏅 Vanessa Anderson-Smith ‘08

瓦妮莎·安德森·史密斯08是一名语言病理学家,也是苏福尔斯安德森·史密斯治疗研究所的所有者和首席执行官. A native of Canton, South Dakota, 她一开始在12bet中文官方平台主修英语,后来在写了一篇12bet游戏平台聋儿语言习得的论文后,转向了交流障碍专业. After graduating from Augustana, 安德森-史密斯在南达科他州大学获得语言病理学硕士学位. 她在熟练护理机构工作了三年,然后开始了她的私人执业——在苏福尔斯的厨房里治疗孩子. Her practice, Anderson-Smith Therapy Institute, 已经发展到两家诊所,拥有20多名员工,并提供语言和喂养治疗, occupational therapy, reading tutoring and dyslexia testing. In 2018, Anderson-Smith began teaching for TalkTools, a continuing education organization, and, in 2019, 是南达科他州第一个获得口面部肌功能治疗认证的人吗. She is pursuing her Ph.D. in speech-language pathology from Northwestern University. Anderson-Smith and her husband, Ryan, have two sons.

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