Contact: Stacia Senne, 507-933-7510, [email protected]
Gustavus Adolphus College President to Speak on 10 Years as President and Tornado Recovery
Gustavus Adolphus College President Axel Steuer will deliver the college's commencement address Sunday, May 27 on Hollingsworth Field (Lund Center if inclement weather). During the 2 p.m. commencement exercises, about 543 students will receive bachelor of arts degrees. Following a tradition started in 1973, graduates will receive signed diplomas from the faculty department chair in their major.
Steuer says it is "a special honor for me, after 10 years as president, to share some reflections and dreams with the graduating class." He added, "I feel a special bond with this year's graduating class, whose members were first-year students when the storm changed the look and life of the campus."
Since July 1991, Steuer has made his mark on the college in many ways. He has labored tirelessly to establish Gustavus as one of the premier Lutheran liberal arts colleges in the nation; provided leadership for more than doubling the college's endowment; and led the clean-up, reconstruction, and reopening of the college within three weeks of the March 1998 tornadoes.
A moral development and professional ethics scholar, Steuer is dedicated to the "education of character" and has been commended for his contributions. In 1999 he was one of 50 college presidents in the nation recognized by the John Templeton Foundation for his leadership in student character development and profiled in The Templeton Guide: Colleges that Encourage Character Development. In 1996 he received the Royal Order of the Polar Star from Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf for his efforts to strengthen the bonds between Sweden and the U.S.
Steuer has a bachelor's degree from Occidental College, a master's degree from Harvard University, a divinity degree from Harvard Divinity School, and a Ph.D. in religious thought from the University of Pennsylvania. He taught at Haverford College, Princeton University, and Swarthmore College before returning to his alma mater, Occidental, where he served as chair of the Department of Religious Studies, associate dean of the faculty and director of graduate studies, and executive assistant to two presidents.
At commencement the Rev. Dr. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, will be awarded an honorary degree as he ends his term and 45 years of service to the Lutheran church. Graduate Erin Dana has been selected to deliver the traditional senior address.
For more information on the schedule of commencement events, contact the Office of Public Relations at (507) 933-7520.
Gustavus Adolphus College is a private liberal arts college in St. Peter, Minn., that prepares 2,500 undergraduates for lives of leadership, service, and lifelong learning. The oldest Lutheran college in Minnesota, Gustavus was founded in 1862 by Swedish immigrants and named for Swedish King Gustav II Adolf. At Gustavus, students receive personal attention in small-sized classes and engage in collaborative research with their professors. Fully accredited and known for its strong science, writing, music, athletics, study-abroad, and service-learning programs, Gustavus hosts a chapter of Phi BetaKappa and is internationally recognized for its annual Nobel Conference.
A biography of Axel Steuer can be found at http://www.gustavus.edu/oncampus/admin/president/bio.cfm.====-END-====
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