Welcome from the Dean

Augustana College is a special place where students not only learn a variety of subjects in a church-related liberal arts context, but where students learn the wonder of asking and wrestling with the most important questions of life. Whether in the liberal arts or in the professional programs, students are taught to think — and to think well.

They engage in the amazing process of grappling with difficult moral questions, and come to understand what it means to be a person of character. We pursue excellence in teaching and research and do what we can to make our classes passionately rigorous and engaging.

Dr. Murray Haar
Dean of the College
Administration Bldg, 2nd floor
Augustana College
Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57197

Phone: 605.274.5417
Email: murray.haar@augie.edu

My role as Dean is to promote excellence in both undergraduate and graduate education, and to guide the faculty as we work strategically toward the future. Our goals for Academic Affairs for the next five years include:

• Successful completion of our current capital campaign, leading to a renovated Gilbert Science Center and Mikkelsen Library, as well as increased endowments for scholarships and academic support
• Increased resources for Faculty Development, International Education, and Student Support Services
• Continued growth for our new "Civitas" honors program
• Successful reaccreditation by the Higher Learning Commission
• Completion of our graduate program study process
• Examination of a new Liberal Arts curriculum

Dr. Murray Haar
Senior Vice-President for Academic Affairs

Dr. Haar has been Augustana College's Dean of the College since June 2011 and will serve in the role throughout the 2011-2012 academic year.

Dr. Haar joined Augustana in 1978 and most recently served as professor of Religion and Jewish Studies as well as chair of the Department of Religion, Philosophy and Classics. He earned his bachelor’s degree from North Dakota State University in Fargo and his master’s degree from Luther Theological Seminary. He holds a Ph.D. in Biblical Studies from Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia.

During his time at Augustana, he has served as the Stanley L. Olsen Chair of Moral Values and as the Our Savior’s Lutheran Church Chair in Religion. He received the Frederick C. Kohlmeyer Distinguished Teaching Professorship from 2000-2002 and earned the Vernon and Mildred Niebuhr Faculty Excellence Award for the 2005-2006 academic year.

As a professor, Dr. Haar teaches courses dealing with the Holocaust, Judaism and Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism, Religion and Violence and Courage and Evil. He also teaches Hebrew and Jewish Philosophy and has led student study trips to Israel and India. During his career, Haar has published a number of articles and given a variety of papers dealing with Israel and the Holocaust.

Educational Background

B.A., North Dakota State University, Fargo, N.D.
M.Div., Luther Theological Seminary, St. Paul, Minn.
Ph.D., Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Va.