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September 19, 2003

2003 Alumni Achievement Award Winners

Volunteer, Artist, Pastor, Nurse to be honored October 3

Delores Wennblom Anderson, class of 1953, Austin Kilian, class of 1942, Rev. John Knudson, class of 1954, and Cheryl Andersen Leuning, class of 72, have been selected to receive Alumni Achievement Awards.

The Alumni Achievement Award recognizes alumni who have excelled in their careers, exemplify Augustana's five fundamental values, and have been involved in their church and/or community. The four award winners will be honored at the Viking Days Alumni Banquet on Friday, October 3, in the Ordal Dining Room in the Morrison Commons. Activities begin at 6:00 p.m. with a social hour. For ticket information call the Augustana Alumni Office at 274-4904.

Delores Wennblom Anderson
Former Augustana President Sidney Rand describes Anderson as a model for "servant-leadership."

An active member of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Minneapolis since 1954, Anderson has participated in choir, the Esther Circle, Community and World Outreach Commission, and the Worship, Music, and Arts Commission. She was also choir president, and president and program committee chair of the Bethlehem Lutheran Church Women.

Anderson's community involvements include being a member of the board of directors at the Bethphage Foundation in Omaha, Neb., and Fairview Hospital Foundation, and Fairview Hospital's Auxiliary Board in Minneapolis, Minn. She was also a delegate to the American Hospital Association Auxiliary Officers Seminar and national convention.

Since graduating from Augustana, Anderson has worked tirelessly for the college as a member of the Board of Regents, Alumni Council, and class agent. She also served as president of the Twin Cities Alumni Association and the Augustana Fellows Cabinet.

She graduated cum laude from Augustana with an English major. She was the first female to be elected president of the Augustana Student Association. As president, she organized Chi Epsilon, of which she was a charter member, and the first Mother-Daughter Weekend. She was a member of the Augustana Choir, Adelphics, Mirror staff, Inter-Society Board, and the Religion Board. She served as editor of the EDDA yearbook, and as co-editor of Venture magazine.

Her husband, Albert E. Anderson, former president and chief executive officer of Augsburg Fortress Publishers, died in 1998. She has two children, Barbara and David, and lives in Minneapolis.

Austin Kilian
In almost 40 years of art education, Austin Kilian estimates he has taught more than 40,000 students.

Kilian's career includes the titles of teacher, professor, painter, and montage artist. He is professor emeritus at College of the Desert in Palm Desert, Calif., where he taught for many years. He continues to operate Kilian studios in his home, making 30- and 40-square-foot montages, reflecting on current society, and offering social commentary.

He majored in art at Augustana and received a master's degree from the University of Iowa in 1949. After graduating from Augustana, Kilian entered military service with the 39th Engineer Combat Regiment at Camp Bowie, Texas. He served with the unit in Algeria, Morocco, North Africa, Italy, and Yugoslavia until 1946.

During his time at Augustana, Kilian is perhaps best remembered as the creator of Ole the Viking. As a student, he drew the first cartoons of the horn-helmeted Viking and built a huge plywood likeness that was featured in the homecoming parade.

Kilian wrote a column for the Mirror, was an editor of the EDDA, and operated the photo lab in Old Main. He was a member of the Lutheran Student Association and Gladstonians, and founded Pic-Campus, a photo review of campus life on South Dakota college campuses. He also created sports cartoons for the Argus Leader.

Kilian has received many awards and honors for his art. His work has appeared in more than 40 exhibitions and he has organized more than 30 shows himself. He has also served as a consultant and volunteer to assist in the building of public understanding and appreciation of the arts.

He is a member of Hope Lutheran Church, where he has served as a lay reader. His wife, Elizabeth, died in 1984. He has two children, Michael and Amy, and four grandchildren. He lives in Palm Desert, Calif.

Rev. John Knudson
Knudson has distinguished himself as a preacher, teacher, parish administrator, and leader in the greater Lutheran Church. He served 41 years in the ministry before retiring in 1999.

He majored in history at Augustana and graduated summa cum laude. As a student he served as president of the Augustana Student Association and Viking Days chairman. He sang in the Augustana Choir and Augustana Male Quartet, and was a member of Blue Key and the Lutheran Student Association. He was also awarded Sophomore Honors.

After graduating from Luther Seminary in 1958, he was called to Trinity Lutheran Church in Brooten, Minn., and nearby West Lake Johanna Lutheran Church. His next appointment was as a mission developer in Goleta, Calif., where he served Christ Lutheran Church for 10 years. Under his leadership, the congregation became self-supportive and a permanent facility was built after just two years.

In 1975, Knudson was called to Dana Point, Calif., to be the second pastor of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, where he served until retiring. During his ministry the congregation added a preschool day care center and an expanded sanctuary. The church staff also grew to meet the demands of an expanding parish.

Knudson's service to the larger church is extensive. In 1976 he was elected as the pastoral representative from the South Pacific District to the National Church Council of the

American Lutheran Church. He served on the council for eight years, many of them during the forming years of the ELCA. After serving on the council, he was elected dean of the El Camino Conference in the South Pacific District and subsequently chairman of the District Council until the time of the formation of the ELCA.

When the ELCA was formed in 1987, Knudson was elected to the first Churchwide Church Council, where he served for another eight years. While on the council, he was elected to the Executive Committee and also to the Mission Investment Fund Board of Trustees. He currently chairs the MIF Board, with his team set to expire this fall.

Knudson and his wife, Marjorie Wagnild Knudson '54, have three children and three grandchildren, and live in Dana Point, Calif.

Cheryl Andersen Leuning
Cheryl Leuning has been described by her students and colleagues as a superb teacher, an inspirational leader, and mentor.

Leuning is a professor and chair of the Department of Nursing at Augsburg College in Minneapolis. She is also a consultant to the faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Namibia and has taken national leadership in bringing the realities of cultural and ethnic diversity into the forefront of the nursing practice. Her work in Namibia intergrates student service and learning.

Her areas of expertise include community and public health science, transcultural nursing, professional development, leadership, ethics, and nursing theory. Prior to her appointment at Augsburg, Luening was a member of the Augustana nursing faculty for 22 years. At Augustana she taught both undergraduate and graduate students and was chair of the department. She also taught at the University of Utah and the University of Minnesota.

She received her B.A. in nursing at Augustana, a master's degree with a major in public health nursing from the University of Minnesota in 1976, and a Ph.D. with a research focus in transcultural nursing in 1992.

Leuning has worked at Sioux Valley Hospital in Sioux Falls and at Rapid City Regional Hospital, Rapid City, S.D. She was the nurse supervisor of the Visiting Nurses' Association in Sioux Falls from 1976 to 1980. She is licensed as a registered nurse in South Dakota and Minnesota, and is certified as a transcultural nurse.

Her work has appeared in several journals and publications, and she has given presentations throughout the Midwest and Australia. In addition, she has secured various grants related to her field.

She is a member of Gloria Dei Lutheran Chuch in Saint Paul, Minn. She and her husband, Pastor Harvey Leuning '72, live in Eagan, Minn.