Contact: Bruce Conley, Associate Director of College Relations
Phone: (605) 274-5526
Fax: (605) 274-4903
www.augie.edu

April 26, 2005

Augustana President Bruce Halverson Announces Retirement

SIOUX FALLS - President Bruce R. Halverson has informed the Augustana College Board of Trustees of his intention to retire at the end of his term in July, 2006.

Dr. Halverson, 60, was appointed Augustana College’s 22nd president in 2000. He is the first Augustana alumnus to hold the post in the college’s 145-year history.

“I am honored to be the president of Augustana and these past five years have been the most rewarding of my professional life,” he said. “To be able to return to serve my alma mater, church, hometown, and state is a privilege, and I am truly grateful.”

During Dr. Halverson’s term as president, the College has undertaken more than $13 million in capital projects, including the Fantle Building for the Center for Western Studies and the expansion of the Elmen Center. On Monday, the College broke ground for the Center for the Visual Arts. A new football training facility is also in the planning stages, and a project to refurbish The Huddle in the Morrison Commons begins this summer.

Dr. Halverson has led the College’s $50,000,000 Sunrise Capital Campaign, which is on track to reach a successful conclusion at the time of his retirement.

In addition to his work on campus, Dr. Halverson was a leader in securing state scholarships for students attending private colleges, and the percentage of South Dakota students receiving this support at Augustana is the highest in the state. At the same time, he increased private support for Augustana students by raising the College’s endowment to a record level.

Dr. Halverson has laid the groundwork for his successor by enhancing Augustana’s financial viability, encouraging faculty research, undertaking strategic planning, and strengthening alumni support.

Augustana’s Board of Trustees has asked Dr. Halverson to continue working with the College after he retires from the presidency. A national search for a new president will begin in September, 2005.

Dr. Halverson is a native of Sioux Falls and a graduate of Washington High School. He majored in speech and drama at Augustana, graduating in 1966 with cum laude distinction.

In 1990, he received the Alumni Achievement Award from his alma mater. The Halverson Room in the Morrison Commons at Augustana is named in honor of his father.

Dr. Halverson received his Ph.D. in theater history from the University of Washington in 1971. During his career he served in faculty or administrative roles at Grinnell College, Denison University, the University of Illinois, Ithaca College, and the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at Rochester Institute of Technology. He was serving as Dean of the School of Theatre at Florida State University when he was selected to be president of Augustana.

Dr. Halverson and his wife, Nancy, have three sons, Tait, Jeffry, and Cole.