Bio of Paul C. Pribbenow

Paul Pribbenow, the 11th president of Augsburg College, a private liberal arts college associated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and located in Minneapolis, is recognized as one of the country’s most engaging commentators and teachers on ethics, philanthropy and American public life.

Before coming to Augsburg College in 2006, Pribbenow served as president of Rockford College in Rockford, Ill. He also has served as research fellow for the Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts at Wabash College (Indiana); dean for College Advancement and secretary of the Board of Trustees at Wabash College; vice president of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; and associate dean of the Divinity School of the University of Chicago.

Pribbenow holds a B.A. (1978) from Luther College (Iowa), and an M.A. (1979) and Ph.D. (1993) in social ethics from the University of Chicago.

Pribbenow has chaired the state board of the Illinois Campus Compact and served on the visiting committee to the Divinity School of the University of Chicago. He was named a McCormick Presidential Civic Leader Fellow for 2003-04 and 2005-06.  Pribbenow is the author of numerous articles on the professions, ethics, and not-for-profit management. He publishes a bi-monthly e-mail newsletter entitled Notes for the Reflective Practitioner, writes a regular column for Contributions magazine, and has edited two volumes of collected essays entitled Serving the Public Trust: Insights for Fund Raising Research and Practice (Jossey-Bass, 2000 and 2001). He currently is at work on a book manuscript entitled Public Service: Philanthropic Fundraising as a Calling.

Pribbenow lives in Minneapolis with his wife, Abigail Crampton Pribbenow, an arts administrator, and their two children, Thomas (5) and Maya (2).