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Alumni Profile

Karl (Howg) Spring ’86:
No place like home
by Cherie Christ

Have you ever wondered what meteorologists get excited about, aside from the weather? For, Karl (Howg) Spring ’86, enthusiasm comes from his recent move back to Minnesota after 14 years out of state. A native of Hopkins, Minn., Spring returned by accepting the position of chief meteorologist for Fox 29 News.

"I have been trying to return to Minnesota for awhile," Spring says, but found it difficult with few available meteorology positions in the Twin Cities. Always interested in broadcast communications, Spring jokingly remarks, "I either wanted to be a major league baseball player or a news anchor." In fact, he notes that several of the news anchors and weather forecasters he watched on TV while growing up are still in the field.

A major in communications, Spring came to Augsburg in 1979, after a difficult first year at the University of Minnesota. He attributes his success at Augsburg to a variety of circumstances including smaller class sizes, having several friends who were already attending Augsburg, and the ability to get involved throughout campus. Spring's own involvement at Augsburg included living in Mortensen Hall, working in both Buildings and Grounds and Food Service, and acting in theatre productions. Spring believes that getting involved in acting at Augsburg was "great training" for his career as a meteorologist, as weather is "a lot of ad libbing."

After two years as a day school student, Spring left Augsburg to earn a degree from Dunwoody Institute in Minneapolis. However, with a continued interest in broadcast communications, he returned to the College in the fall of 1983 as a Weekend College (WEC) student. He graduated from Augsburg in 1986 by attending Brown College in the morning, interning at KARE 11 in the evenings, and taking classes through WEC.

Upon completing his degree at Augsburg, Spring began working in Austin, Minn., as the weekend weather forecaster, and from there, his career continued to grow. From such locations as Sioux Falls, S.Dak., and Harrisburg, Pa., Spring has worked at approximately 11 different TV stations throughout his career. In the interest of advancing his career, he continued his studies of meteorology by enrolling and graduating from a three-year, distance-learning program at Mississippi State University.

Although Spring has worked in many different locations, he is excited about being back in his native state and has wasted little time getting involved with the community. He works with kids from more than 100 schools a year, is involved in baseball and hockey leagues, and coaches for various youth leagues. He says that working with children is his most rewarding part of his job.

He and his wife, Jeanne, have four children: Kal, Kacey, Karly, and Gunnar. They live in Minnetonka, and in addition to their involvement in the Hopkins School District, are members of Westwood Lutheran Church in St. Louis Park.

—Cherie Christ is a communication specialist in the Office of Public Relations and Communication.

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