On July 12, chemistry alumni spanning more than a half century of graduating classes, met on the Augsburg campus. They renewed friendships and swapped stories with favorite chemistry faculty including emeriti Arlin Gyberg and John Holum and current chemistry department chair Dr. Sandra Olmsted ’69. They toured Science Hall with outstanding science faculty and learned first-hand of impressive research by Augsburg science students in chemistry, biology and physics.
Following the tour the group gathered in the Marshall Room to learn from a distinguished faculty panel representing the Center for Science Business and Religion (CSBR) related disciplines: Drs. Vivian Feng ( chemistry) Benjamin Stottrup (physics) Matthew Beckman (biology), Dale Pederson ’70 (biology chair), Jeanne Boeh (economics), and Phil Quanbeck (religion).
The faculty articulated what a CSBR would mean for Augsburg student learning, laboratory and research experience. A lively conversation about teaching at the interface of science, business and religion ensued. Chemistry alumni joined in sharing their own experiences of Augsburg’s rich legacy over several decades. Specifically the intellectual freedom to explore all these ways of understanding the world where our Lutheran heritage is a real but not required foundation.
There was a strong sense from alumni that a CSBR would serve to enhance these continued curricular and co-curricular conversations which have always been at the heart of Augsburg’s tradition.
Ruth Johnson ’74, MD
