Courtland Agre Challenge
Dr. Steven E. Larson, ’71 is CEO of the Riverside Medical Clinic in Riverside CA. Steve believes in the value-based education that Augsburg offered during his Augsburg years, and believes those values still provide the foundation for a great Augsburg education today.
When Steve was introduced to the campaign for the Center for Science, Business and Religion a year ago, he immediately connected to two experiences. One, the same classrooms and laboratories that he studied in are still being used today. As a medical physician, and professor at the UC-Riverside Medical School, Steve knows the importance of creating the finest classrooms and laboratories for students to study in and learn and for faculty to teach effectively.
As important as those facilities, Steve was also reminded of the impact of Professor Courtland Agre on his studies and life. Steve, working with Augsburg development staff, has initiated, and provided the first funding for, the Courtland Agre Challenge.
The Courtland Agre Challenge is designed to raise money to honor Dr. Agre through the naming of the 2nd floor Center for Science, Business, and Religion atrium, as the Courtland Agre Atrium. The 2nd floor of the CSBR will be the location for Chemistry classrooms, laboratories, and faculty offices. The Atrium will be a “main thoroughfare and hub” for students, faculty and staff.
This challenge, started by Steve, has identified and enlisted several of his 1971 Augsburg classmates. Now the opportunity is available to all whose education and lives have been impacted by Dr. Courtland Agre to participate in this Challenge.
For more information, contact:
Doug Scott
Director of Leadership Gifts
612-330-1575
scottd@augbsurg.edu
Dr. Steven Larson, along with several other Auggies, shares his Augsburg experience in a short 5 minute video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2F3di3LCwpY
During the last weekend of June, Alumni who attended Augsburg in the 1970s were invited to campus to share fellowship and meet with Augsburg’s President, members of the faculty and student researchers. This “Alumni Leadership Summit” was organized by Mike Good ’71 and Wayne Jorgenson ’71 who are both serving as leaders in the campaign to build the Center for Science, Business, and Religion.
After graduating from Augsburg in 1971 with a degree in music education, Robert Stacke wanted to share his love for music with the next generation so he became a music teacher at Jefferson Junior High school for three years before moving on to the Minneapolis Edison High School where he taught for six years. It was that love for music that took him to Venezuela for a year to play in the Maracaibo Symphony before returning to Minnesota to play in the band at the Chanhassen Dinner Theater, where he entertained the guests for 13 years. During this time he also taught at Hopkins High School and the University of St Cloud.
On June 21 and 22, former Augsburg classmates, roommates and teammates from the 1980s reunited on campus for the 1980s Leadership Summit to learn about the college’s top priority, the Center for Science, Business, and Religion. The Summit began with a warm welcome from Karina Karlén ’83 and an inspirational speech from Chris Ascher ’81 who encouraged his classmates to invest in this new signature facility that will engage future leaders in collaborative inquiry and, through them, shape our world.
The Augsburg College summer commencement ceremony was held June 23 and was an opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of our 479 graduate students and undergraduates in the Weekend and Evening College and Rochester programs. June Commencement featured Nancy Cantor, Chancellor and President of Syracuse University, 
who received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters during the ceremony.