{"id":47945,"date":"2020-09-10T18:07:13","date_gmt":"2020-09-10T18:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/?p=47945"},"modified":"2021-10-14T19:52:29","modified_gmt":"2021-10-14T19:52:29","slug":"participating-in-his-estate-gift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/2020\/09\/10\/participating-in-his-estate-gift\/","title":{"rendered":"Participating in His Estate Gift"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"<em>Augsburg<\/a>
Augsburg students in Vanuatu, including Mark Johnson \u201975 and Professor Tim Pippert<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A few years ago, Mark Johnson \u201975 updated his estate plans to include Augsburg. He wanted his estate gift to honor Professor Joel Torstenson, the \u201cfather\u201d of Sociology at Augsburg who started the Metro-Urban Studies program at Augsburg in 1971. Mark was one of the first students to graduate from Augsburg\u2019s Metro-Urban Studies program, now called Urban Studies. He also went on Augsburg\u2019s first Scandinavian Urban Studies Semester trip to Oslo, Norway. Mark\u2019s gift will fund a professorship for faculty in the Urban Studies or Sociology departments.<\/p>\n

Mark has been very involved at Augsburg since graduating in 1975. Along with joining the Board of Regents, Mark has been in constant contact with the Urban Studies and Sociology departments. And his connection has gone above and beyond monetary gifts.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommunity involvement is important,\u201d Mark said. \u201cMy job was a chance to encourage people to reach out beyond themselves and to seek ways to be a bridge builder of relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Mark witnessed the impact of quality faculty in today\u2019s educational environment, he wanted to support the transformational effect of an education rich in experiences. This is why he started the Torstenson Scholars in 2015.<\/p>\n

\"Professor<\/a>
Professor Joel Torstenson<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Joel Torstenson came to Augsburg as a history major from rural West Central Minnesota. After graduating in 1938, he worked in education for farmer\u2019s co-ops. He began teaching part-time at Augsburg upon earning a master\u2019s degree in history and sociology. During the war years, he became involved in the peace movement and participated in establishing a cooperative farm community, which led to employment with Midland Cooperatives as an educational director and community organizer. In the fall of 1947, President Christensen invited him back to Augsburg to develop its programs in social work and sociology while completing his doctorate in sociology at the University of Minnesota.<\/p>\n

Today, the legacy of Joel Torstenson lives on through the Torstenson Scholars program, sociology and metro-urban studies majors, the Strommen Center for Meaningful Work, HECUA, and the college-wide \u201cEngaging Minneapolis\u201d requirement. Torstenson\u2019s work also gave birth to the college-wide requirement that started as the \u201cUrban Concern,\u201d which was succeeded by the \u201cCity Perspective,\u201d and is now known as the \u201cEngaging Minneapolis\u201d requirement.<\/p>\n

Students in the Torstenson Scholars program are financially supported for one academic year, which includes a research trip with the Sociology or Urban Studies department. Mark\u2019s funding has been used in four significant trips: a research trip to Vanuatu in September of 2018; two research trips to Williston, North Dakota, in 2017 and 2019 to study the effects of the oil boom on a small town; and a community research project in Two Harbors, Minnesota, Mark\u2019s hometown.<\/p>\n

As a Regent, Mark came to understand the significant positive impact of philanthropy at Augsburg.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe question always has been: How can we manage change for the good of all?\u201d says Mark.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t want to wait for the day when the estate gift would arrive at Augsburg’s door. Instead, he decided to launch the Torstenson Professorship now so he can actively participate in the things that will be supported by gifts in his estate plan. Mark also wants to encourage his fellow Auggies to join him in honoring Professor Torstenson.<\/p>\n

Mark has seeded the endowed professorship fund with a gift of $50,000 and an available match of another $100,000. He hopes others will join him by giving to the fund to remember Joel’s legacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoel touched many lives and I think a contribution to the professorship is a great way to commemorate that. All contributors to this fund \u2013 a small gift or large gift \u2013 will be acknowledged equally,\u201d says Mark.<\/p>\n

Until the endowed fund reaches $250,000, Mark is funding the professorship annually.<\/p>\n

\"Briana<\/a>
Briana Mitchell \u201819, Britta Andress \u201819, and Professor Tim Pippert in Vanuatu<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“We are so grateful to Mark Johnson for his generosity and vision in honoring the Torstenson legacy at Augsburg with this professorship,\u201d says President Paul Pribbenow. \u201cIt is particularly meaningful to me that Professor Tim Pippert will be the first incumbent of the Torstenson Endowed Professor. I have had the privilege to teach with Tim and to witness his commitment to our students.\u201d<\/p>\n

Professor Timothy Pippert joined the Augsburg faculty in 1999.\u00a0 He holds bachelor\u2019s, master\u2019s, and doctoral degrees from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His teaching interests center on family systems, juvenile delinquency, homelessness and affluence, statistics, research methods, and race, class, and gender. In 2011, he received the Distinguished Contributions to Teaching and Learning – Excellence in Teaching Award.<\/p>\n

If you would like to donate to the Torstenson Professorship, or are interested in funding a new professorship, please contact Amy Alkire at alkirea@augsburg.edu<\/a> or 651-323-4844.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A few years ago, Mark Johnson \u201975 updated his estate plans to include Augsburg. He wanted his estate gift to honor Professor Joel Torstenson, the \u201cfather\u201d of Sociology at Augsburg who started the Metro-Urban Studies program at Augsburg in 1971. Mark was one of the first students to graduate from Augsburg\u2019s Metro-Urban Studies program, now …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":439,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,4,7,6,3],"tags":[20,141,148,30,139,50,58,118,31],"class_list":["post-47945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-augsburg-fund","category-donor-recognition","category-gift-announcements","category-giving","category-giving-to-augsburg","tag-alumni","tag-augsburg","tag-augsburg-university","tag-board-of-regents","tag-donor","tag-endowed-scholarship","tag-gift-announcement","tag-giving","tag-philanthropy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/439"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47945"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47945\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48182,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47945\/revisions\/48182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}