Augsburg University President Paul Pribbenow to retire in June 2027

Augsburg University President Paul C. Pribbenow has announced his intention to retire at the end of the 2026–27 academic year. 

“The opportunity to lead this remarkable institution has been the honor of my lifetime,” said Pribbenow. “I was originally drawn to Augsburg because of its strong sense of place and its Lutheran identity. What I quickly discovered was a community with an extraordinary commitment to meeting students where they are—a deeply engaged urban institution that has been transformed by its richly diverse student body. In many ways, telling this story has been my most important and meaningful job over the last 20 years.”

Pribbenow was inaugurated as Augsburg’s 10th president in the fall of 2006. For two decades, his articulation of a straightforward but powerful vision for Augsburg—“We believe we are called to serve our neighbor”—has strengthened Augsburg’s institutional calling and commitment to place-based community partnerships. This vision served as a touchstone through a dynamic and sometimes turbulent period in higher education, as the Great Recession, COVID-19, federal policy changes, the murder of George Floyd, and Operation Metro Surge profoundly affected Augsburg’s students and surrounding community. 

“Paul Pribbenow has been a transformative leader not just for Augsburg, but for higher education nationally. At the center of his leadership is an understanding of what it means to pursue life in community, whether that’s about Augsburg’s relationships in the neighborhood or the role of higher education in American democracy,” said John O’Brien, chair of Augsburg’s Board of Regents. “As a result, Augsburg has been able to thrive through a period of significant change while staying true to its deepest values and fundamental commitments.”

Over the past two decades, Pribbenow has overseen a sustained enrollment growth strategy predicated on reducing barriers for first-generation and low-income students and building trust with local communities. Today, Augsburg is recognized as the most diverse private college in the Midwest and a national leader in college access, service learning, and civic engagement. “I’m very proud of how the Augsburg community has found ways to respond to our growing diversity and keep our students at the center, even when it has meant changing how we teach or do business,” Pribbenow said. 

A nationally recognized voice on philanthropy and American public life, Pribbenow has focused throughout his presidency on strengthening Augsburg’s culture of philanthropy. He played a key role in advancing Augsburg’s three most successful capital campaigns, helping to raise $55 million to construct the Norman and Evangeline Hagfors Center for Science, Business, and Religion, which opened in January 2018; nearly $130 million to strengthen the university’s endowment and other strategic priorities in the Great Returns campaign, which concluded in 2023; and already more than $25 million in the ongoing Promising Futures campaign to sustain academic innovation and Augsburg’s signature public programs. 

In 2017, Pribbenow oversaw the name change from Augsburg College to Augsburg University, a move that reflected Augsburg’s expansive academic mission, excellence in both the liberal arts and professional studies, and global presence. Under his leadership, Augsburg has invested in new academic programs, including doctoral degrees in clinical psychology and physician associate studies; expanded its international programs through new Center for Global Education and Experience study sites in Norway and Northern Ireland; established the John N. Schwartz ’67 School of the Arts, which catalyzed the establishment of a five-school academic structure; implemented a new general education curriculum; launched the Augsburg Interfaith Institute; raised $10 million to endow the StepUP® collegiate recovery program; led a national movement to transform college admissions through the Augsburg Applies to You initiative; and marked the university’s sesquicentennial with the Augsburg150 strategic plan, a vision for sustainable growth in Augsburg’s next chapter. In 2010, Augsburg became the first higher education institution in Minnesota to earn the prestigious Presidential Award for Community Service, the highest national honor for service work. In 2020, Augsburg was named among the inaugural recipients of the Richard Guarasci Award for Institutional Transformation from Campus Compact, recognizing outstanding work in pursuit of the public purposes of higher education. 

“Paul Pribbenow is internationally renowned as a thought leader whose involvement in anchor institution work was critical in revitalizing colleges’ and universities’ understanding of their central civic mission. His exceptional tenure has been marked by a generosity of spirit and a belief in abundance that has truly helped make Augsburg part of our Cedar-Riverside community,” said Paula O’Loughlin, provost and senior vice president of academic and student affairs.   

Nationally, Pribbenow has emerged as a leader in Lutheran higher education in the 21st century, serving as the current president of the 28-member Network of ELCA Colleges and Universities. He also serves on the national boards of the Coalition for Urban and Metropolitan Universities and Campus Compact, sits on the steering committee of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, and is active in the Anchor Institutions Task Force. Locally, he chairs the Cedar-Riverside Partnership and serves on the executive committee of the Minnesota Private College Council. Pribbenow received the Distinguished Service Alumni Award from Luther College in 2008, the William Burke Award for Presidential Leadership in Experiential Education from the National Society for Experiential Education in 2012, the Outstanding Fundraising Professional Award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals in 2019, and the Alum of the Year Award from the University of Chicago Divinity School in 2025. He also was awarded an Honorary Fellowship from the United International College in Zhuhai, China, in 2015. He is the co-author of “Radical Roots: How One Professor Changed a University’s Legacy” and co-editor of “Through Truth to Freedom: Reconciling a University’s Past, Present, and Future.”

“Paul Pribbenow’s administrative skills, outstanding fundraising abilities, and deep faith have substantially advanced Augsburg’s reputation in Minnesota and nationally,” said Regent Emeritus Ted Grindal ’76, who chaired the presidential search committee that brought Pribbenow and his family—including his wife, Abigail Crampton Pribbenow, and children Thomas ’23 and Maya—to Augsburg in 2006. “The search committee was impressed by his articulate vision for Augsburg, but also for higher education in general. When my wife and I met his talented spouse, Abigail, we knew this was a ‘dream team’—the perfect fit at the right time for Augsburg.”

The Pribbenows’ tenure has been marked by generosity and engagement. Over the past 20 years, they have hosted countless events for the Augsburg community in their home and been a visible presence on campus and at university events. In addition to her work at Yinghua Academy and as a certified funeral celebrant, Abigail Pribbenow has volunteered with the Augsburg Associates, Augsburg Health Commons, StepUP, Campus Kitchen, the Interfaith Institute, Christensen Scholars, and the President’s Leadership Council. Strong supporters of the arts, the Pribbenows sponsored the artwork on the windows of the Hagfors Center main lobby atrium, which features Martin Luther’s handwritten version of “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” overlaid with the cell structure of an American elm tree.  

“Every fall at our opening convocation, I tell our entering class what we expect of them as new members of the Augsburg community—that they will show up, pay attention, and do the work,” said Pribbenow. “I’ve done my best to live up to that example as Augsburg’s president.” 

Augsburg Board of Regents Vice Chair Pahoua Yang Hoffman will lead the presidential search committee in the process to select the next university president over the coming months. With support from higher education leadership consulting firm Academic Search, the 15-member committee includes representation from the Board of Regents (representing alumni and community members), faculty, staff, and students, with counsel from the Network of ELCA Colleges and Universities. Augsburg’s next president is expected to be named by early 2027 and to officially begin in July 2027. 

Additional information about the presidential search and opportunities to celebrate Pribbenow’s legacy, including the Promising Futures celebration gala on October 2, will be shared in the coming months.  

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Media contact: Rachel Farris, farrisr@augsburg.edu