Archive for 2022Page 4
Audrey Ochtrup-Dekeyrel ’22
“From farmhand to food researcher, Gustavus planted the seed for a new career path—that of professor.” A “terrible, bratty child” when it came to helping on her family’s farm in southeastern Minnesota, a younger Ochtrup-DeKeyrel couldn’t have imagined making a career out of agriculture. Now, shaped by her upbringing and her experiences as an environmental […]
Professor Colleen Stockmann
“For this Gustavus professor and art historian who started teaching in historic times, adapting to change is nothing new.” “It was 10 years between when I finished undergrad and when I started graduate school — absolutely the right amount of time for me.” At Stanford University, San Francisco, and across the country, their work spanned […]
Professor Marie Walker
“Mental health and development was a long-discussed choice for the subject of the 2022 Nobel Conference. But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Walker knew the topic had to confront today’s mental health crisis in adolescents and young people.” “I watched my students’ lives turn upside-down,” she remembers. “Then George Floyd was murdered. I was thinking […]
Professor Hayley Russell
“This Canadian professor teaches sport and exercise psychology, framed within the American concept of liberal arts learning. Teaching in the health and exercise science, public health, and gender, women, and sexuality studies, Russell has a courtside seat to today’s biggest sports trends. First, there is equity. “The strongest student writing and reflection has been on […]
Emily Ford ’15
“Emily Ford thought she knew winter. Then she thru-hiked the Ice Age Trail. In February. With only a sled dog, Diggins.” Post-holing. It’s when you hike through deep snow without skis or snowshoes. Imagine stomping your leg into crusted snow up to your knee, then doing the same with your other leg, then pulling the […]
Professor Erik Gulbranson
“In one of the coldest places on Earth—and 250 million years in the past—he predicts the future of our planet.” Oppressive cold. Deafening silence. Never ending day (or night). Low atmospheric pressure that warps the human body. Nevertheless, Professor Gulbranson and his international colleagues have ventured to Antarctica five times over the past decade to […]
Professor Roland Thorstensson
“The Professor Emeritus and former Director Of Scandinavian Studies on one of his legacies: The Sweden Today Program.” Fifteen or so years ago, College president James Peterson asked Thorstensson to design a custom program to Sweden for Gustavus students. Thorstensson hesitated—among other reasons, he was close to retirement. Then he thought, “Why not try to […]
Martin Lang ’95
“I Didn’t Leave Gustavus a Flag-Waving Gustie. My Perspective On Gustavus Really Changed After I Started Grad School.” I am a first-generation college student, so when I was applying to schools, I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting into. I wanted to play soccer at a big state school, but I soon found out […]
Cheryl Downey ’66
“Be resilient. Have faith in yourself.” “I was very aware of being a pioneer,” Downey says. One of the first women in the Directors Guild of America two-year apprenticeship program, she started as the second assistant director for the 1976 Western The Missouri Breaks, starring Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson. She was the first woman […]
James McPherson ’58
“Some stories entertain us. Others define us. They shape our identity, our sense of character and community, our understanding of right and wrong. Stories from the past have this power, which is why history is often so contested. Historians conduct their work under a weight of this charge.” As one of the most respected historians […]