St. Olaf College | Admissions

Ruthie Bjorlie Neuger '80

Senior Admissions Counselor
neugerr@stolaf.edu
507-786-3937

Ruthie Bjorlie Neuger '80 Career/Education: For the last three of the seven years that Ruthie Bjorlie Neuger has been an admissions counselor, she has also been head coach of the St. Olaf College women's softball team, making the St. Olaf degree she earned in 1980-with majors in physical education and coaching-even more relevant today. Her years at St. Olaf still influence the rest of her life, too. Her closest friends are Oles, and the value of serving others that she learned both at St. Olaf and as the daughter of a pastor remain paramount. Ruthie wanted to attend St. Olaf from a young age. The youngest of six children, she saw all five of her siblings graduate from the college. Her parents and grandparents are Oles, too. ("The joke in my family is that we didn't realize there were other colleges," she says.) Ruthie and her husband, Dave Neuger '79, who owns Neuger Communications in Northfield, have three children-the eldest of whom is a student at St. Olaf.

"What sets St. Olaf apart from other strong academic colleges is the student community. We have students who are bright, creative and energetic, but they also care about people. They actively support one another, they are concerned for a suffering classmate, they build homes for habitat for humanity, they get involved."

Personal: After moving to various locations with her pastor father, Ruthie finally found roots as a girl in St. Paul, Minnesota. She enjoys cheering at her three children's athletic events, in addition to getting her own workouts. Her favorite book is the third in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.