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Iowa educator named as new St. Olaf vice president

By Steve Blodgett
January 18, 2008

St. Olaf College President David R. Anderson '74 has announced the appointment of Paula Carlson '76 to the newly created position of vice president and liaison to the Board of Regents, beginning July 1. She will be responsible for managing the work of the Office of the President, coordinating presidential communications, overseeing special projects and initiatives and serving as a liaison to the St. Olaf Board of Regents.

Paula Carlson photo
Carlson
Carlson's ties to and familiarity with St. Olaf are extensive. A l976 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the college, she went on to earn the M.A., M.Phil. and Ph.D. in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University with a dissertation on the medieval English poems Piers Plowman and Pearl. Her husband, Rev. Dr. Thomas Schattauer '75, is a professor of liturgics and dean of the Chapel at Wartburg Theological Seminary. They are the parents of two St. Olaf students, Peter, a senior at the college, and Anna, a first-year student.

"Paula will bring to St. Olaf a deep understanding of higher education and a profound commitment to the college's mission," said Anderson in announcing the appointment. "Her experience as the parent of two current St. Olaf students is certainly a plus as well."
A scholar of medieval literature and modern American literature, with a special emphasis on literature and Christianity, Carlson is the contributing editor, with Peter S. Hawkins, of the four-volume series Listening for God: Contemporary Literature and the Life of Faith, published by Augsburg Fortress Press. The third volume in this series is currently the focus of a faculty, staff and student January Interim reading group convened by the Pastor's Office at St. Olaf.

Carlson is Professor of English and Director of the Wendt Center for Character Education at the University of Dubuque in Dubuque, Iowa. As Director of the Wendt Center she oversees a scholarship program, a faculty development program, a lecture series, the center's curricular and co-curricular program in ethics and character development, and serves on the president's cabinet.

Her prior higher education administrative experience includes directing the Writing Proficiency Program at St. Mary's College and serving as associate dean for academic affairs at the University of Dubuque. She previously taught English at Yale University, where she also served as a lecturer with the Divinity School.

Contact communications director Steve Blodgett at 507-786-3316 or blodgett@stolaf.edu.