You reached this page through the archive. Click here to return to the archive.

Note: This article is over a year old and information contained in it may no longer be accurate. Please use the contact information in the lower-left corner to verify any information in this article.

St. Olaf to host economic summit

By Kari VanDerVeen
February 22, 2011

When the financial crisis struck the global economy several years ago, a number of St. Olaf College alumni had front-row seats to the most significant economic downturn since the Great Depression.

In their roles with organizations ranging from the Securities and Exchange Commission to the Federal Reserve Bank to a variety of American corporations, they have been responsible for gauging the impact of the recession and measuring the effectiveness of financial reform.

A group of these alumni will return to campus April 15 for presentations and discussions as part of the 2011 St. Olaf Economic Summit: Crisis, Reform, and the Future. They will be joined by keynote speaker Eugene Ludwig, founder and CEO of Promontory Financial Group and former comptroller of the United States currency.

In lectures and panel discussions, these economists and business leaders from across the nation will discuss the events leading up to the crisis; the responses by various government agencies; the business and economic climate going forward; and the implications of the Great Recession for businesses in various sectors of the economy.

The all-day economic summit includes presentations in the morning by Mark Olson '65 (Treliant Risk Advisors), James Overdahl '80 (National Economic Research Associates), and Dean Maki '87 (Barclays Capital). Following Ludwig's luncheon keynote speech will be an afternoon panel featuring Lisa Tiedje Carlson '90 (Best Buy Corporation), Janet Olson Estep '78 (NACHA – The Electronic Payments Association), Jeffrey Hayman '82 (Chartis, Inc.), Mark Hewitt '74 (Northwoods Bank of Minnesota), Ward Klein '77 (Energizer Holdings, Inc. and the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis), and Arne Sorenson, P'10, P'14 (Marriott International). The day's events will be moderated by radio and television commentator Arnie Arnesen '75.

Visit the 2011 St. Olaf Economic Summit website to read more about each of these speakers and to register.

Contact Kari VanDerVeen at 507-786-3970 or vanderve@stolaf.edu.