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Northfields Robert Flaten to be cited as St. Olaf College distinguished alumnus

mjc
May 17, 2001

NORTHFIELD, Minn. ? Former ambassador Robert Flaten is one of seven St. Olaf College graduates who will be honored by the college on Saturday, May 26, as a Distinguished Alumni Award recipient.

Flaten, of Northfield, Minn., will receive the award as part of the college?s "Celebration 2001" commencement and reunion weekend May 26-27. He and the six other honorees will be cited at an All-Alumni Banquet Saturday evening, May 26, and will be recognized by President Christopher Thomforde during St. Olaf College?s commencement Sunday, May 27.

Other Distinguished Alumni Award recipients are geneticist David Benton of Devon, Pa., mayor and community activist DeLores Hinrichs Henehan of Britton, S.D., neighborhood developer Ruth Kelly Hustad of Eden Prairie, Minn., education reform catalyst Jeanne Kunau Narum of Washington, D.C., businessman Herbert M. Stellner Jr. of Kasson, Minn., and Minnesota Speaker of the House Steve Sviggum of Kenyon, Minn.

Distinguished Alumni Award recipients are selected each year based on distinction in profession, community service, religious involvement and involvement in St. Olaf College.

Flaten, who graduated from St. Olaf in 1956, was ambassador to Rwanda for three years and served the American Foreign Service for 32 years.

Regarded as a true professional, highly informed and representing the best in American diplomacy, Flaten worked for more than two years to mediate a peace settlement between Hutu and Tutsi leaders. He also served as director of the State Department Office of India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, and as director of the Office of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh Affairs in Washington, D.C. He organized and spearheaded a legislative plan for continuing assistance to Pakistan and Afghanistan, and was part of the team that negotiated the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan.

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Distinguished Alumni Award ? 2

Flaten retired from the Foreign Service in 1994. Now he is chair of the executive committee of the Nobel Peace Prize Forum, and is a member of the nominating committee for the annual Immortal Chaplains Prize for Humanity.

St. Olaf College prepares students to become responsible citizens of the world, fostering development of mind, body and spirit. A four-year, coeducational liberal arts college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), St. Olaf has a student enrollment of 2,950 and a full-time faculty complement of approximately 300. It is one of Money Guide?s top 100 "elite values in college education today," and it leads the nation?s colleges in percentage of students who study abroad.

Contact Michael Cooper at 507-786-3315 or cooperm@stolaf.edu.