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St. Olaf names new vice president

By David Gonnerman '90
July 16, 2007

St. Olaf College President David R. Anderson '74 has announced the appointment of Michael Stitsworth as the college's new vice president for advancement and college relations. Stitsworth, who will begin his new job at the end of the summer, is currently director of engineering advancement at Purdue University's College of Engineering.

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Stitsworth
After 25 years at Purdue Stitsworth did not take the decision to come to St. Olaf lightly. And he's excited about the change. "One of the most important reasons for me to come to St. Olaf is that it's a college of the church," he says (St. Olaf is a college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America). "The opportunity to work in a setting where students can explore their professions and their passions and then have that come together in a vocation is exciting." Stitsworth is eager to help St. Olaf secure resources and tell the world about what's happening at the college.

Stitsworth will take an active fund-raising role in the college's current campaign to raise money for the new Science Complex that is scheduled to open in fall 2008. Recently the St. Olaf Board of Regents committed to building the new complex in only one phase. Although $25 million has been given to the college in gifts and pledges, Stitsworth will focus on securing additional gifts to complete the $33 million campaign goal.

He comes well prepared for the task. During only his past two years at Purdue Stitsworth personally secured gifts totaling more than $21 million. This was just part of the $472 million that he and his staff were charged with raising for Purdue's recently completed capital campaign that raised more than $1.7 billion for the university.

Stitsworth also has extensive international experience. He's worked in 43 countries and lived in Japan, where the subject of his doctoral dissertation was a U.S.-Japan student exchange program. He also serves on proposal peer review panels for the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Civilian Defense Research Foundation, and he is faculty adviser for the National Rube Goldberg Machine Competition.

Stitsworth's wife, Karen, also will come from the Purdue staff, where she directed donor research for the school. Stitsworth says that he and his wife are very much a team. "She influences a lot of my thinking, and some of my best ideas come from her."

Speaking of the Stitsworths, Anderson says, "Their knowledge of and commitment to our college, their deep understanding of and commitment to our mission as a college of the church, and their passion for the work of advancement will make them valuable additions to our community." In order to help Karen familiarize herself with the community, she will serve for a period of time as special assistant to President Anderson.

Finding Olaf
The first time Stitsworth heard of St. Olaf was in relation to the college's study abroad programs -- "the epitome of the best of the best," he says. Then when his daughter, Allison, was looking at colleges they came across the St. Olaf chapter in the book Colleges That Change Lives, an influential book that profiles only 40 schools. They decided to take a closer look. Allison graduated from St. Olaf in 2005.

Stitsworth says that he's coming to St. Olaf with a parent's perspective. "Students leave a place like Purdue feeling they got a good education, but it's a big place," he says. At St. Olaf, he explains, it's much easier to know more people and form personal relationships with faculty and staff. "When students leave St. Olaf there's great potential for a level of continuing commitment that exceeds many other schools. Whenever we visited St. Olaf as parents, there was a palpable energy when you walked on campus.

"I'm convinced that it's one of the best-kept secrets in education," he adds. "That's why I'm so thrilled to be part of it and contribute professionally."

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.