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St. Olaf College announces change in leadership

By Amy Gage
June 17, 2005

The St. Olaf College Board of Regents announced June 6 that the academic year of 2005-06 will be the last for President Christopher Thomforde. He has served as president of St. Olaf since January 2001.

Thomforde&Student
President Thomforde congratulated students during St. Olaf Commencement ceremonies in May.
"I am grateful for the opportunity the Board of Regents has given me," Thomforde said. "The work and life of St. Olaf College extends beyond any one individual, including the president. I view myself as a servant of the church, having been a pastor and a missionary before coming to the college. I look forward to seeing what God has in store for me next."

In his announcement to the campus community, Board Chairman Jerry Tostrud cited a number of Thomforde's accomplishments:
  • The St. Olaf endowment has grown by $70 million through gifts and strategic investment decisions, led by the board's investment subcommittee, which was created during Thomforde's watch.

  • St. Olaf boasts a 94 percent retention rate among first-year students, and the college was able to hire all of its 16 "first choice" faculty candidates in the past two years.

  • The campus sustainability movement is well underway and is the focus of the 2005-06 academic year.

  • Operational efficiencies include more than $500,000 in savings in just the past year.

Thomforde also has been instrumental in the creation and implementation of forward-looking initiatives such as the college's Strategic Plan and the collegewide marketing plan.

The St. Olaf College Board of Regents will appoint a search committee this summer, with the goal of bringing on a new president by July 1, 2006.

A 1969 graduate of Princeton University (Russian History), Thomforde taught Western Languages and Medieval European History at Tunghai University (Taiwan), received his master's of divinity from Yale University in Biblical Studies, Church History and Philosophy and completed his Doctor of Ministry Degree at Princeton, with a dissertation on the theme of "College President as Prophet."

He served as assistant chaplain and instructor in philosophy and religion at Colgate University, was a parish pastor at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Dansville, N.Y., for eight years and served as chaplain of Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Penn. In 1996 he accepted the presidency of Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kan., and in 2000 was selected as the president of St. Olaf College.

Susquehanna, Bethany and St. Olaf are affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

The announcement about President Thomforde was covered by the Star Tribune and other media outlets around the state.

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