Blanck ’78 key to new partnership with Sweden’s Uppsala University

Augustana Magazine Summer 2022

Augustana has named Dr. Dag Blanck ’78 an honorary professor of Swedish-American studies to formally acknowledge his contributions to the academic field and to Augustana College.

The title comes on the 45th anniversary of his arrival to Augustana as an international student and the 40th anniversary of the on-campus Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center.

Since 1985 when he became director of the center, he has shared his time between Augustana and Uppsala University in Sweden.

Under Dr. Blanck’s leadership, the Swenson Center has developed an international reputation for its rich Swedish-American archives and scholarly contribution to Swedish-American studies. He has presented his academic work in a dozen countries and brought countless international researchers, writers and thinkers to Augustana.

“Dag is of two families — one at Uppsala University and one at Augustana College,” said Dr. Wendy HiltonMorrow ’94, Augustana provost. “Due in large part to his years of patient persistence, those families are now blending, learning from each other and strengthening one another.”

In recent months, Augustana faculty and Uppsala faculty have visited each other’s campuses. The two institutions recently formalized a long-standing relationship to:

• Expand existing student exchange arrangements

• Cultivate international internships for students at both institutions

• Explore potential faculty exchanges and collaborations, including a possible virtual course with students from both institutions

• Seek additional opportunities for collaboration between the Swenson Center and Uppsala’s Swedish Institute for North American Studies.

“In short, it’s about creating some really cool opportunities for their students and ours,” said Dr. Hilton-Morrow. Founded in 1477, Uppsala University is routinely ranked as a Top 100 university in the world in international ratings.