Endowed faculty chairs and positions

These positions recognize faculty, coaches and leaders for their accomplishments while providing the resources necessary for student and teaching growth in the position's area of expertise. 

Donor:  Paul A. Anderson ’71

Chair holder:  Peter Xiao, art

Paul Andrew Anderson '71 became as astute in art collecting as he was successful in commodity trading with the Chicago Board of Trade.  A member of the Augustana Board of Trustees, he was serving as chair of the board's academic affairs committee at the time of his death in 1992.

Yet his legacy lives on at Augustana in the form of the Paul A. Anderson Art History Collection, which was established along with an endowed professorship at the college by a $1.5 million bequest from his estate. Anderson wanted students to see original works of art in person and become knowledgeable about the aesthetics, meaning and history of that art within a supportive academic environment. The Paul A. Anderson Chair in the Arts was established in 1994 so that the beauty and intellectual stimulation of the visual arts would have a strong and lasting presence at Augustana. 

Donors:  Robert W. ’39 and Helen Beart

Chair holder:  Dr. Pamela Trotter, chemistry

The Robert W. Beart Chair in Chemistry is made possible by the family of the late Robert Beart '39,  who majored in chemistry and later earned a degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law. He became an expert in the area of intellectual property law and spent most of his professional life with Illinois Tool Works. The Beart family includes members of the Augustana classes of 1939, 1969, and 2001. The purpose of this fund is to provide recognition to an outstanding member of the Augustana College faculty inchemistry. 

Dr. Trotter has been a leader in student-faculty collaboration at Augustana College, having organized summer research programs involving students from the departments of biology, pre-medicine, chemistry and education since 2002. She will use her position as the Beart Chair to expand programs such as student-faculty research and opportunities to attend conferences.

Donors:  Earl H. and Lucille Beling

Chair holder:  Dr. Andrew Sward, mathematics

The Beling Professorship was created in 1998 with a gift from the estate of Earl and Lucille Beling. Earl Beling, founder of Beling Engineering Consultants, was a longtime civic, business and education leader in Moline who died in 1977. His leadership roles in education included roles as president for the Moline Board of Education and the Illinois Association of School Boards.

Distributions from the fund underwrite the faculty chairholder and also support participation of Augustana students as "Beling Scholars" at annual gatherings held by the Mathematical Association of America and Pi Mu Epsilon, the national mathematics honor society.

Donors: Alumni and friends of Augustana College, National Endowment for the Humanities

Chair holder: Dr. Jason Mahn, religion

The Conrad Bergendoff Chair in the Humanities — the college's first endowed chair — was established in honor of the Rev. Dr. Conrad Johann Immanuel Bergendoff, a member of the Class of 1915 and fifth president of Augustana (1935-1962).

The establishment of this fund was made possible through gifts from friends of Augustana and a challenge matching grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

While serving as president, Dr. Bergendoff pursued scholarship in the fields of history, literature, philosophy, and theology centered upon the life of the Swedish immigrant community in America and the rich contributions that community made to American life and culture.

The purpose of the chair is to underwrite a position held by a person whose scholarship and teaching embrace all of the humanities disciplines and who acts as the symbol and advocate of broad as well as intensive humanities study at Augustana.

Dr. Jason Mahn is a professor of religion and director of the Presidential Center for Faith and Learning.

After completing his Ph.D. at Emory University in 2004, he taught full time at Duke University for three years before coming to Augustana, where he teaches courses in theology and contemporary religious belief.  

Donors:  Wilbur and Marian Taft Cannon

Chair holder:  Dr. Dan Lee, ethics and religion

Established by the estate of Wilbur and Marian Taft Cannon in 2013, the endowment was envisioned by Wilbur Taft as a means of honoring his wife and the passion she had for teaching. Marian Taft was born in China and later settled in the Quad Cities. She taught French at Augustana from 1962-1976.

Dr. Dan Lee has been a member of the Augustana faculty since 1974. His teaching responsibilities include courses in business ethics and medical ethics. On a two-year cycle, he teaches the course “Faiths in Dialogue,” after which he and his students spend 12 days in Rome visiting various sites of significance, attending an audience with the pope, and meeting with church officials and other individuals to engage in dialogue about issues discussed in the course.

Chair holder: Dr. Kevin Geedey

This endowed chair honors Dr. Bohdan Dziadyk, emeritus professor of biology, who taught at Augustana for 36 years. In 1991 he started the field stations program when he headed the initiative to purchase a 410-acre former Bible Camp in Lee County, Ill. This facility was renamed the Green Wing Environmental Laboratory and operated under his directorship. The mission emphasized summer field classes, faculty-student research and ecological stewardship.

Given the increasing magnitude of management needs, Dr. Dziadyk negotiated the sale of most of the property to the Illinois Audubon Society with the provision that college personnel could continue to use it. The $2.1 million brought in by the sale was used to set up a perpetual endowment for the field stations (currently three units) and fund the endowed chair. 

Across his 25 years as director Dr. Dziadyk taught hundreds of students at the field stations. He retired in 2016, but continues ecological research at the stations.

Dr. Kevin Geedey earned a B.A. and B.S. at Ohio State, and an M.S. and Ph.D. at Michigan State.

His primary areas of teaching center on ecology, evolution, and aquatic biology. He is a long-time member of the Field Stations Advisory Committee and regularly teaches a class in ecological methods at Green Wing Laboratory. 

Donor:  William F. Freistat ’40

Chair holder:  Dr. Heidi Storl, philosophy

Established in 1992, the Freistat Chair for Studies in World Peace was established by William F. Freistat, Augustana alumnus and retired Kaiser Industries executive. The Freistat Chair supports multi-disciplinary involvement in peace studies and furthers the development of the Peace Studies program at Augustana through research, seminars, lectures and forums. It is held through sequential appointments of faculty members, each for a specified term.

The Freistat Chair is held by Dr. Heidi Storl. Dr. Storl specializes in the philosophy of mind, clinical ethics, and German phenomenology, and in the development of realistic accounts of who we are and how we relate to each other and our world.

Donors:  Alumni and friends of Augustana

Chair holder:  Dr. Michael B. Wolf, geology

Established in 1985, the Fritiof M. Fryxell Chair in Geology honors the late Dr. Fritiof M. Fryxell of Rock Island, nationally known geologist and Augustana faculty member from 1923 to 1973. Dr. Fryxell was the founder of the Augustana Geology Department. It is the second oldest endowed chair in the college's history. 

The Fryxell Chair is held by Dr.Michael B. Wolf, who earned his M.S. and Ph.D. from California Institute of Technology in experimental igneous petrology and structural geology and geochronology, combining both experimental and field-based research. He is interested in deep crustal interactions between tectonic and magmatic processes.

Dr. Wolf joined Augustana in 1995 and built one of the first experimental igneous petrology laboratories in the U.S. dedicated to undergraduates. He involved student help as he constructed the high pressure/ high temperature system which is capable of simulating conditions deep within volcanoes. Recently, students in his lab have studied heat treatment of gemstones to improve color, clarity and value.

He believes strongly, as Dr. Fryxell did, in the importance of field experiences for students, leading field trips to places such as Hawaii, the Grand Canyon, Japan and China.

Donor:  Alumni and friends of Augustana, the Acomb Foundation, Duane Swanson ’61

Chair holder:  Dr. John Delaney, accounting

This position, created by gifts from friends and former students, honors the late S. James Galley, who taught in the accounting department at Augustana for 34 years, then worked in the College's Development Office following his retirement from teaching. This endowment recognizes the life of S. James Galley, Class of 1950, an esteemed teacher, a consummate professional and beloved colleague. The fund was enhanced by Duane Swanson, '61, who was an alumnus of the accounting program. The holder of the chair will be a senior member of the faculty in accounting and will demonstrate a commitment to both the campus community and the accounting profession.

The Galley Chair is held by Dr. John Delaney. Dr. Delaney is the 2014 Illinois CPA Society Outstanding Educator, and he currently serves as chair of the Accounting Department of Augustana College.  Prior to coming to Augustana, he held administrative and teaching positions with St. Ambrose University and Loras College.  Prior to becoming an accounting educator Dr. Delaney spent 17 years in business working as an accountant and auditor for a large regional public utility and a multi-national agri-processing company.  He serves as Augustana's Faculty Athletics Representative and his research interests include ethics, fraud investigation, and auditing. He was born in Fort Madison, Iowa and completed his undergraduate work at Loras College where he received a B.A. in accounting (1982). His Master of Business Administration degree was awarded by the University of Iowa (1995), and his Doctor of Business Administration degree was awarded by St. Ambrose University (2005).

Donors:  Marvin ’33 and Marin Hoffbauer ’32 Gassman

Chair holder:  Dr. John W. Hildreth, music

The Gassman Family Chair in Music was established in 2012 by Marvin '33 and Marian Hoffbauer '32 Gassman. Marian Gassman played on the women's basketball team during her years at Augustana and went on to be an avid athlete throughout her life. Marvin Gassman, a lover of music, played the trumpet at Augustana and sang in the Wennerberg Chorus.

Dr. John W. Hildreth was named the Gassman Professor in Music in 2016. He is a native of Evansville, Indiana. He earned the B.A. Degree from Concordia College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1965. In 1967 he began studies with Professor Robert Reuter at Chicago Musical College, Roosevelt University, Chicago, Illinois in organ and church music and also studied piano with Felix Ganz. He earned a B.M. Degree in organ and church music in 1969 and an M.M. Degree in organ and church music with Highest Honors in 1970 at Roosevelt. He began his doctoral work at the Northwestern University School of Music in Evanston, Illinois and completed the Ph.D. in Musicology and Ethnomusicology in 1978 under the direction of William Porter, Theodore Karp, Aarond Pasrons and Klaus Wachsmann. He also studied piano with Francis Larimer and harpsichord with Dorothy Lane while at Northwestern. While at Augustana, he has taught courses in the History and Literature of Western Music, Music Theory, Music in General Studies, History of American Music, African-American Music, Women in Music, the Art of Listening and Ethnomusicology, and has published his own materials for teaching in these areas.

Donor: Alumni and friends of Augustana

The Hamming Chair memorializes Dr. Edward Hamming, who founded the Geography Department at Augustana in 1949 and taught in it for 31 years. Dr. Hamming died in 1982 and the chair was established in 1997 with more than 250 gifts from family, friends, colleagues and former students.

Donor: John Deere Foundation

Chair holder: Dr. Marty Coe, accounting

Established by the John Deere foundation in recognition of Robert A. Hanson, Class of 1948. Robert Hanson served Deere & Company for 40 years and led the company as chairman and chief executive officer through one of the toughest eras in history for the U.S. agricultural economy.

His legacy of expert leadership serves as witness to the value of an Augustana education. This distinguished faculty chair fund provides for the recognition and support of an outstanding member of the Augustana College teaching faculty in the area of data analytics.

Dr. Martin (Marty) Coe joined Augustana in 2019 as the inaugural Robert A. Hanson Endowed Chair in Data Analytics. He was a professor at Western Illinois University for 26 years, while also establishing a consulting firm.

Donor: Robert A. '48 and Patricia Hanson

Chair holder: Dr. Dara Wegman-Geedey, biology

Established by the estate of Robert A. Hanson, Class of 1948, and his spouse Patricia. Robert Hanson served Deere & Company for 40 years and led the company as chairman and chief executive officer through one of the toughest eras in history for the U.S. agricultural economy. The holder of the Hanson Chair in Health and Human Performance leads and supports the college's efforts to positively impact health and wellness in the community and is a champion for career preparation in healthcare.

Dr. Dara Wegman-Geedey joined the Augustana faculty in 1995 and was named the inaugural Robert and Patricia Hanson Chair in Health and Human Performance in 2021. Dr. Wegman-Geedey teaches microbiology, immunology and cell biology as well as specialty courses in virology and public health (as well as related areas). Dr. Wegman-Geedey was also an instrumental leader in the college's strategy and efforts to mitigate COVID-19.

Donor: Stuart Lee '43 and Virginia Talbott Harbour

Chair holder: Dr. David Snowball, communication studies

The Stuart Lee and Virginia Talbott Harbour Chair was established by a gift from the estate of Stuart and Virginia (Talbott) Harbour. Mr. Harbour was a 1943 graduate of Augustana, after which he  earned a master's degree in business administration from Georgetown University and enjoyed a lengthy career as an analyst with the Small Business Administration in Washington, D.C. Virginia Harbour taught in the Fairfax County school system where she helped establish courses in home economics. 

Dr. David Snowball was named the Harbour Professor in 2016. Over three decades, David has served the college as director of debate, teacher and administrator. As debate coach, he qualified a dozen teams to the National Debate Tournament in a dozen years. Over that same period, his teams won 30 tournament championships. As teacher, his portfolio covers courses in propaganda, persuasion, emerging technologies, business communication and research methods. As an administrator, David has chaired his academic department, division, and a number of major committees. In service to the larger community, he has worked for 20 years on investor education and communication. His most recent initiative in that direction is the Mutual Fund Observer, an online monthly publication which is read by over 20,000 individual and professional investors, journalists, analyst and teachers each month. It's been described as "one of the most important financial publications of our day." His work has been cited in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, Business Week, USA Today, and, on the web, at Motley Fool, MSN Money, WSJ/MarketWatch and elsewhere.

Donor: Harold T. Jaeke ’30

Chair holder: Dr. Jessica M. Schultz, psychology

The Violet M. Jaeke Chair of Family Life was established in 1987 by Harold T. Jaeke, Augustana alumnus and retired Oscar Mayer & Co. executive and board member, in memory of his late wife, Violet Jaeke, a former teacher in the Moline, Ill. school district. In addition to a professorship, the gift supports programming in the field of family studies. The Jaekes also provided funding for the Harold T. and Violet M. Jaeke Awards for excellence in service among Augustana faculty, staff and administration.

The Jaeke Chair is held by Dr. Jessica M. Schultz. Dr. Schultz serves as professor in the Department of Psychology. Her research focuses on the processes by which people forgive others and find benefit from traumatic experiences (i.e., posttraumatic growth). She is also interested in the effectiveness of training programs for empirically supported psychological treatments, including Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT).

Donor: Dr. Larry P. Jones ’65

Fellows: Dr. Matthew Fockler, geography; Dr. Amanda Wilmsmeyer, chemistry; Dr. Michael Reisner, Upper Mississippi Research Center

Established through the estate of Dr. Larry P. Jones '65, this endowment provides support for a tenure-track faculty member in the Natural Science Division to engage in summer research or other scholarly activities. 

After earning his bachelor's from Augustana in 1965, Dr. Jones received his master's from Iowa State University in 1968 and doctorate from Oregon State University in 1972. He joined the faculty of the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) later that same year.

In addition to teaching, Dr. Jones served as the associate dean of the College of Science. His legacy as a teacher, researcher and mentor at UTEP lives on through the people he inspired and the Medical Professions Institute he founded in 2002 to prepare students for careers in the medical professions. Medical school acceptances among UTEP graduates doubled during Dr. Jones' time as the director of the institute. He retired from the university in 2008.

Drs. Matthew Fockler, Amanda Wilmsmeyer and Michael Reisner currently serve as Jones Fellows at Augustana College.

Donors: Alumni and friends of Dorothy J. Parkander ’46

Chair holder: Dr. David Crowe, English

The Dorothy Parkander Chair in Literature was established in 2001 in honor of Dr. Dorothy Parkander '46, professor emeritus of English. She attended Augustana from 1942-1946 and graduated summa cum laude. 

After her graduation, Dr. Parkander received a master's and Ph.D. (with honors) from the University of Chicago, assumed a faculty position at Augustana in 1947 and remained until her retirement in 1996. 

In 1983 she was appointed the first holder of the Conrad Bergendoff Chair in the Humanities by President Thomas Tredway. She was named Illinois Professor of the Year by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, a national body, in 1992. Dr. Parkander is the Conrad Bergendoff Chair Emerita in the Humanities.

Dr. David W. Crowe is a professor of English at Augustana. 

He has been a member of the English department for more than 20 years, and has been its chair since 2002.

He is a graduate of Luther College and earned his M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota, with a specialty in the American writers who lived in Paris during the 1920s.  

Dr. Crowe has taught in Augustana's honors programs for many years, including interdisciplinary team-taught courses with professors of biology and mathematics. He has taught and helped lead study abroad trips to continental Europe (Rome and Paris specifically) and Vietnam. He and his family also lived in Norway during the 1999-2000 school year as Dr. Crowe taught and studied as a Fulbright scholar at the University of Bergen.

Donor: Frank Strohkarck ’30

Chair holder: Dr. Christopher Marmé, economics

The Frank Strohkarck Chair of Business and Economics was established in 2002 through the estate of Frank Strohkarck '30. Strohkarck served as vice president and director of research with the Curtis Publishing Company in Philadelphia for 30 years. During Frank's student days at Augustana he was a member of the varsity football team, the basketball team, the Tribe of Vikings and the Gamma Alpha Beta social fraternity. 

Dr. Christopher Marmé was named the Strohkarck Professor of Business and Economics in 2016. His teaching and research specialties include developmental economics, the scholarship of teaching, post-Keynesian economics and environmental economics.

Donor: Alumni and friends of Pastor Richard A. Swanson '54

Chair holder: Dr. Jane Simonsen, history

The Richard A. Swanson Chair of Social Thought was established in 2002 in honor of Richard Swanson '54, who served as Augustana's director of college relations, dean of college ministries and campus chaplain from 1966 to 1999.

Donor: Alumni and friends of Dr. Henry Veld

Chair holder: Dr. Jon Hurty, music

The Henry Veld Chair in Music was established in 1987 by gifts and commitments from former students and friends of the college in tribute to the late Henry Veld, founder of the widely respected Augustana Choir, conductor of the Handel Oratorio Society and long-time faculty member.

Dr. Jon Hurty was named the Henry Veld Professor in Music in 2016. Dr. Hurty joined the Augustana faculty in 1996 and is professor and director of choral activities. He directs the Augustana Choir and the Augustana Chamber Singers, and he teaches conducting and is co-chair of the music department. Dr. Hurty also directs the adult choir at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Davenport and is the conductor and artistic director of Quad City Choral Arts. He serves as the conductor of the Handel Oratorio Society at Augustana.

Donor: Anonymous

Chair holder: Dr. Allison M. Haskill, communication sciences and disorders

The Florence C. and Dr. John E. Wertz Chair in the Liberal Arts and Sciences was established in 2008 in honor of Florence Wertz, a 1944 Augustana graduate who made her career in speech pathology, working especially with children with developmental disabilities in the Twin Cities. Her husband, the late Dr. John Wertz, taught chemistry at Augustana in the 1940s.

Donors:  Alumni and friends of Augustana, Lutheran Brotherhood

Chaplain:  Rev. Melinda Pupillo

Formed by the Lutheran Brotherhood, a fraternal benefit society headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn., the Chaplaincy Endowment supports the activities of Augustana's Office of Campus Ministries. The endowment was established in 1996 under the Lutheran Brotherhood's Chaplaincy Challenge Grant program whereby half was contributed by the college and half by the fraternal group.

Before coming to Augustana in 2021, the Rev. Melinda Pupillo served as pastor in Holden Village, a remote Lutheran Christian retreat center in Washington’s Cascade Mountains, where she supported a religiously diverse and non-religious community.

She spent 13 years in La Crosse, Wis., serving in various roles. As associate pastor, she led a congregation of 1,350 members at English Lutheran Church there from 2005 to 2016. She also served as program and retreat coordinator at the Franciscan Spirituality Center as well as interim pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in LaCrosse until August 2018.

Donors:  Marvin ’33 and Marian Hoffbauer ’32 Gassman

Coaches:  Kris Kistler, softball; Scott Mejia, soccer

The Marian and Marvin Gassman Family Endowment in Women's Athletics was established in 2012 by Marvin '33 and Marian Hoffbauer '32 Gassman. Marian Gassman played on the women's basketball team during her years at Augustana and went on to be an avid athlete throughout her life. Marvin Gassman, a lover of music, played the trumpet at Augustana and sang in the Wennerberg Chorus. 

Kris Kistler was named a Gassman Coach in 2012. Kistler has been the head softball coach at Augustana College since 1999, and she has established the Vikings' reputation in both the CCIW and NCAA Division III. 

Scott Mejia was named a Gassman Coach in 2012. Mejia began at Augustana in 2000 coaching both men's and women's soccer.  The Augustana women have compiled a 49-21-7 record in College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) play under Mejia.

Donors:  Terry K. ’62 and Sandra K. ’65 Shockley

Coach:  Tony Willaert, wrestling

Established by Terry K. '62, and Sandra K. '65 Shockley and their family, and funded through the Shockley Foundation, the Terry K. and Sandra K. Shockley Head Wrestling Coach fund encourages continued excellence at Augustana College in the intercollegiate sport of wrestling.

Willaert took over in 2017-18 as the 15th head coach in the history of the Viking wrestling program.
 
In 2020-21 he guided Augustana to a 6-4 dual-meet record and a second straight third-place finish at the CCIW Championships. With the NCAA postseason canceled due to fears over COVID-19, he took the Vikings to the NWCA Division III Championships in Coralville, Iowa, where four of his wrestlers reached the round of 16.
 
Willaert’s tenure with the Vikings has included two individual CCIW championships and a pair of All-America performances.