wfn.org | ELCA's Augustana College, Rock Island, Names New President

[News News <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

March 17, 2003

ELCA'S AUGUSTANA COLLEGE, ROCK ISLAND, NAMES NEW PRESIDENT
03-052-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Steven C. Bahls will become the eighth
president of Augustana College, Rock Island, Ill., on July 1.  The
college's board of trustees elected him March 10 to succeed Dr.
Thomas Tredway, who announced last year his intention to retire at
the close of this academic year.  Augustana is one of 28 colleges and
universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
     The school has a 143-year history.  Tredway has served 28 years
as president.  A 1957 graduate of Augustana, Tredway joined its
history faculty in 1964.
     "I want to welcome Steven Bahls to Augustana," Tredway said.
"I hope he finds his years of service here to be as satisfying and
fulfilling as mine have been for me.  I will do all that I can to
help him settle in to what will be a challenging and rewarding role
at our school," he said.
     Bahls is a professor and dean of the Capital University Law
School, Columbus, Ohio, an ELCA university.  While dean, the school
conducted its largest fund-raising campaign and established the
National Center for Adoption Law and Policy, a leading advocacy group
for reforming the nation's laws on adoption and foster care.  He
taught agricultural law and frequently addressed agricultural
organizations on legal matters.
     "My central role as the next president of Augustana College
will be to facilitate the faculty and staff in enhancing the
college's already strong base in a way that prepares students for
rewarding lives of leadership and service," said Bahls.
     Raised in Des Moines, Iowa, Bahls graduated in 1976 from the
College of Business, University of Iowa, Iowa City, and earned his
law degree in 1979 from the Northwestern University School of Law,
Chicago.  He practiced corporate law with the Milwaukee law firm of
Frisch, Dudek and Slattery, Ltd., from 1979 to 1985, and taught at
the University of Montana School of Law, Missoula, where he was
associate dean, before moving to Capital University in 1994.
     Bahls is married to Jane Easter Bahls, a freelance writer
specializing in business and legal topics.  The couple has co-
authored several articles.  They are the parents of two sons and a
daughter.
     Brenda Czajka Barnes, chair of the college's board of trustees,
described Bahls as "a man of tremendous talent and accomplishment."
She added that "he has the combination of qualities essential for the
presidency of Augustana: superior intellectual achievement,
demonstrated leadership and administrative abilities, and a strong
commitment of faith."
     Augustana College, founded in 1860, has an enrollment of 2,150
students and a faculty of 160 educators.
-- -- --
     Augustana College, Rock Island, has a home page at
http://www.augustana.edu/ on the Web.

EDITORS:  Augustana College, Sioux Falls, S.D., is another college of
the ELCA.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html