This marketing success convinced Hawks that she had found her niche in marketing and communication, and that her decision to forego the field of broadcasting—even after an internship at the local ABC-TV station—was the right one for her. At each step in her career since then, new positions seemed to call out her desire to “build” something—whether in terms of products, experiences, relationships, a fine-tuned team, or an unusual market launch. She loved finding undiscovered opportunities, using good communication tools, and assembling a good team—and she still loves the challenge and fun of doing it.

She uncovered such an opportunity at Paper Direct, a high-end specialty paper company, where she was given 45 days to convince the leadership that her alternative idea to existing market launch plans could work. She did so, and the company followed her lead toward specialty retailing to small businesses, setting up distribution networks all across the country at outlets that sold computers and printers.

Hawks later landed at Musicland, where she led the full gamut of communications—investor relations, public relations, employee communications, earnings releases, annual reports, investor reports, etc. Soon after, when the company was acquired by Best Buy, she was invited to take a leadership role in Best Buy’s communications department. She enjoyed some “phenomenal” experiences over the 12 years she worked there, including launches that involved The Rolling Stones, Bill Gates, Usher, and other pop culture figures.

Asked often about her management style, Hawks believes it can best be described as coaching, stemming from her experience at Augsburg. She says Augsburg was a fabulous place to play sports, and she feels lucky to have had excellent coaching from Marilyn Florian and Mary Timm, and to have played with driven student athletes who performed beyond what they thought possible. Hawks was a three-time All-MIAC pitching selection in softball, earned AIAW All-State and All-Region honors twice, and All-West Region honors. A member of the team that won the Minnesota AIAW state softball title in 1982 and 1983, as well as MIAC championships in 1982, 1983, and 1984, Hawks holds the second-best record in Augsburg history for both her 1.35 career earned run average, and for her 47 pitching wins. In volleyball, she earned All-MIAC honors in 1984. She served as captain of both teams and was named Augsburg’s Honor Athlete in 1985. Appropriately, she is a member of the Auggie Athletic Hall of Fame.

Hawks recalls—with some relish—the determination of Athletic Director Joyce Pfaff ’65 to create opportunities for female athletes. “She fought hard for program development and funding,” says Hawks. Since the women’s teams had no analog to the men’s A-Club, Hawks proposed to Pfaff—and Pfaff agreed—that the softball team could raise money to fly south for softball games against teams in different leagues and divisions. The team raised funds by various methods, including staffing Metrodome concession stands for numerous events, such as professional wrestling contests and concerts. It worked, and theirs was probably the first Auggie women’s softball team to “have a spring break game in the sun.”

Hawks sees the College as a “pillar of faith,” one of the reasons she chose Augsburg and why she continues to be involved. She served six years on the Alumni Board and is a founding member of AWE (Augsburg Women Engaged). She recalls hosting one of the first focus groups in her home to ascertain what form AWE could take. She and other founders discovered that the wishes were as varied as the people who attended—yet very specific. Some wanted to give back, others wanted to help students, others wanted to connect and donate money or time. AWE has opened the door to all sorts of involvement, and women may opt in as they see fit.

Currently, Hawks is vice president, external communications, for United Healthcare, where she feels her retail experience is serving her well. She is focused on helping simplify the complicated healthcare landscape for the consumers so that they can live healthier lives.

In her spare time, Hawks enjoys gardening, cooking, and playing golf and other sports. She also enjoys coaching her 10-year-old son Andrew’s baseball team, which she has done for the past three years.

Hawks’ corporate success is likely related to her love of confronting a challenge, and she offers three insights that have guided her: (1) Find something you care about and see where you can contribute, (2) Surround yourself with people from whom you can learn (she benefits regularly from her “Board of Mentors”), and (3) Lead with humility and integrity, and then be proactive about using what makes sense to you. Apparently, that has worked very well for her!

—by Cheryl Crockett ’89

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She continued running throughout high school, where she turned in four All-State performances in cross-country and seven All-State performances in track and field. She is the only Oregonian to have won state titles as a high school prep athlete in the 1,500-meter and the 3,000-meter events for three consecutive years. As a college student at the University of Iowa, she was a four-time NCAA Division I All-American and two-time Big Ten Champion. She still holds the school record for the 1,500-meter run (4:17:41).

Though she says it took a few years to move beyond the joy of competition and actually fall in love with the sport, she is now busy making a career of it.

In 2008 she joined Team USA Minnesota, a post-collegiate distance training center that encourages holistic development—that is, in both running and outside interests. This allows her to run professionally while developing strong roots for her future by getting experience as an assistant coach at Augsburg, continuing her education, and working a few hours a week at a pet hospital.

Through Team USA Minnesota, Peyton has competed in numerous running events, representing the U.S. at international events, such as Chiba Ekiden in Japan, and Edinburgh International Cross Country Challenge in Scotland, and even earning a spot to compete in the 2012 USA Olympic Team Trials Marathon.

In 2013, she won the U.S. 20K Championship, which she says was “amazing.” Also, it got her one step closer to achieving her goal of competing in the 2016 Olympics, as well as qualifying to race at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics.

Peyton has a “trickle-down” theory about encouraging “elite runners” to participate in a variety of marathons (not just elite races). Doing so would inspire sub-elite runners to attain even higher levels of excellence, enrich participation by attracting additional runners who may not otherwise participate, and enhance interest in the sport among participants and spectators alike.

In addition to earning her MA in Leadership at Augsburg, Peyton has been serving as the College’s head men’s and women’s cross country coach and assistant track coach. Augsburg, she says, has opened her eyes in many ways. Before coming to Augsburg, her running pursuits tended to be done primarily for herself, whereas her Augsburg experience has shown her the joy of serving others and becoming a more thoughtful steward and responsible leader. She wants to continue to make a difference in the lives of future Auggie alumni.

Recently, Peyton’s mother in Tennessee challenged herself to a consistent exercise plan, beginning with 15-20 minutes of walking each day. Peyton called her daily to support her, sometimes pushing back at comments like, “No, I didn’t run today; it was raining.” Eventually, however, the answers were, “Yes, and I made it further today,” and she was running three hours at a time. Within the year and a few months shy of her 50th birthday, she was training for the Knoxville Marathon, and just last November, completed the New York City Marathon, a race that Peyton is determined to run someday as well.

Peyton and her high school sweetheart, Cole Peyton, were married in 2010 and live in Richfield with their pets. In addition to running, they enjoy reading, golf, scuba diving, and world travel. You can “track” her successes and find her personal best records at www.meghanpeyton.com.

— Cheryl Crockett

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As an Augsburg student, Nelson was a four-year letter-winner in football, basketball, baseball, and golf. In football he was named all-MIAC and served as team captain in 1942; in 1943, he was selected as an Honor Athlete.

After graduation, he served in the Navy in World War II, taking part in the 1944 D-Day invasion at Normandy, as well as serving in the Pacific theater. After returning from the war, he married Marcie Solheim ’46, whom he met at Augsburg. Together, they raised three children and were married for 64 years before she passed away in 2011.

After WWII, Nelson continued his education with a Master’s in Education from the University of Minnesota (1951). Then he began coaching, first at Zumbrota and Farmington (both in Minn.), then at Anoka (Minn.) High School in 1953, where he spent 26 of his 33 years as a high school coach. Legendary in Anoka sports, he coached basketball, baseball, and—perhaps most notably—football, in which he once enjoyed a 33-game winning streak. His career record was 154-70-8.

In addition to being inducted into the Augsburg Athletic Hall of Fame in 1977, he was named Minnesota High School Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 1964, and was inducted into the Minnesota Football Coaches Hall of Fame (1983), the Minnesota High School League Hall of Fame (1981), and the Old Timers Football Hall of Fame (2007). Other honors include the Augsburg Sports Achievement Award (1979) and the Minnesota High School Athletic Directors Distinguished Alumni Award (2008). —Cheryl Crockett ’89

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