By Kayla Skarbakka \u201909, guest writer<\/p>\n
Dean Sundquist \u201981 has witnessed a few changes to Augsburg\u2019s campus since his days as an undergraduate business major. He describes how, in the campus center during the spring of his senior year, he learned about the assassination attempt on President Reagan by watching a black-and-white television that, he quips, \u201cprobably used a coat hanger for an antenna.\u201d Now, noting the facility renovations and technological revolutions of the past 30 years, he remarks simply, \u201cIt\u2019s changed a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sundquist knows about progress. As chairman and CEO of Mate Precision Tooling, which specializes in metal products and laser technologies, he has not only survived the economic downturn, but also guided his company through product expansion and international growth. With offices in Minnesota, Sweden, Germany, China, and Malaysia, and more than 500 employees, Sundquist\u2019s business is a worldwide leader in its market. <\/p>\n
To many Auggies, however, business success is not Sundquist\u2019s biggest claim to fame. He is the founder of the Sundquist Scholars, a summer research opportunity for students in the sciences. Since 2006, the Sundquist Scholars program has provided funds and resources for five students per year to conduct summer research, either of their own design or in conjunction with a professor\u2019s project.<\/p>\n
Sundquist claims that his interest in funding the research scholars stems from the opportunity to target his gift to a specific program. \u201cIt was more exciting than donating generally to the College,\u201d he explains\u2014adding quickly, \u201calthough that\u2019s important too.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Sundquist believes that the scholars program offers a wonderful educational experience for science students, he is also excited about the potential for their work beyond Augsburg. \u201cScientific improvements will propel the economy,\u201d he explains. \u201cScience is the way of the future for the health and living conditions of everyone in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Sundquist Scholars have certainly risen to the challenge. Among the first of these students was Brian Krohn \u201908, who researched a groundbreaking method for developing bio-diesel. Krohn, Augsburg\u2019s first Rhodes Scholar, earned a master of science degree in environmental change and management at Oxford University, and is currently pursuing a master of science in the history of science, medicine, and technology. Caryn Quist \u201909, another scholar, researched orchid growth and development, was a Goldwater Scholar nominee, and is currently pursuing a master\u2019s degree in civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University.<\/p>\n
Besides providing a solid base for postgraduate study, the Sundquist Scholars program provides students the unique opportunity to perform high-level research in close partnership with a faculty mentor. Two of the most recent Sundquist Scholars, Trevor Rodriguez Sotelo and Gottlieb Uahengo, both current sophomores in the physics department, began their research on lipid biophysics the summer after their first year at Augsburg.<\/p>\n
Sundquist, who has met many of the Sundquist Scholars over the years, commends the students for their ambition and hard work. \u201cThey\u2019re setting themselves up to go to grad school and to get jobs in research,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m awfully impressed. I really admire these students.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sundquist has recently agreed not only to continue funding the program, but also to double its size. His donation will sponsor 50 more young scholars over the next five years.<\/p>\n
In addition, he has pledged to support the new Center for Science, Business, and Religion. He sees this project as an illustration of Augsburg\u2019s distinctive interdisciplinary perspective. \u201cThese departments don\u2019t seem like they would fit together,\u201d he says, \u201cbut Augsburg showed me that they do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sundquist is humble about his contributions to Augsburg\u2019s students. \u201cIf it works for them,\u201d he says, \u201cthat\u2019s my main criterion.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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