MSU to honor four with Golden Award, one with Young Alumni Achievement Award

By Michael Linnell
University Communications Director

MINOT, N.D. - The Minot State University Alumni Association has selected four individuals for the 2024 Golden Award and one individual for the 2024 Young Alumni Achievement Award.

The honorees include Dan Langemo, Teresa (Kraft) Loftesnes '07/'15, Dr. Jeffrey Sather '94, and Julie (Keller) Stavn '76. The Young Alumni Achievement Award winner is Jazmine (Wolff) Schultz '11.

"It is an honor to recognize these five fantastic individuals for their outstanding service to Minot State University and the greater Minot community," said Courtenay Brekhus, MSU's director of alumni engagement. "The MSU Alumni Association looks forward to celebrating their accomplishments at our Golden Awards banquet and dinner during Homecoming week in September."

DAN LANGEMO
Langemo, a Valley City native who lives in Minot, retired from First Western Bank & Trust (FWBT) in 2015.

He began his 40-year career in the asset management business in December of 1975 when he was hired as a trust representative for First National Bank and Trust of Fargo. He moved to Minot in 1979 to manage Norwest Bank (now Wells Fargo) and worked for Bremer Bank before securing a position with FWBT in 1999.

Langemo worked on a part-time basis for Minot State as a development officer for the MSU Development Foundation following his retirement from FWBT until May 2019. Active in the MSU community, he is a longtime member of Beaver Boosters, is a past chair of the MSU Board of Regents, and is currently the vice president of the MSU Development Foundation and the MSU Summer Theatre boards.

Outside of Minot State, he has been a board member for numerous organizations in the Minot area and currently serves on the boards of First Lutheran Foundation and Minot Junior Golf Association. He is a current member, former board member, and past president of the Rotary Club of Minot, where he was honored as a Paul Harris Fellow following his term as club president in 2001.

Langemo is married to his wife, Jeri (Doerr) '80, an MSU graduate in music education. They have three children, Tim (Amber) of Grand Forks, Katie '15 (fiancé Yoshio Alarcon Hernandez) of Minneapolis, and Karen (Aaron Sims '20) of Minot, along with two grandchildren: Nolan, age 10, and Dawson, age 6.

TERESA (KRAFT) LOFTESNES
Loftesnes, from Norwich, retired in 2021 after 42 years at Minot State in various roles, including her last 14 as marketing director.

In July 1978, she stepped onto the campus of Minot State College with a single expectation: to earn a degree. She was alone and scared, but she was committed.

Fast forward to May 2021 and Loftesnes turned the page to a new chapter after a fun, fulfilling, and inspirational 42-year career as an MSU Beaver. Starting as a student and finishing with the energy of one, her journey is a testament to her dedication and passion for MSU.

She began her journey as a student worker in the post office and switchboard with LaDona Malachowski, which became her first full-time job under Larry Eide. She then became the first printing press operator, and her career progressed as an administrative assistant for the dean of continuing education and college and high school relations, Archie Peterson '50.

In 1987, Carol Sue Butts '70 hired Loftesnes for the graduate school and continuing education office, where they started College for Kids, now in its 35th year. She continued in this role under James Croonquist from 1990-1994 and became director of continuing education from 1994-2006, teaming up with Nancy Hall and Stephanie Witwer. Loftesnes was a charter administrator for MSU's online education program, the first in the North Dakota University System. Marketing was a key responsibility in all these positions, leading to her appointment as the University's first director of marketing in 2006, initially working with Marv Semrau and then Rick Hedberg '89 until her retirement in May 2021.

During her journey, she married Darrel Loftesnes and became the mother to three amazing children Wade, Whitney '11, and Loren. Along with earning two degrees, Loftesnes mentored numerous student interns, was inducted into MSU's Old Main Society, established the Lofty Goals Scholarship, and received numerous recognitions, including the 1994 Board of Regents Staff Achievement Award and the 2013 MSU Vision Award. She was also known to have played Buckshot, most notably at the 2008 NAIA National Women's Basketball Tournament, where her daughter Whitney excelled.

The relationships Loftesnes created and extensive volunteer work reflect her love of community and volunteerism. She gives of her time to the University, Magic City Discovery Center, ND Special Olympics, her church, Visit Minot, and numerous other organizations. Loftesnes spent many hours volunteering at Norsk Høstfest and now enjoys her "funtirement" as its volunteer coordinator. Her motto, "putting life in your life," embodies the spirit of being an MSU Beaver: being social, having fun, being a good neighbor, staying strong, and always striving for success.

DR. JEFFREY SATHER
Sather and his wife, Mary, live in rural Norwich with their dog Murphy (a black lab), a cat, a horse, and a donkey. Together they have seven children and 13 grandchildren.

A Velva native, he spent his early years working on the farm and various other jobs before discovering his lifelong passion. Sather began his career in healthcare when he enrolled in the EMT program at the John Moses US Air Force Hospital in Minot. He worked for the newly developed Community Ambulance Service, a joint venture between Trinity Hospital and St. Joseph Hospital, and started the registered nursing program at Trinity Hospital.

After becoming a certified paramedic in Grand Forks and manager of Care Ambulance in Yakima, Washington, he moved back to Minot to become the clinical coordinator and transition the service to Advanced Life Support. He had simultaneously desired to further his own education with a goal of getting into medical school when he enrolled at Minot State University in 1990 and graduated with a degree in psychology in 1994.

Sather graduated with his Doctor of Medicine degree in May of 1998 from the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences and did an emergency medicine residency at St. Vincent Mercy Health System in Toledo, Ohio.

In July of 2001, Sather joined the medical staff of Trinity Health. In 2003, he became the medical director of the Emergency Trauma Center. He has participated in and led multiple quality initiatives and has held multiple leadership positions over the more than 400 credentialed medical staff members of Trinity Health, including Chief of Staff.

He has been a medical director for the Department of Health and Human Services for the State of North Dakota since 2014. He is responsible for medical direction over the Division of Emergency Medical Systems, including the prehospital EMS system, cardiac and stroke systems, and emergency preparedness.

Sather serves on the Board of Directors of Trinity Health, the Midwest Region of the American Heart Association, the Great Plains Quality Innovation Network, and Quality Health Associates of North Dakota (serving as board president). He is a member of the AHA Coronary Artery Disease Systems of Care Advisory Working Group, a National Committee that peer reviews research proposals in cardiac care. Sather's lifetime professional passion has been the continuing improvement of rural healthcare in the Minot Community, across the great State of North Dakota and the country.

JULIE (KELLER) STAVN
Stavn, from Bismarck, is a former teacher and coach in the Bismarck Public Schools, earning multiple state championships and Coach of the Year awards during her 41 years in education.

She earned her first North Dakota High School Coaches Association (NDHSCA) Class A Girls Coach of the Year award in 1988 in cross country. She repeated that award in 2010 and 2014. In track and field, she was named Coach of the Year in 1996, 2005, 2008, and 2012. In 2009, she was inducted into the NDHSCA Hall of Fame and was inducted into the National High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2017, having been named a finalist for National Coach of the Year four times. She was also inducted into of the North Dakota Track & Field Hall of Fame in 2009.

Stavn earned a degree in physical education with a minor in special education from MSU in 1976. While at Minot State, she was a varsity cheerleader for two years and competed in track & field, a Mu Sig Fraternity Sweetheart in 1974-75, and the Sigma Sigma Sigma Sorority president in 1974-75

She followed her time at MSU with a master's degree in physical education at the University of North Dakota in 1982, earning a graduate assistantship for the 1981-82 academic year.

Following school, she was employed as a physical education teacher in Bismarck for 36 years. She coached basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, swimming and diving, cross country, and track & field. She captured four state championships and two runner-up finishes in track & field and won a state championship with three runner-up finishes in cross country.

She earned the North Dakota Alliance of Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance Secondary Physical Education Teacher of the Year in 1994 and the Association's Pathfinder Award in 2006. The Bismarck Quarterback Club gave her the Roger Higgens Award for Dedicated Service in 2017.

Stavn was an active member of the NDHSCA, serving on its executive committee for five years, and was president of the organization in 1998-99.

She and her husband, Rockie, have three sons, Thad, Rockie II, and Tanner, along with seven grandchildren.

JAZMINE (WOLFF) SCHULTZ
Schultz, originally from Burlington, is the co-owner of Prairie Sky Breads in downtown Minot.

She is a 2011 graduate of MSU with degrees in theatre arts and elementary education. While at MSU, Schultz was an active member of the theater department, participating in approximately 30 productions and four MSU Summer Theatre seasons. She was president of the MSU Honors Club in 2009 and 2010 and a reporter for the Red and Green.

Schultz also spent her college years incubating all-ages, affordable arts opportunities in Minot. With friends, she founded an all-ages art space called Pangea House and created the Why Not?! Minot Music and Arts Festival and GRip (Girls Rip) Fest. It was here, and among the theater department, that she found her lifelong friends, her DIY ethos, and her community organizing talents.

Since graduating, she has had a multitude of work experiences, most notably: spending three years in Velva as their family and consumer science teacher and Family, Career and Community Leaders of America coach, working as a financial planner for Northwestern Mutual with recognition as the 2019 New Rep of the Year for MN/ND and accomplishing both Pacesetter First 40 and Second 60, and in February 2020, opening Prairie Sky Breads, in Minot.

Schultz is known for knitting, her love of art and community, and her work at the bakery. She is a community organizer, educator, and artist. It's important to note she does not do the baking, and one shouldn't ask her for sourdough advice.

She satisfies her teaching itch as an instructor for Co-Start Minot and International Music Camp's Garage Band Camp. She serves as marketing director for MSU Summer Theatre, is the web developer for the Lord's Cupboard Food Pantry and the Retired Teachers Association of North Dakota, as well as president of The Souris Basin Foundation. She is also a board member and performer with Community Rocks.

Schultz has four dogs (three heelers and a pit bull) and a fabulous partner, Zach, who is her bandmate and soulmate. They make it a point to tour annually with their band, Vanity Plate, and recently opened Tree Line Luthiery, a fretted instrument repair business out of their home.

The Golden Awards are the highest award bestowed by the Minot State University Alumni Association. Selections are based on outstanding service to the University, alumni association, or their community and distinguished leadership in the recipient's career or community. The Young Alumni Achievement Award recipient is between the ages of 21 and 39.

The MSU Alumni Association will honor the 2024 class at its annual awards dinner on Thursday, Sept. 12, with a social at 5:30 p.m. and dinner at 6 p.m. in the Minot State Student Center Conference Center. For more information and to RSVP for the dinner, visit the Alumni Association WEBSITE.

About Minot State University
Minot State University is a public university dedicated to excellence in education, scholarship, and community engagement achieved through rigorous academic experiences, active learning environments, commitment to public service, and a vibrant campus life.

Published: 09/05/24

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