News Archives - 1997

S. Maureen Aakre was recently named executive director of Nordic Center, located on the Augsburg College campus.

Aakre has experience in a variety of fields, including more than 20 years of management experience in program development, evaluation and staff supervision and additional experience in endowment management and event management. She has traveled extensively and spent five months on a research sabbatical in the south of Norway in 1989.

Since 1980, Aakre has been the owner of The Aakre Group, in which she has served as a consultant to various businesses and organizations. She has worked since January 1996 as a planner for the Upper Sioux Community in Granite Falls, Minn., providing strategic planning, grant writing and organization development to the Upper Sioux Dakota Indian Community.

From 1991-1993, Aakre was chief executive officer of the Southwest Minnesota Initiative Fund, a private regional foundation in Granite Falls. During her tenure, the fund's endowment increased from $3.6 million to $8.1 million.

Aakre has done Ph.D. course work at the Fielding Institute in Santa Barbara, Calif., with a focus on social psychology, management and global affairs. She earned a master's degree in social sciences and sociology in 1978 from Northern Arizona University, where she earned a bachelor's degree in sociology in 1973.

Nordic Center at Augsburg College promotes interest in contemporary Norden--which includes the nations Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden--while facilitating activities of Nordic American groups and serving as a cultural bridge between the United States and the Nordic nations.

Aakre began her duties on April 14. She replaced Nadia Christensen, who served as executive director of Nordic Center from 1991-1996. Christensen is now an academic admissions associate at Augsburg.