Lee Egerstrom

University bestowing honorary doctorate

Monday, December 16, 2002

The honorary doctorate will go to St. Paul Pioneer Press business journalist Lee Egerstrom, who covers agriculture, food companies, agribusiness and international trade. Past president of the National Association of Agricultural Journalists and correspondent to the Knight Ridder Newspapers Washington in the 1970s, most of his work over the past 25 years has dealt with issues and public policies affecting agriculture, international trade and rural communities.SCSU will be conferring an honorary doctorate during fall commencement ceremonies at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 21, at Halenbeck Hall. More than 500 students will participate.

Egerstrom has been honored by the National Press Club Foundation, the North American Agricultural Journalists, the National Farmers Union and the National Cooperative Business Association. The honorary doctorate is being bestowed on him in recognition of his work and dedication to advancing the fields of journalism, business and agriculture regionally and internationally.

The honoree will also give the commencement address.

President Roy H. Saigo will confer the degrees, and Faculty Association President Andrew Larkin, Economics, will be macebearer for the ceremonies.

Faculty line leaders will be Dr. Kathleen Mooney, Accounting, and Dr. Steven Mooney, Finance, Insurance and Real Estate. Marshals will be Dr. Jo Ann Asquith, Marketing and Business Law, Dr. Kathleen Gill, Philosophy, Dr. Suellyn Hofmann, Human Relations and Multicultural Education, Dr. Danrun Huang, Mathematics, Dr/. Richard Present, Social Work, and Theodore Sherarts, Art. Announcer is Paula Tompkins, Communication Studies.

Pablo Mahave-Veglia, Music, will conduct the SCSU Philharmonic Orchestra; Catherine Verrilli, Music, is song leader; and Lanora Johnson will be the sign language interpreter.

SCSU is the second largest public university in Minnesota with about 16,000 students and 175 majors, minors and pre-professional programs in Business, Education, Fine Arts & Humanities, Science & Engineering, and Social Sciences and 50 master’s degrees through the School of Graduate Studies.

SCSU is one of just 207 National Merit Scholarship Program College Sponsors out of 3,500 colleges and universities nationwide; has one of the the strongest international program in the Minnesota State Colleges & Universities system; has one of three business colleges in Minnesota nationally accredited at the undergraduate and graduate level; and is the tenth largest producer of new educators in the country.

The university is located 70 miles northwest of the Twin Cities along the oak-crowned banks of the Mississippi River.