Augustana College (Illinois)

Infobox_University
name =Augustana College
native_name =
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motto =
established =1860
type =Private college
endowment =
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faculty =
president =Steven C. Bahls
principal =
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students =2,500
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city =Rock Island
state =Illinois
country =United States
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free =
colors =Navy Blue & Gold
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mascot =Vikings
nickname =Augie
affiliations =ELCA
website =http://www.augustana.edu/

Augustana College is a private liberal arts college located in Rock Island, Illinois. The college enrolls approximately 2,500 students. Covering 115 acres (465,000 m²) of hilly, wooded land, Augustana is adjacent to the Mississippi River. A large percentage of the student body takes part in a wide variety of groups and activities related to the performing arts, theatre, debate, publications, broadcasting, student government, and a broad spectrum of professional, religious, departmental, political, social, and service organizations.

Swedish immigrants founded the College in 1860. Augustana is a college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is the alma mater of Daniel C. Tsui, the recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Campus life

Augustana College is the home of the Augustana Choir, which was founded in 1931 and is known for its performances of a cappella choral music. Among the choir's many accomplishments are performances at Carnegie Hall and several trips to Sweden. In addition to the numerous other music performance groups on campus, including the Augustana Symphony Orchestra and the Augustana Concert Band, and the oldest ensemble, Augustana Symphonic Band which was founded in 1875. During Spring 2008, the Augustana Symphonic Band, Augustana Symphony Orchestra, and Augustana Choir performed at Orchestra Hall in Chicago, Illinois. During World War I, members of the band enlisted as a unit in the American Armed Forces. During that time they not only saw action, but also gave a concert tour after the Armistice was signed. In 1928, the Band became one of the first American collegiate bands to tour in Europe. Since 1928, the music department has sent choirs and bands to various locations. In 2008, the band traveled to Colorado and the choir traveled to Sweden, Denmark, and Norway.

Augustana College houses the [http://www.augustana.edu/academics/geology/department/fryxell.htm Fryxell Geology Museum] and John Deere Planetarium. The museum, named after Fritiof Fryxell, has become one of the largest and finest collections of rocks, minerals and fossils in the Midwest. Founded in the late 1880s with a small collection devoted to natural history, the museum now contains over 1,500 rock, mineral, and fossil specimens. On display is a complete skeleton of a "Tylosaurus" "sea serpent", skulls of "Parasaurolophus", "Ankylosaurus", "Apatosaurus", "Allosaurus" and "Tyrannosaurus rex" and a 2 billion year old fossil. Of particular interest is the display of the complete convert|22|ft|m|sing=on long skeleton of "Cryolophosaurus", a large crested carnivorous dinosaur discovered in Antarctica in 1991 by Augustana paleontologist Dr. William Hammer.

Augustana College is also home to the Swenson Center, a national archives and research institute providing various resources for the study of Swedish immigration to North America, the communities the immigrants established, and the history and culture of Swedish immigrants and their descendants in America. Augustana College is also very proud to claim the best hills to sled on in all of the Midwest region.

Augustana College is home to an East Asian term, along with Latin America term, European term, Vietnam term, Vienna term, India term, Ireland term, and Ghana term where select groups of students are taken overseas to learn about and study cultures, economies, and histories for up to 12 weeks. Augustana College was the first college to have students in China when the "walls" came down in 1978 and foreigners were allowed inside. The esteemed Norman Moline led a group of approx. 40 Augie students on foot across a bridge out of Hong Kong and into Guangzhou, China. Since then, Augustana College has maintained a healthy relationship with the Faculty and Students of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China, along with many people and towns across the country.

In 2006, Augustana College's Thomas Tredway Library was selected as the winner of the Association of College & Research Libraries' "Excellence in Academic Libraries Award" for four-year colleges.

Augustana has a local Greek system, which includes five sororities Chi Alpha Pi (CAP), Delta Chi Theta (Delta Chi), Phi Rho, Sigma Kappa Tau (KT), and Sigma Pi Delta (Speed)) and six fraternities (Alpha Sigma Xi (Alpha Sig), Beta Omega Sigma (BOS), Delta Omega Nu (DON), Gamma Alpha Beta (GAB), Omicrom Sigma Omicron (OZO), and Phi Omega Phi (Poobah))

Augustana also has many professional Greek organizations, including Sigma Alpha Iota (SAI) (music), Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia (Phi Mu)(music), Alpha Phi Omega (APO)(service), Alpha Psi Omega (ΑΨΩ) (theater), and many others.

Augustana has many other organizations to get involved in. Just to name a few, there is a The National Association for Music Education chapter (MENC), National Band Association chapter, American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), Paintball Team (NCPA), American String Teacher's Association (ASTA), Psychology Club, Business Club, DDR Club, Anime Club, Asian Student Organization (ASO), Ladies of Vital Essence (L.O.V.E.), The Order of the Phoenix, Majestic Hearts, Majestic Gents, and many other organizations.

The Augustana Vikings compete in the NCAA Division III College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW). The Vikings compete in a combined total of 21 male and female team sports, and four out of five students compete in some form of varsity, club, or intramural sport. The Augustana College football team won four NCAA Division III national championships in a row from 1983 - 1986 under Coach Bob Reade. Coach Reade's overall winning percentage of 87% is second only to Knute Rockne on the all-time list. Augustana College was a member of the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from 1912-1937.

Augustana has five residence halls, Swanson, Westerlin, Erickson, Seminary, and Andreen. All are co-ed, with the exception of Andreen, which is a female only dorm. Augustana also offers several "TLA"s (Transitional Living Areas) in which Augustana students live in apartment-like rooms under school supervision, much like renting. The school takes care of basic maintenance in these areas, some of which are House on the Hill, Naeseth, and Andreen Apartments. These areas usually have 2-6 students who share a bathroom and a kitchen.

Augustana provides several services to attending students. Services include: campus ministries, career center, student counseling, academic advising, student employment, business office, food services, safety office, campus security, computer services, and campus recreation.

Courses of study

Majors: Accounting, Art, Art Education, Art History, Biochemistry, Biology, Business Administration, Chemistry, Classics, Computer Science/ Mathematics, Earth Science Teaching, Economics, Elementary and Secondary Education, English, French, Geography, Geology, German, History, Mathematics, Pre-Medicine, Music, Music Education, Music Performance, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Religion, Scandinavian, Sociology, Spanish, Speech Communication, Communication Sciences and Disorders, Studio Art, and Theatre.

Minors: Most major areas, plus Asian Studies, Environmental Studies, Latin American Studies, Medieval and Renaissance Studies, and Women's and Gender Studies.

Coordinated Degree Programs: Dentistry, Engineering, Environmental Management, Forestry, Landscape Architecture, and Occupational Therapy.

Pre-Professional studies: Dentistry, Law, Medicine, Occupational Therapy, Optometry, Pharmacy, and Physical Therapy, Veterinary Medicine.

Notable faculty

[http://www.antarcticvp.com/members/Hammer.html William Hammer] , a paleontologist who holds the college's Fritiof Fryxell Chair in Geology, has twice discovered the remains of dinosaurs while leading research expeditions funded by the National Science Foundation in Antarctica.

[http://www.augustana.edu/academics/history/department/faculty.html#VanSymons Van J. Symons] is a noted scholar of China, with his focus on the Q'ing dynasty.

Notable alumni

* C. Marcus Olson (1932) - developed the process to purify silicon for electronic use
* Robert Hanson (1948) - Former CEO Deere and Company
* Roald H. Fryxell (1956) - Geologist and Archaeologist
* Don Sundquist (1957) - Former United States Congressman (1983-1985) and governor of Tennessee (1995–2003)
* Timothy Johnson(1958) - ABC News Medical Editor.
* Daniel C. Tsui (1961) - Nobel Prize winner in physics.
* Robert Swieringa (1964) - Former member of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and former Dean of the Johnson School at Cornell University.
* Ken Anderson (1970) - NFL Quarterback with the Cincinnati Bengals for 16 seasons.
* Torri Hieber - Tuba player
* Lane Evans (1974) - Former United States Congressman (Illinois 17th District).
* Lawrence S. Barker (1974) - CEO of Argent Networks
* Brenda Barnes (1975) - Current CEO of Sara Lee. Former CEO (and first female head) of PepsiCo.
* Murry Gerber (1975) - CEO of Equitable Resources
* Doug Hultquist (1977) - CEO of QCR Holdings
* Dave "Gruber" Allen (1980) - The Naked Trucker on The Naked Trucker and T-Bones Show
* Thomas Leach (1983) - Vice President of Development of Tribune Company
* Aaron Kennedy (1985) - Founder of Noodles & Co.

External links

* [http://www.antarcticvp.com/ Transantarctic Vertebrate Paleontology Project] , official website for the Dr. William Hammers NSF project conducting research on "Cryolophosaurus" and related fauna.
* [http://www.augustana.edu/academics/geology/department/fryxell.htm Fryxell Geology Museum]
* [http://www.augustana.edu/academics/music/department/ Augustana Music Department]
* [http://www.augustana.edu/academics/music/department/?id=15 Augustana Choir]
* [http://www.augustana.edu/academics/music/department/?id=21 Handel Oratorio Society]
* [http://www.augustana.edu/athletics/ Augustana Athletics]
* [http://www.augustana.edu/ Augustana College]
* [http://www.collegeview.com/school/school_hub.jsp?scid=2100372 Augustana on CollegeView.com]
* [http://www.qctimes.com/shared-content/search/index.php?search=go&l=20&s=recent&r=&d1=12-1-2000&d2=today&q=augustana Quad-City Times articles about Augustana]