News Archives - 2000

Two new associate deans have been named to fill major leadership roles in Augsburg College's Academic and Learning Services Division.

Dr. Barbara A. Edwards has been named to the position of Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, while Dr. Orval J. Gingerich will serve as Associate Dean for International Programs, according to Dr. Chris Kimball, Vice President and Dean of the College.

Edwards, who most recently served as Academic Dean at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA, already has assumed her duties.

Gingerich, who joins the Augsburg leadership team from his post of Director of Cross-cultural Programs and Associate Professor of Education at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, VA, will begin his new duties on a consulting basis before joining the College full-time next summer.

"These are two key positions for our institution," Kimball said. "Barbara and Orval bring outstanding academic and leadership credentials to their new roles, and I'm very pleased that they have chosen to join our team. I'm looking forward to working with them to meet the long-range goals of this institution."

Edwards, a native of South Bend, IN, earned her bachelor's degree from the College of Saint Benedict and then went on to earn both her MBA and Ph.D. degrees from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.

From 1983-85, she held Research Associate and Teaching Associate positions at the Carlson School before becoming Associate Professor of Management at Saint John's University in Collegeville, where she taught until 1994. From 1994-98 she chaired the Department of Management and directed the Master of Arts in Management Program at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, and then assumed her duties as Academic Dean at Saint Vincent.

Throughout her career, she has had extensive experience in faculty and curricular development and has taken on numerous leadership roles, heading various academic, administrative and policy committees. A frequent speaker and consultant, particularly on management and leadership issues, she authored "Chief Executive Officer Behavior: The Catalyst for Strategic Alignment" for the International Journal of Value-Based Management earlier this year.

A member in the Academy of Management, she has been an active volunteer, particularly in health care where she serves on the Board of Directors of the Benedictine Health System. She is married to Jack Farley.

Gingerich, a native of rural Parnell, Iowa, earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Iowa, then earned a Master of Education degree from the University of Colorado, and his Ed.D. from the University of Virginia. He began his work in international education serving for three years with the Teachers Abroad Program in Nigeria, West Africa, from 1968-71.

After serving as a teacher at the Frontier Boys Village in Colorado (from 1972-76) and working in ministry for youth at the Rocky Mountain Mennonite Church Conference (from 1976-80), he joined the Eastern Mennonite University faculty in 1980. After serving as Assistant Professor of Recreation for seven years, he took on the duties of Director of Cross-cultural Programs and Associate Academic Dean before assuming his current post in 1999.

The EMU study abroad program enrolls some 150-170 students annually in programs on five continents. He also has extensive experience as a participant or leader of international study opportunities and has won a number of research grants and awards for cross-cultural education and study. Both an author and speaker on the subject of cross-cultural education Gingerich also is doing on-going research on the effects of cross-cultural education on student education.

A member of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, and several other organizations, Gingerich is an active volunteer on behalf of youth. He and his wife Cleta have two daughters, Anne Brenneman of Kalamazoo, MI, and Leah Gingerich of Harrisonburg.