Established in 1982 in memory of R.E. “Ed” Fuglestad †
R.E. "Ed" Fuglestad joined the staff of the Biology Department of Concordia College in 1927. Retiring in 1970, he completed an outstanding 43-year teaching career.
In addition to his many other duties, Fuglestad was the advisor to Biology students interested in medicine. Upon retirement, he could boast that 187 student entered medical school. Throughout the years he maintained a keen interest in all of his former students and kept in touch through correspondence and in his travels across the country.
In 1965, Fuglestad was designated an Alma and Reuel Wije Distinguished Professor by Concordia’s faculty and the University of North Dakota honored him in 1971 with a Sioux Award, their alumni association’s highest honor.
Fuglestad died in 1981 at the age of 80. The following year, the R. E. Fuglestad Lectureship was established with funds given in his memory.
"He gave his students a vision, he excited their imagination, he nurtures and prodded them on. But above all, he gave them a deep sense of humanity." -Concordia Alumni News, Summer 1981
The endowment provides funding for the annual lecture given by an invited speaker recognized for their contributions or expertise in some area of biology.
November 11, 2019
Timothy M. Olson, M.D.
Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
“What Makes the Heart Fail? New insights from defective genes”
November 5, 2018
Collette Adkins J.D.
Senior attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity
“Combating the Extinction Crisis”