New regent installed

A June 26 Board of Regents committee decision appointed David M. Meyer to the Luther Board of Regents.

Meyer, a graduate of Augustana College in Sioux Falls, S.D., has two sons who have graduated from Luther and one son currently enrolled. Meyer is also a graduate of the Mayo Graduate School where he earned a Masters of
Science degree.

Regent candidates are nominated and appointed by chair-holding Regents at the Evangelical Lutheran Church’s conventions in Canada.

Meyer has received many professional awards and was named a Fellow of the International College of Dentistry in 2007. He has also published several articles in professional journals and is currently an orthodontist in Brookings, S.D.

President Richard Torgerson has known David for several years and is pleased with the decision.

“He’s very outgoing, he’s very friendly and he is actively involved in the Lutheran Church.” Torgerson said.

Togerson also described Meyer as having a sincere and abiding interest in Luther College and the Luther mission statement.

Meyer will serve a four-year term on the board. The first board meeting will be in October. The Luther College board of Regents only meets about six times a year, but there are additional ‘standing board committees’ where matters of finance, administration, development and other issues are discussed.

The responsibilities of the Board of Regents are to supervise the financial resources of the college, to ensure that the college remains true to its mission statement, to develop long-term plans for the improvement of the college and to review the performance of the president and, when needed, select a new president.

Although Meyer has not yet begun work with the regents, he has ideas about how Luther ought to develop as an institution.

“At this point I feel that Luther College needs to continue its mission on developing diversity in students, faculty and curriculum in order to be an institution with a global perspective,” Meyer said. “We also need to continue improving our environmental footprint and energy consumption awareness. Finally, we need to always strive to find new ways to get the message out about the wonderful environment and educational opportunities at Luther College.”