Six Receive UMC Torch and Shield Awards for 2002

The University of Minnesota, Crookston (UMC) honored six individuals with the Torch and Shield Award at the annual Torch and Shield Banquet, held Wednesday, October 30, in the renovated Kiehle Building on the campus.  The Torch and Shield Award recognizes individuals who have provided leadership and who have aided in the development of UMC and the Northwest Research and Outreach Center.  The award has been presented regularly since 1966, when the campus first began offering college courses. 

This year’s award recipients included
Back Row: UMC Chancellor Don Sargeant, Jerry Nagel, Dale Knotek, Bruce Brorson, and NWROC Head Larry Smith
Front Row: Kathleen Kasprick, Lyle Kasprick, and Bev Durgan

Bruce Brorson
Associate Professor Bruce Brorson serves as director for the Information Technology Management Program at UMC.  He has held many titles since he began his career at UMC in December of 1975, but there has been one constant:  technology.  Brorson has been instrumental in technology planning and in developing a vision of technology integration for the campus.  He played a pivotal role as an early faculty adopter and advocate for the laptop computer initiative UMC undertook in 1993, and he continues to embrace emerging technologies.   

Brorson is regionally and nationally known for his technology expertise.  He currently serves on the Corporate Partners Advisory Committee of eWeek Magazine, the Northern Tier Technology Corridor Advisory Corridor, the Minnesota Municipal Utilities Telecommunications Taskforce, and the State of Minnesota’s Technology Action Group.  He has also worked on numerous technology and telecommunications grant funded projects with the Red River Trade Council and Northern Great Plains, Inc.

A native of Grafton, North Dakota, Brorson holds his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and his master’s in Vocational Technical Education from the University of North Dakota.  He met his wife Susan in 1973 in Moorhead, Minnesota, during his first year of teaching at Moorhead Area Vocational Technical College.  They were married in 1977 just before Sue joined the UMC faculty in the Business Division.  She is currently a Professor of Business Management and director of UMC’s Business Management Program.  Their daughter Megan is currently a student at UMC; daughter Sara and son Nick are both UMC grads; and daughter Carly is a high school student.  The Brorsons were long time Crookston residents, but recently moved to Maple Lake near Mentor.

 

Beverly Durgan
Bev Durgan is currently the Associate Dean for Research and Outreach in the College of Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Sciences (COAFES) at the University of Minnesota.  Durgan oversees the activities of seven research and outreach centers—including the Northwest Research and Outreach Center—and eleven departments.  She also serves as Chief Financial Officer for COAFES.  In addition to her administrative responsibilities, she continues to conduct research and develop extension programs in weed management systems in small grains.

A native of Montana, Durgan was raised on an irrigated corn and small grain farm.  She received her bachelor’s degree in business management at Montana State University and her master’s and doctorate in Agronomy from North Dakota State University.  She joined the faculty of the University of Minnesota in 1985.  Durgan is recognized as a national leader in the development of small grain management systems.  Her extension and research programs have resulted in millions of dollars of added income for small grain and specialty crop growers in Minnesota by promoting timely and effective weed management programs.

Durgan is an active member of the North Central Weed Science Society, Western Weed Science Society, Weed Science Society of America, CAST, and Sigma Xi, and the North Central Experiment Station Directors.  She has published more than 150 extension and peer-reviewed publications and served on several regional and national committees.  Her leadership has been recognized with several state and national awards including the Distinguished Teacher Award from COAFES, the Northrup King Outstanding Educator Award, the Distinguished Education Award from the North Central Weed Science Society, and the Dean and Director’s Award for Outstanding State Extension Educator from the University of Minnesota Extension Service.

 

Lyle and Kathleen Kasprick
Lyle Kasprick was raised on a farm near Angus, Minnesota, and attended the Northwest School of Agriculture before it became UMC.  After graduating with the NWSA Class of 1950, he went on to complete a degree in business administration from the University of North Dakota.  He worked in public accounting for a large accounting firm and later went into business for himself as a private investor, partnering with others to build several businesses into publicly owned companies on the New York and American Stock Exchanges.  He has also served as chairman of the board for North American Vaccine, Inc.

A Minneapolis native, Kathleen Westby Kasprick is a graduate of the College of Saint Catherine and has been a leader in her own right.  She chaired the President’s Forum at the College of Saint Catherine and led the way for a part of the Saga Hill area of Orono, Minnesota, to be protected as a natural area and safeguarded against development.  She has worked for both the University of Minnesota Foundation and Alumni Association and has hosted a cable TV show from Normandale Community College in Minneapolis. 

In the summer of 2002 the Kaspricks generously made a gift commitment of $1 million to UMC for academic scholarships.  To date, it is the largest gift ever made to the Crookston campus.  The Kaspricks are passionate about helping students, and their decision to make this gift to UMC was, in part, influenced by letters they had read from students receiving scholarships from them in previous years.  Their charitable philanthropy has also included significant gifts to the other educational institutions that have enhanced their lives and the lives of their four adult children.  Currently the Kaspricks reside in Orono. 

 

Dale Knotek
A native of Ravenna, Nebraska, Dale Knotek earned his bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Personnel Management from the University of Nebraska.  Soon after, he married Mary Ann Thompson and accepted a position as Campus Associate in Lutheran Campus Ministry at the University of North Dakota in 1963.  He completed his master’s degree in Counseling and Guidance at UND and then began a 29-year career as an Assistant Professor and Director of Student Activities at UMC.  During his tenure, Knotek has also served as building supervisor and program coordinator for Bede Student Center, campus director of Elderhostel, as advisor for the Crookston Student Association, and even as UMC’s Registrar for a short time.  He retired in June of 1996, but still maintains close ties to UMC.

Knotek has shown a strong commitment to community service and is currently the board president and volunteer coordinator for Crookston Area Habitat for Humanity.   He also currently serves as president of the Valley Crossing Arts Council, of which he has been a member for over 25 years; as president of the Union-Lake Sarah Improvement District; as president of the Board of Deacons for St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Crookston; and as a member and past president of Crookston Noon Day Lions.  In 1999 to honor his example of service, the UMC Student Association began annually presenting the Dale Knotek Community Service Award to the student organization most actively serving the campus and the greater Crookston community.

Knotek continues to be a strong advocate for UMC and its programs.  He lives with his wife in Crookston.  They have four adult children.

 

Jerry Nagel
Employed by UMC, Jerry Nagel serves as the President of Northern Great Plains Inc., a network of business, academic and public policy leaders working to build a strong economic and ecologic future for the people and communities of this region.  The core of the NGP mission is to develop and implement regional solutions to issues, concerns and opportunities in the Northern Great Plains that can best be addressed through regionally focused action.  He also works with Valley Technology Park, a collaborative business incubator involving UMC and the City of Crookston, in overall organization management and new project development.

Nagel’s work in the field of rural and economic development is accomplished and wide-ranging.  He has served as director for several regional organizations including the Association for Human Development, North Dakota Rural Development Corporation, the Crookston Enterprise Development Center, the Northwest Regional Development Commission, and the Red River Trade Council.  He also serves on several boards of directors and advisory committees including the Canadian-American Border Trade Alliance, the Great Plains Institute for Sustainable Development, the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund, and the Consensus Council. 

In 2002 he was named a Fannie Mae Foundation Fellow and took part in the Executives in State and Local Government Program at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.  Nagel holds both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in economics from the University of North Dakota.  He has two adult children and lives with his wife, Brenda Menier, in Crookston.

 

Posted  10/31/2001
Contact: Andrew Svec, 218-281-8435

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