WARTBURG HONORS ALUMNI CITATION RECIPIENTS FROM 2020-2021

WARTBURG COLLEGE MARKETING & COMMUNICATION

The Wartburg College Alumni Board presented six Knights who have demonstrated a commitment to the college’s mission with Alumni Citation Awards during Homecoming & Family Weekend.  

Capt. Dan Grinstead, Daniel Hanson and Lawrence “DC” Randle were selected for the honor in 2020 but were not recognized until this year because the college’s homecoming celebration was canceled last year due to COVID-19. Selected for the honor in 2021 were Albert “Sparky” Duroe, Douglas Mason and Edith Phillips.  

Grinstead, who graduated in 1972, earned a Master of Social Work from the University of Minnesota in Duluth in 1975. He rose from being a staff social worker at the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics to serving as a social work specialist. Grinstead later became the oldest Iowan deployed by the National Guard in modern times. In 2010 he served in Afghanistan in the rank of captain as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, running a combat stress clinic at Bagram Airfield. After his deployment, he returned to the U of I Hospitals to work on an adult inpatient psychiatry unit and serve as an instructor in various schools and programs. Grinstead lives in Iowa City.  

A 1977 graduate, Hanson earned his master’s degree in education and computer science at Mankato State University and a doctorate in instructional technology from Iowa State University. At Waldorf College, he led development of a management information systems degree program and was elected chair of the faculty before serving as the college’s vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college. In 2009, Hanson became president of Peru State College in Nebraska, exuding leadership and service in his role. When the Missouri River hit record levels in 2019, he rallied the college and community to relocate students and conserve water. He retired from Peru State in June 2021. Hanson lives in Urbandale. 

After earning his degree in science education in 1979, Randle wanted his students to have more exposure to nature than what he had growing up in Washington, D.C. He learned about the Jason Project and was one of six educators to take part in the Amazon Exploration Project in 1994. Since 1996, he has been an assistant canopy researcher and has brought students to experience tropical ecology, indigenous culture, sustainable development and rainforest research in South America. He earned a Master of Education in curriculum and instruction with an ecological emphasis in 2005 from Saint Mary’s University in Minnesota, and in 2015, he became a naturalist for education outreach with the University of Minnesota’s Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve. Randle lives in Isanti, Minnesota. 

Duroe, a member of the Class of 1967, transferred to Iowa State University and earned his bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics. He started his career at Farmers State Bank in Waterloo, became CEO and purchased a controlling interest, growing the bank to over $850 million in assets and 10 branches. He has served on the Iowa 4-H Foundation, the Jesup Economic Development Foundation and the Boy Scouts of America Winnebago Council board. Duroe attended the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the 1970s, then completed Harvard’s Small Company Management Program in 1980. He has supported Wartburg College for decades, serving on the board of trustees and supporting scholarships and many other projects. Duroe lives in Jesup. 

A 1975 graduate, Mason returned to his alma mater in 1982 as director of admissions. After a year as Wartburg’s vice president for student affairs, Mason was named vice president for advancement, leading the areas of admissions, alumni, development, college relations and financial aid. A consulting firm, Gonser Gerber Tinker Suhr LLP in Illinois, took notice in 1992, and Mason became a sought-after consultant, presenter, facilitator and trainer, giving guidance to numerous organizations in cultural, educational, religious and health care fields. He later became a partner at the firm. Mason lives in Naperville, Illinois.  

Waldstein, who graduated from Wartburg in 1973, earned her master’s degree in 1975 then her doctorate in German languages and literatures in 1982, both from Washington University in St. Louis. She was a member of the German faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston. When she came to Wartburg a second time in 1989, she began as the registrar and a part-time faculty member, and later served as associate vice president for academic affairs and associate dean of the faculty. In 2001, she assumed the new role of vice president for enrollment management, where for 20 years she led the college’s efforts to identify, recruit and retain students. She retired from Wartburg in 2021 and lives in Waverly.  

Nominees for the annual award are reviewed and selected each year by the college’s Alumni Board based on their personal and professional application of the college’s mission statement pillars: leadership, service, faith and learning. Details about the award and a nomination form are available at http://www.wartburg.edu/alumni-citation.