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==Notable alumni==
==Notable alumni==
*[[ Leif Ericson ]] (1000) - Discovered North America only to return home because there was nothing to pillage from the Natives
* [[C. Marcus Olson]] (1932) - developed the process to purify silicon for electronic use
* [[C. Marcus Olson]] (1932) - developed the process to purify silicon for electronic use
* [[Roald H. Fryxell]] (1956) - Geologist and Archaeologist
* [[Roald H. Fryxell]] (1956) - Geologist and Archaeologist

Revision as of 04:42, 29 January 2008

This article is about the college in Illinois. For other institutions with the same name or other uses of Augustana, see Augustana.
Augustana College
File:Augustanacollegeseal.jpg
TypePrivate college
Established1860
PresidentSteven C. Bahls
Students2,500
Location
Rock Island
,
Illinois
,
United States
NicknameAugie
AffiliationsELCA
MascotVikings
Websitehttp://www.augustana.edu/

Augustana College is a small liberal arts college, with a current enrollment of approximately 2,500 students. Covering 115 acres (465,000 m²) of hilly, wooded land, Augustana is adjacent to the Mississippi River in Rock Island, Illinois. A large percentage of the student body takes part in a wide variety of groups and activities related to the performing arts, theatre, debate, publications, broadcasting, student government, and a broad spectrum of professional, religious, departmental, political, social, and service organizations.

Swedish immigrants founded the College in 1860. Augustana is a college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is the alma mater of Daniel C. Tsui, the recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Campus life

Augustana College is the home of the Augustana Choir, which was founded in 1931 and is known for its performances of a cappella choral music. Among the choir's many accomplishments are performances at Carnegie Hall and several trips to Sweden. In addition to the numerous other music performance groups on campus, including the Augustana Symphony Orchestra and the Augustana Concert Band, the Augustana Symphonic Band, founded in 1875, is the oldest. During World War I, members of the band enlisted as a unit in the American Armed Forces. During that time they not only saw action, but also gave a concert tour after the Armistice was signed. In 1928, the Band became one of the first American collegiate bands to tour in Europe. Since 1928, the music department has sent choirs and bands to various locations.

Augustana College houses the Fryxell Geology Museum and John Deere Planetarium. The museum, named after Fritiof Fryxell, has become one of the largest and finest collections of rocks, minerals and fossils in the Midwest. Founded in the late 1880s with a small collection devoted to natural history, the museum now contains over 1,500 rock, mineral, and fossil specimens. On display is a complete skeleton of a Tylosaurus "sea serpent", skulls of Parasaurolophus, Ankylosaurus, Apatosaurus, Allosaurus and Tyrannosaurus rex and a 2 billion year old fossil. Of particular interest is the display of the complete 22-foot long skeleton of Cryolophosaurus, a large crested carnivorous dinosaur discovered in Antarctica in 1991 by Augustana paleontologist Dr. William Hammer.

Augustana College is also home to the Swenson Center, a national archives and research institute providing various resources for the study of Swedish immigration to North America, the communities the immigrants established, and the history and culture of Swedish immigrants and their descendants in America. Augustana College is also very proud to claim the best hills to sled on in all of the Midwest region.

Augustana College is home to an East Asian term, along with many other international terms, where select groups of students are taken overseas to learn about and study cultures, economies, and histories for up to 12 weeks. Augustana College was the first college to have students in China when the "walls" came down in 1978 and foreigners were allowed inside. The esteemed Norman Moline led a group of approx. 40 Augie students on foot across a bridge out of Hong Kong and into Guangzhou, China. Since then, Augustana College has maintained a healthy relationship with the Faculty and Students of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China, along with many people and towns across the country.

In 2006, Augustana College's Thomas Tredway Library was selected as the winner of the Association of College & Research Libraries' "Excellence in Academic Libraries Award" for four-year colleges.

The Augustana Vikings compete in the NCAA Division III College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW). The Vikings compete in a combined total of 21 male and female team sports, and four out of five students compete in some form of varsity, club, or intramural sport. The Augustana College football team won four NCAA Division III national championships in a row from 1983 - 1986 under Coach Bob Reade. Coach Reade's overall winning percentage of 87% is second only to Knute Rockne on the all-time list.

Augustana has five dormitories, Swanson, Westerlin, Erikson, Seminary, and Andreen. All are co-ed, with the exception of Andreen, which is a female only dorm. Augustana also offers several "TLA"s, Transitional Living Areas, in which Augustana students live in apartment-like rooms under school supervision, much like renting. The school takes care of basic matenience in these areas, some of which are House on the Hill, Naeseth, and Andreen Apartments. These areas usually have 2-6 students who share a bathroom and a kitchen.

Courses of Study

Majors: Accounting, Art, Art Education, Art History, Biochemistry, Biology, Business Administration, Chemistry, Classics, Computer Science/ Mathematics, Earth Science Teaching, Economics, Elementary and Secondary Education, English, French, Geography, Geology, German, History, Mathematics, Pre-Medicine, Music, Music Education, Music Performance, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Religion, Scandinavian, Sociology, Spanish, Speech Communication, Communication Sciences and Disorders, Studio Art, and Theatre.

Minors: Most major areas, plus Asian Studies, Environmental Studies, Latin American Studies, Medieval and Renaissance Studies, and Women's and Gender Studies.

Coordinated Degree Programs: Dentistry, Engineering, Environmental Management, Forestry, Landscape Architecture, and Occupational Therapy.

Pre-Professional Studies: Dentistry, Law, Medicine, Occupational Therapy, Optometry, Pharmacy, and Physical Therapy, Veterinary Medicine.

Notable faculty

William Hammer, a paleontologist who holds the college's Fritiof Fryxell Chair in Geology, has twice discovered the remains of dinosaurs while leading research expeditions funded by the National Science Foundation in Antarctica.

Van J. Symons is a noted scholar of China, with his focus on the Q'ing dynasty. He recently suffered a heart attack and is in stable condition.

Notable alumni

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