:''This article is about the college in Illinois. For other institutions with the same name or other uses of Augustana, see
Augustana.''
'Augustana College' is a small
liberal arts college, with a current enrollment of approximately 2,400 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, 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.
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.
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's men's lacrosse club won their first Great Rivers Lacrosse Conference championship in 2006. The team went 13-2 on their way to a final Shamrock Lacrosse MCLA Division B Coaches Poll ranking of #7 in the nation.
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, 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
One of the foremost scholars of consumer credit, Lendol Calder, joined the Augustana College history department in the mid 1990s. He is the author of ''Financing the American Dream: A Cultural History of Consumer Credit.''
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.
Notable alumni
★
Terrance C.Z. Egger Publisher - The Plain Dealer
★
Dave "Gruber" Allen (1980) - The Naked Trucker on
The Naked Trucker and T-Bones Show
★
Ken Anderson (1970) -
NFL Quarterback with the
Cincinnati Bengals for 16 seasons.
★
Brenda Barnes (1975) - Current CEO of
Sara Lee. Former CEO (and first female head) of
PepsiCo.
★
Lane Evans (1974) - Former United States Congressman (Illinois 17th District).
★
Timothy Johnson - ABC News Medical Editor.
★
Don Sundquist (1957) - Former United States Congressman (1983-1985) and
governor of Tennessee (1995–2003)
★
Daniel C. Tsui (1961) -
Nobel Prize winner in
physics.
★
Robert Swieringa (1964) - Former member of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and former Dean of the Johnson School at Cornell University.
External links
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Transantarctic Vertebrate Paleontology Project, official website for the Dr. William Hammers NSF project conducting research on ''Cryolophosaurus'' and related fauna.
★
Fryxell Geology Museum
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Augustana Music Department
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Augustana Choir
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Handel Oratorio Society
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Augustana Athletics
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Augustana College
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Augustana on CollegeView.com