Luther announces the induction of 37 seniors into the Luther chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa

Luther alumnus Scott Thoe inducted, gave memorial lecture

Luther College announces the induction of 37 seniors into the Luther chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa national academic honor society at a ceremony held this spring in the Center for Faith and Life on the Luther campus.

Inductees include:

• Derek Barnhouse of Dubuque, Iowa
• Johanna Beaupre of Maple Grove, Minnesota
• Victoria Bleckeberg of Maple Grove, Minnesota
• Michelle Brown of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin
• Tiffany Cassmann of Bristow, Iowa
• Claire Christian of Kiester, Minnesota
• Megan DeMouth of Urbandale, Iowa
• Fiona Edberg of Iowa City, Iowa
• Taylor Gades of Eden Prairie, Minnesota
• Thaddeus Guy of Urbandale, Iowa
• Elisabeth Hartmark of Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Jillian Hazlett of Grayslake, Illinois
• Devin Hedlund of Iowa City, Iowa
• Bryce Hefty of Madison, Wisconsin
• Nicholas Hentges of Champlin, Minnesota
• Kevin Honz of Barnhart, Missouri
• Abigail Hughes of Aitkin, Minnesota
• Joshua Jackson of East Dubuque, Illinois
• Brady Letney of Bettendorf, Iowa
• Shannon Meehan of Gurnee, Illinois
• Isobel Michaud of Wheaton, Illinois
• Linh Nguyen of Vung Tau City, Vietnam
• Emily Osborne of Esko, Minnesota
• Linnea Peterson of Saint Paul, Minnesota
• Megan Petzold of Naperville, Illinois
• Halina Pyzdrowski of Minnetonka, Minnesota
• Lauren Resner of Mankato, Minnesota
• Kacy Rodamaker of Lakeville, Minnesota
• Froeydis Ronneberg of Oslo, Norway
• Emilyn Ryski of Eden Prairie, Minnesota,
• Samuel Scheidt of La Crosse, Wisconsin
• Ryan Schnaith of Red Wing, Minnesota
• Aidan Spencer of Decorah, Iowa
• Emily Starman of Coralville, Iowa
• Ethan Thonn of Watertown, Minnesota
• Maxwell Uetz of Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Zachary Withers of Ames, Iowa

Scott Thoe, Luther class of 1968, was inducted as an alumnus PBK member and delivered the Ruth A. Davis Memorial Lecture, titled “How to bend an education,” at the ceremony.

Thoe was born in the Midwest, in Albert Lea, Minnesota, while on the way to Bermuda as one of four children in the family of a naval officer. After growing up on both the East and West coasts of the U.S., he finished high school in Norway. Thoe attended Baylor University for two years before transferring to Luther, where he completed his junior and senior years in one year.

His academic endeavors have taken him all over the world, studying comparative literature and Scandinavian languages and literature at the University of Washington, where he earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D.; Germanic literature at Harvard, where he received another master’s degree; German and art at the Universitat Kiel in Germany; Russian at Yale University; and art at the Academy of Art in Carcow, Poland.

For the past 40 years he has worked as an artist in the Lofoten Islands in Norway, and notes, “although I live from my paintings and prints, I live for my public art projects, which bring art out of the gallery and to people on the street.”

Luther College is one of a select group of private liberal arts colleges in the United States with a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. Each year, Luther honors outstanding seniors with selection to Phi Beta Kappa. Members are elected on the basis of broad cultural interests, scholarly achievement and good character.

Phi Beta Kappa is the oldest and most respected undergraduate honors organization in the United States. The society has fostered and recognized excellence in the liberal arts and sciences since 1776, and the society’s distinctive emblem, a golden key, is widely recognized as a symbol of academic achievement.