Braaten Resigns as President of Midland Lutheran College

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Dr. Jennifer L. Braaten, president of Midland Lutheran College, Fremont, Neb., resigned from her post effective July 1. Midland is one of 28 college and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
"It is with deep regret and mixed emotions that I announce my decision to leave the Midland Lutheran College community," Braaten said. "With the recent death of my mother, it has become increasingly important to me to be near my family."
Braaten will become president of Ferrum College, Ferrum, Va. Her husband, the Rev. Conrad Braaten, serves as pastor of Reformation Lutheran Church, Washington, D.C. Their son is a student at Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., and daughter resides in Boca Raton, Fla.
Braaten was the first woman to be appointed to the presidency of an ELCA college or university. She became Midland's 13th president in August 1999.
Under her leadership, Midland had an aggressive enrollment plan, initiated advertising efforts, created new faculty and staff positions, and arranged for donations to support it's endowment and scholarship funds. Braaten helped secure a $3.5 million anonymous deferred bequest, a $1 million endowment for scientific excellence and a $395,000 grant from The Teagle Foundation, New York, for board development and staff increases.
From 1991 to 1999, Braaten served as provost and vice president for academic affairs at Lynn University, Boca Raton, Fla. She was academic dean for Lynn University from 1989 to 1991, and a Southern Association of Colleges and Schools self-study director at the university from 1988 to 1990. From 1980 to 1988 Braaten taught sociology and U.S. history at the College of Boca Raton, Boca Raton, Fla. She served as an adjunct professor of U.S. and Latin American history at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, and taught sociology and history at Palm Beach Community College, Boca Raton. Braaten taught history and sociology at the high school level from 1969 to 1980.
Braaten earned a doctorate in education with "high distinction" at Florida Atlantic University in 1987 and a master's degree in education there in 1976. She earned a bachelor of science degree, "summa cum laude," at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, in 1969. She also attended St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn. -- a college of the ELCA -- from 1967 to 1968; the University of Vienna, Austria, in 1968; and the University of Oregon, Eugene, from 1965 to 1967.
The board for Midland "understands Dr. Braaten's reasons for accepting her new position, and we thank her for her service," said Lloyd Brooks, chair of Midland's board of trustees. "The board is committed to continuing the level of excellence for which Midland is known," he said.

**Catherine D. Tibbels is director of public relations at Midland Lutheran College.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
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