News Archives - 1998

Kathryn H. Tunheim, Chair of the Augsburg College Board of Regents, announces the election of five new board members. They are Kurt V. BlueDog of Minnetonka; Jackie Cherryhomes of Minneapolis; Dean C. Kopperud of Eden Prairie; Jose Antonio Machado of Minneapolis; and Ronald J. Peltier of Dellwood, Minn.

BlueDog is the managing attorney for BlueDog, Olson and Small in Bloomington. BlueDog graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1977 and has been in the active practice of Federal Indian law for the past 20 years. During this time he has worked almost exclusively on behalf of Indian Tribal governments and the various instrumentalities of Tribal government. Born and raised on the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota, BlueDog received his bachelor's degree from the University of South Dakota in 1972. He and his wife, Violet BlueDog, are members of St. James Episcopal Church in Waubay, S.D.

Cherryhomes, a 1976 Augsburg graduate, is currently the president of the Minneapolis City Council, a position she has held since 1994. She has served on the Council as a representative of the city's 5th Ward since 1990 and prior to that was a development specialist for the Northside Residents Redevelopment Council. Cherryhomes is involved in numerous civic activities, and she and her husband, F. Clayton Tyler, are members of Pilgrim Baptist Church in St. Paul and the Society of Minds in Minneapolis.

Kopperud has served as president and chief executive officer of Fortis Financial Group in Woodbury, Minn., since 1994. He has been with Fortis since 1989, when he joined the company as senior vice president of sales and marketing. Prior to his current position with the company, Kopperud was president of Fortis Advisers and Fortis Investors. Kopperud has more than 20 years experience in the financial services industry. He and his wife, Susan, have two daughters and are members of Mount Zion Lutheran Church in Minneapolis.

Machado currently serves as pastor of Todos Los Santos Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, a congregation he began as a mission developer and has built into a worship community of 250. Born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Machado was raised in New York and received a bachelor's degree in political science from City College in New York. He earned a master of divinity degree from Luther-Northwestern Seminary in St. Paul. Machado has more than 25 years experience in education and ministry and regularly leads global mission events and youth gatherings. Machado and his wife, Linda, have three sons and one daughter.

Peltier is president and chief executive officer of Edina Realty Home Services, a position he has held since December 1992. Peltier joined Edina Realty in 1977. A graduate of the University of Minnesota, Peltier received a master of business administration degree from the University of St. Thomas. He taught high school and coached hockey in the Twin Cities before joining Edina Realty. Peltier and his wife, Arlie, have a son and a daughter and are members of St. Andrews Lutheran Church in Mahtomedi, Minn.

The new regents were unanimously elected to the board by the governing members of the Augsburg College Corporation, an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America advisory body that oversees operation of the College.