News Archives - 2004

Jean M. Taylor, president of Taylor Corporation and resident of Eagan, Minn., was elected to a two-year term as Chair of the Augsburg College Board of Regents Saturday, May 1 at the Board's regular meeting at the College.

Taylor, who has served on the board since 1994, succeeds Kathryn Tunheim, who is completing her second term as chair of the board. Tunheim, president and CEO of Tunheim Partners, is a resident of Stillwater, Minn.

Taylor, who earned her B.A. with a major in business administration from Augsburg in 1985, also is co-chair of Augsburg's Capital Campaign Cabinet, which oversees the College's newly announced $55 million campaign: "Access to Excellence: The Campaign for Augsburg College." During her tenure on the board she has chaired the Marketing committee, and served on both the Regent's and Executive committees. She also holds an MBA in management support systems from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota, earned in 1988.

In addition to her board leadership at Augsburg, she is active on a number of other community and non-profit organizations.
Other officers elected to leadership positions for two-year terms include H. Theodore (Ted) Grindal, Eden Prairie, Minn., vice chair; Joan Volz, Welch, Minn., treasurer; and Tracy Elftmann, Minneapolis, secretary.

Grindal, a 1976 Augsburg graduate in political science and communications, is a partner in the Minneapolis law firm of Lockridge Grindal Nauen P.L.L.P. He holds his Juris Doctorate from the University of Minnesota Law School (1979) and served as special assistant in the Minnesota Attorney General's office from 1980-83. He has served as a board member of the Minnesota Center for the Arts and is currently a member of the board (and past president) of the International Hearing Foundation. He has served on the Augsburg board since 1996.

Volz, a 1968 graduate of Augsburg, majoring in philosophy with minors in chemistry and religion, also has been on the Augsburg board since 1994. She earned both her law degree and an MBA in general management from the University of Minnesota. She has served as a member of the Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board and on the Ethics Committee of the Ramsey County Bar Association. Her other roles on the Augsburg board have included vice chair of the Finance committee and the Regent's committee.

Elftmann, a 1981 graduate of Augsburg, is president and founder of Customized Employer Services, LLC, a company that offers employment law advice, employee and managerial training, and workplace investigations. She holds her masters of law degree from the Columbia University (NY) School of Law and has been a partner with Mackall, Crounse & Moore and an associate at Faegre & Benson law firms. She served as Deputy Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Rights and as an attorney for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Washington, D.C. Elected to the Augsburg board in 1996, she also serves on the Executive and Government and Community Relations committees and is past president of the Augsburg Alumni Board