The Waldorf Lutheran College Foundation is accountable to the Foundation Board of Directors which ensures effective governance over the policies and financial resources of the organization. Those currently serving on the Foundation Board are as follows:
Chairman
Ray Beebe
Beebe is vice president, general counsel and secretary of Winnebago Industries, Inc. in Forest City. He received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Iowa State University in 1964 and his juris doctorate from the University of Iowa in 1967. He is involved with numerous community service and professional organizations and currently serves on the board of directors for: Forest City Economic Development Corporation, Forest City Dollars for Education (president), Iowa Law School Foundation, and Francis Lauer Youth Services in Mason City, IA. He is also a member of the Forest City Rotary Club, Forest City Evening Lions Club, Lawyer’s Committee (past chairman) and Public and Legislative Affairs Committee of the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association, and Immanuel Lutheran Church in Forest City (past president).
Vice Chair
Les Swenson
Swenson retired in 2000 as vice-president of Finance/IT in the cardiac rhythm management business for Medtronic, Inc. in Minneapolis, Minn. Previously, he served in various financial and management roles during his 30-year career at Medtronic, including audit manager, European controller and international controller. Before Medtronic, he served three years in administrative positions at IBM and four years in public accounting firms. He is a certified public accountant and completed the executive program at the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration. Swenson received his associate degree from Waldorf College and his bachelor’s degree in business administration and economics from Mankato State College. Since his retirement, he has worked with the Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches, Kinship of Greater Minneapolis, House of Hope Lutheran Church and World Voices. He served on the Waldorf Alumni Board. He received the Waldorf College 2004 Distinguished Alumni Service Award.
Secretary
Rev. Rod Hopp
The Rev. Hopp is senior pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Forest City. From 2000 to 2005, he was pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Belmond, Iowa and associate pastor at St. John Lutheran in Council Bluffs, Iowa from 2006 to 2008. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in religion from Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa in 1996 and a master’s of divinity from Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio, in 2000. His community service includes sitting on the board of directors for Belmond Area Chamber of Commerce and the In Jesus Name Services and he was Mr. Habitat 2007 for the Habitat for Humanity Council Bluffs Chapter.
Treasurer
Richard J. Corcoran ’70
Corcoran, who currently serves on both the College and Foundation boards, is the executive vice president in wealth management for First National Bank in Sioux Falls, S.D. Corcoran is also chairman of the Trust Committee of the Board of Directors, and a member of the Trust Investment Committee, the Trust Review Committee; the senior management team of the bank, the bank’s board of directors and the bank’s holding company board of directors. Before joining the First National Bank staff in 1991, Corcoran was a partner and shareholder of Woods, Fuller, Shultz & Smith, P.C., a business law firm in Sioux Falls from 1981 to 1991. He worked as a bank officer for First Northwestern Trust Co. of South Dakota from 1979 to 1981 and a trust officer for Northwestern National Bank of St. Paul, Minnesota from 1979-1979. Corcoran received his associate degree from Waldorf College, bachelor’s degree from Augustana College in Sioux Falls and juris doctorate from Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul, Minn. He is a certified financial planner and graduated from ABA Graduate School of Business at Georgetown University in 2006. Corcoran is on the South Dakota Guardianship Program Board of Trustees, University of Sioux Falls Foundation Board and South Dakota Achieve Foundation Board of Directors.
Other Board Members
Diane Clark ’72
Clark is a physical therapist for Institute for Athletic Medicine in Minnetonka, Minn. and has worked for five years in in-patient care at North Memorial Medical Center. Clark also has 30 years out-patient clinical experience. She holds an associate degree from Waldorf College, a bachelor’s degree from the University of Northern Iowa and a degree in physical therapy from the University of Iowa. Clark’s community service activities include: the American Physical Therapy Association, volunteering with Reach for Recovery (American Cancer Society), Special Olympics and Families Moving Forward which helps displaced families through Calvary Lutheran Church. She has served on the Waldorf Alumni Board and Waldorf Board of Regents.
Travis Finstad ’76
Finstad is a Senior Vice President and Director of Internal Audit at Zions Bancorporation in Salt Lake City, UT. He is a seasoned audit professional with over twenty years of experience in financial services. Travis has a history of leading and managing top tier internal audit functions, as well as improving efficiency and effectiveness of teams and functions. Prior to joining Zions, he was with Wells Fargo Audit & Security for eleven years, and held various positions including SVP & Senior Audit Director and VP & IT Audit Manager. Before joining Wells Fargo, Travis served as VP – IT Audit and in various IT audit leadership positions at Norwest Corporation. Travis received his Associate degree in Business Administration from Waldorf College at Forest City and a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Business Administration (Finance) from Minnesota State University at Mankato, Minnesota, and a Master’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Management Information Systems from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. He is an active member in the Institute of Internal Auditors and Information Systems Audit and Control Association. In the latter, he has been president and held board positions over the past 10 years. Finstad is a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), a Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC), and a Certified Risk Professional (CRP).
Cecilia Horner
Horner is a retired from Ames High School in Ames, Iowa, where she taught several courses including English, advanced composition, speech and writing. She also taught speech at Iowa State University and Des Moines Area Community College and at high schools in Illinois and Minnesota. She has a bachelor’s degree from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., and a master’s degree from Iowa State University. Horner is an honorary member of the National Honor Society and Phi Kappa Phi. She has presented at Barcelona, Spain and in St. Louis, Mo.
Brian Sansgaard ’77 — Owner, Prairie Brand Seed Company; Story City, Iowa
Scott Yegge ’93 – Dentist; Advanced Family Dentistry; Ankeny, Iowa