Company Profile
Luther College
Company Overview
Luther enrolls about 1,800 students and is ranked among the nation’s top liberal arts institutions. The college is a Phi Beta Kappa campus nationally recognized for its engaging Paideia program, the number of students awarded prestigious Rhodes and Fulbright scholarships, and the percentage of students who study abroad. Luther provides an education experience that encourages students to learn actively, live purposefully, and lead courageously for a lifetime of impact.
Luther’s music program enjoys international distinction, its student-athletes participate in the competitive Division III American Rivers Conference, and the college is a leader in environmental sustainability. Founded by Norwegian immigrants, Luther’s identity as a college in the Lutheran tradition (ELCA) and its membership in the Network of ELCA Colleges and Universities (NECU) mark it as a community that is both rooted and open. Neither sectarian nor secular, Luther College shapes lives of meaning and purpose in service to the neighbor.
Luther is located in Decorah, in the extreme northeast corner of Iowa, and an easy driving distance to Rochester, MN, home of the Mayo Clinic, and La Crosse, WI. The population is close to 8000, and Decorah is a warm and vibrant town that offers plentiful recreation and natural beauty; a charming downtown with numerous restaurants, coffeehouses, craft breweries, an independent bookstore, a nationally recognized and an accredited museum of Norwegian-American culture. Recently, U.S. News & World Report named Decorah High School a top high school in Iowa. Decorah was also featured in Smithsonian Magazine’s annual list of the 20 best small towns to visit in America, as well as being named on Forbes’ “America’s Prettiest Towns” list. Traveliowa.com has Decorah appearing on 10 different “top location” lists. In 2020, Thrillist named Decorah “The Must-Visit Small Town” in Iowa.
Company History
In August 1861, Luther College was established at vacant parsonage at Halfway Creek, Wis., about 13 miles north of La Crosse. There the school opened on September 1, 1861, with two teachers, Laur. Larsen and F. A. Schmidt. Larsen and Schmidt also served as pastors for the immigrants then living in the area. The enrollment for the year was 16.
In the summer of 1862 the school was transferred to Decorah; its first home was the building, still standing, at the northwest corner of Winnebago and Main streets. The first building on the college campus was "Main," dedicated October 14, 1865.
The present Main building is the third "Main" to stand on the same site, the two preceding having been destroyed by fire in 1889 and 1942. Though college work was begun in 1861, the Civil War, illness, and other causes left none of that year's freshman class to graduate in 1865. The first graduating class, therefore, was that of 1866.
The classical curriculum established by the founders of the college was changed in 1932 when the requirement that all students take both Greek and Latin was dropped. For 75 years the school admitted men only; then, in 1936, Luther College became coeducational. When the institution celebrated its centennial in 1961, it had an enrollment of 1,357 and a staff of 74 full-time and 12 part-time teachers.
Expansion has marked Luther's second century, and when the college celebrated its sesquicentennial in 2011, there were just under 2,500 students and 180 full-time faculty. Over the years the college had expanded its academic program to include the professional areas of nursing and social work, several pre-professional programs, and a robust study abroad program—all grounded in Luther's commitment to the liberal arts. Three endowed centers—the Center for Ethics and Public Engagement, the Center for Sustainable Communities and the Torgerson Center for Nordic Studies—also strengthened opportunities for student learning.
The college had also expanded physically since 1960, with an extensive building program that included a new student union, library, science hall, field house and athletic complex, three residence halls, a music building, and a center for worship and performing arts. Further growth took place in the 1990s and 2000s, with the addition of Farwell Hall, a major expansion of the field house, renamed the Regents Center, the Franklin W. Olin Building, Baker Village, Legends Fitness Center, The Center for the Arts, an expansion of Jenson-Noble Hall of Music, Sampson Hoffland Laboratories, Bentdahl Commons, and an aquatic center.
Benefits
Luther College offers an excellent benefit package including expansive paid time off program, generous retirement contribution, competitive health insurance premiums, short- and long-term disability, life insurance, and tuition benefits for employee, spouse, and dependents.