Gustavus Adolphus College President Rebecca Bergman Announces Retirement

The Gustavus Board of Trustees and campus community will launch the search for the College's 18th president this spring in preparation for a presidential transition in summer 2025

SAINT PETER, Minn., April 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Gustavus Adolphus College President Rebecca M. Bergman announced today that she plans to retire in summer 2025 after leading the liberal arts college in Saint Peter, Minnesota, for 11 years.

"The opportunity to serve the Gustavus community has been the highest honor of my professional career," Bergman said in a message to students, faculty, and staff announcing that the 2024-25 academic year will be her last as President."

"President Bergman was hired because of her tremendous capacity to build—everything from trusting relationships and new facilities to financial resources and plans for the future," Board of Trustees Chair Marcia Page '82 said. "She has delivered on those promises and done it as a true servant-leader who is deeply committed to providing Gustavus students with a well-rounded experience and outstanding education."

Bergman, who became the first woman to serve as the College's president in July 2014 after 26 years as an engineer and senior executive at Medtronic, has led Gustavus during a tumultuous and transformational era in higher education.

Highlights of her presidency include: 

• The successful completion of Campaign Gustavus and Show The World, two comprehensive campaigns that generated over $400 million in documented philanthropic support for the College's mission-central work.
  
  
• Developing and executing Gustavus Acts, the College's 2016-2026 strategic plan that focuses on three goals: diversify and expand the Gustavus community; deliver a distinctive and integrated liberal arts education; and achieve financial, institutional, and environmental sustainability.
  
  
• Partnering with the Gustavus faculty to drive academic innovation by developing comprehensive changes to the College's academic curriculum that will be implemented in 2024-25 and creating the College's first master's degree program (Athletic Training), which officially begins in summer 2024.
  
  
• More than doubling the College's endowment from $135 million in July 2014 to $300 million and counting as of March 2024. 
  
  
• Leading several major building projects including: the $70 million expansion and renovation of the Nobel Hall of Science; and the $30 million, expansion of Lund Center, the College's wellness and athletics facility.

"Our community remains committed to the liberal arts tradition and to continuing to be innovative and integrated in our approach to education," Bergman said. "Gustavus is a 24/7 laboratory for learning, and we will continue to evolve to match the aspirations of our students so they are equipped to act on the great challenges of our time."

"President Bergman has given our community many gifts," Page said. "The Board of Trustees and the entire Gustavus community are grateful to President Bergman for her continued service to the College and the culture of excellence she has built that will equip Gustavus for ever-greater success in the future."

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SOURCE Gustavus Adolphus College