Hanson to retire as BSU, NTC president

BEMIDJI -- Dr. Richard Hanson announced Tuesday that he will retire June 30 after six years as president of BSU and Northwest Technical College.
Hanson announced his decision to faculty and staff Tuesday morning during BSU’s traditional All-University Meeting, which kicks off the new academic year, according to a press release. Classes start Monday at BSU and NTC.
“This is the best job I’ve ever had at the best place I’ve ever been,” Hanson, 65, told the breakfast gathering of several hundred people in the Beaux Arts Ballroom of Hobson Memorial Union, according to a press release from BSU.
“This is a fabulous institution, and we are on the verge of some really good things.”
He is scheduled to meet Wednesday with the faculty and staff of NTC.
Chancellor Steven Rosenstone of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system said a national search for Hanson’s successor will begin in fall, with the goal of having a new president of both schools in place by July 1.
In the release, Rosenstone said he will visit Bemidji soon to meet with students, faculty, staff and community members about the search.
Hanson’s decision to retire comes at the end of his current contract. He said the decision was a difficult one, but that he looks forward to more time with his wife, Diane, and their family, the release said. Hanson joked about the frequent four-hour trips to attend MnSCU meetings in St. Paul.
“I’ve still got some gas in my tank, but I don’t want to use it driving to St. Paul,” he said in the release.
43-year career
Hanson took office as president of BSU and NTC in July 2010, appointed by the MnSCU Board of Trustees. He succeeded Jon Quistgaard, who served from 2001-2010. Hanson is BSU’s 10th president.
Hanson previously was interim president of North Dakota State University and president at Waldorf College in Forest City, Iowa.
Hanson also was dean of the college and vice president for academic affairs at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, S.D., from 1995 to 2005. He also served NDSU for 15 years as a professor, department chair, dean and associate vice president for academic affairs, according to the release. He was was chair of the Department of Home Economics at California State University, Chico.
Hanson earned his bachelor’s degree in sociology and his master’s degree in child development and family relations, both from NDSU, and a doctorate in applied behavioral science from the University of California-Davis.
Imagine Tomorrow
Hanson’s tenure at BSU included leading the school’s first-ever comprehensive fundraising campaign, “Imagine Tomorrow” -- set to conclude in June after five years with an initial goal of $35 million for scholarships and academic investment, the release said.
Another tenet of Hanson’s time at BSU-NTC is a renewed emphasis on international recruitment and education abroad.
Several major campus improvement projects also came under Hanson’s watch. Memorial Hall, completed as a gymnasium in 1940, will reopen this month after a year of construction as the new $14 million home of the BSU’s business and accounting departments, the release said. In fall 2016, a 54-bed apartment building called University Heights is scheduled to open just west of the BSU campus on Bemidji Avenue, the result of a public-private partnership initiated by Hanson.
In the 2016 legislative session, BSU will be seeking $18.1 million in state bonding funds to replace 35-year-old Hagg-Sauer Hall with a smaller, state-of-the-art, academic learning center.
BSU’s partnership with NTC the only one of its kind in MnSCU, also was strengthened during his tenure, the release said. The schools now share more academic collaboration as well as sharing administrative duties in several areas.
The MnSCU presidential search process will formally begin with appointment of a search advisory committee that will include students, faculty, staff and community members, the release said. The committee will be chaired by the president of a college or university within MnSCU.
In his remarks Tuesday morning, Hanson said he has confidence in the process to select the university’s 11th president.
“In my experience, there is no role the chancellor takes more seriously than identifying world-class talent to serve as presidents of our institutions,” he said in the release. “Dr. Rosenstone has a deep appreciation of the importance the president plays in the communities we serve.”