Dragon Fire President Greg Peterson announced today that longtime Dragons Wade Swenson and his wife Gail have accepted the opportunity to be honored as co-chairs for the 2009 Dragon Fire Walk for Athletics. Valuable fixtures on the campus since 1974, the Swensons have made an impact that won't soon be forgotten. “"Wade and Gail recognized the opportunity the Dragon Fire Walk for Athletics afforded our student athletes, but also the greater good that the "Walk" could do for the university, and they became a vital part of the event from it's inception,” Peterson said.
Over the past three decades the Swensons service to MSUM and Dragon Athletics has provided countless opportunities for thousands of students. To honor the Swenson's dedication and commitment while recognizing the opportunities that the scholarships created from the efforts of the Dragon Fire Walk for Athletics provide, the 2009 Dragon Fire Walk for Athletics has become a “Walk of Opportunity”.
Widely respected for work in and out of the classroom, Wade and and Gail have been strong supporters of Dragon Athletics. “When I think of Wade Swenson, I think of all the people he has touched and the opportunities his efforts have provided our students, our peers and our university,” said Dragon Athletic Director Doug Peters. “When I first came to campus I noticed that when Wade spoke, people listened. I knew right away he and Gail were respected leaders on our campus and in our community.”
The 2009 Dragon Fire Walk for Athletics, a Walk of Opportunity will be held on April 18, 2009. The weekend long event includes the Dinner of Opportunity on Friday night. The festivities conclude on Saturday with 5K and 10K runs, Breakfast of Champions, Walk for Athletics, and several athletic alumni games. For information regarding volunteering, participating or donating please email Greg Peterson at walkathn@mnstate.edu or visit www.dragonwalk.com.
THE SWENSON FILE
With 33 years of service under his belt, there aren't many areas of the MSUM campus that Wade Swenson hasn't impacted. He served as the department chair for the Technology Department for 18 years, was the program coordinator for both IT Industrial Distribution and for the IT Technical Management 2+2 program and was instrumental in developing the Construction Management and Industrial Distribution programs.
That experience and expertise served him well as a major writer for the NAIT accreditation documents in '96, '98, and 2000 which, in the beginning, led MSUM's Industrial Technology degree to be one of approximately 30 programs in the country to achieve accreditation.
Swenson received the Academic Affairs Council Excellence Award three times and was also nominated by MSUM for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) Professor of the Year Award in 2005.
Swenson served MSUM as co-chair of the Technology Task Force, which developed the campus's first technology plan and as the co-chair of the Liberal Arts Task Force, which developed and implemented the Dragon Core curriculum.