FU president to retire
FU president to retire
By Garrett Neese, DMG Writer
HANCOCK — Finlandia President Robert Ubbelohde and the university board are discussing his date of retirement, he said Friday.
Ubbelohde has been president of Finlandia University since 1991.
In that time, the university has expanded substantially, said university communications director Karen Johnson.
Formerly known as Suomi College, the institution became Finlandia University in 2000. In 1996, it began adding four-year baccalaureate degrees, of which it now offers seven.
And during Ubbelohde’s tenure, Johnson said, enrollment has increased by 60 percent.
“I think he’s an inspiring leader, and in the last 15 years, he’s done wonderful things for Finlandia,” she said.
Board member Ken Seaton cited several other accomplishments, such as ties to institutions in Finlandia, the opening of the Portage Campus in 2005 and the relaunching of the intercollegiate athletic program.
“He’s done a lot to get us where we are,” he said.
Seaton said the retirement would start next July, at the beginning of Finlandia’s next fiscal year.
There will be a nationwide search for Ubbelohde’s replacement, Seaton said.
“He’s had a great record,” he said. “He’s going to be hard to replace.”
Ubbelohde holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a certificate in applied sciences from Harvard University, according to his biography on the Finlandia Web site.
He is also on boards of many community organizations and is the only non-Finnish heritage member of the Expatriate Parliament of Finland.
Garrett Neese can be reached at gneese@mininggazette.com
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