Showing 25 results

The founder of Pacific Lutheran University, Bjug Aanondson, was born on December 17, 1848 on a farm named Harstad in Valle, Setesdal, Norway to father Aanond Tellefson Aakre and mother Torbjør Kittilsdatter Harstad. He was one of ten children in the very poor family. Young Bjug took care of the cattle at the family farm called Gangshei above Harstad during the winter months and in the mountains during the summer months.

Bjug and his family emigrated to America in 1861 where they settled in Illinois and Minnesota. He continued his education in the US and was accepted as a student at Luther College in 1865 where he changed his last name to Harstad upon a suggestion of the president of the college. He studied theology at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis from 1871 to 1874. It was his experiences there that became the model for the rest of Bjug's scholarly and religious life. After seminary, he traveled as a pastor to remote places in Minnesota where he built schools and churches.

Bjug Harstad was married February 14, 1877 to Guro Omlid in Minnesota. She was a native of Valle and was born September 29, 1858. In 1889, the church sent Bjug Harstad to the Pacific Coast where he visited Portland, Seattle and Tacoma. He returned to Minnesota and it was decided that Brookdale (as Parkland was called then) should be the important Lutheran education center of the Northwest.

The Pacific Lutheran University Association was incorporated December 11, 1890 with Bjug Harstad as president. The cornerstone for the first building, Old Main, was laid October 4, 1891. The occasion of the cornerstone was a grand event photo of the event. Several Lutheran pastors spoke both in Norwegian and in English and the president of the Norwegian Synod sent greetings with his hope that the undertaking would succeed.

In 1917 the Norwegian Synod that Pacific Lutheran University was founded under, merged with the United Church and the Hauge Synod to celebrate the four hundredth anniversary of the Reformation. Harstad refused to join the new Norwegian Lutheran Church, thus formally separating himself from the school he had founded. Bjug Aanondson Harstad died on 20 June 1933 at age 84. His wife Guro, eight of his children, and eleven grandchildren survived him. Old Main was renamed Harstad Hall in 1960 in honor of Bjug Harstad. A granite monument in Valle Norway was dedicated to him on June 26, 1983.

University Photographer, Pacific Lutheran University: 2002-2009

Addresses: 901 Commerce, Rust Building, Townsend Building, Rust Building

Nils J. Hong was born 7 February 1866 in Westby, Wisconsin, and the family moved to Minnesota shortly thereafter. He attended the Willmar Seminary in Minnesota off and on from 1881 to 1892, and taught public school when he was not attending classes. Hong graduated from Luther College in 1895 and returned to Willmar Seminary as an instructor.

In 1897 Hong came to Pacific Lutheran Academy as a professor, where he taught at least a dozen subjects over his many years at the institution. He took over from Bjug Harstad as president in 1898, oversaw the official accreditation of the school, and helped to start Parkland Light and Water (now the oldest operating nonprofit public utility in the US), as well as many other advancements until PLA briefly closed in 1918. During the closure, Hong took a position as an English teacher at Lincoln High School in Tacoma.

After PLA merged with Columbia College and reopened as Pacific Lutheran College, Hong returned and taught languages and literature there until his retirement in 1938. He died the following year.

Addresses: 1516 Pacific, 1535 Commerce, California Building, Washington Building

Addresses: 1017 Pacific , 919 C, California Block, 903 Tacoma Ave S

Address: 407 Garfield

The Olsen family relocated from Detroit, Michigan to Tacoma, Washington in 1947. Dr. Robert Olsen joined the faculty of Pacific Lutheran College that year as a Professor of Chemistry and would continue in this role until 1976. He and wife Josephine ("Jo") Olsen and sons Richard ("Dick"), Robert Jr. ("Bob"), James ("Jim"), and Paul moved into a College-owned house located at 502 S. 124th Street. In Tacoma, the family expanded to include Ruth in 1951 and Timothy in 1953. Four members of the Olsen family are Pacific Lutheran University alumni: Dick Olsen (Class of 1959), Bob Jr. (Class of 1963), Jim Olsen (Class of 1963), and Paul Olsen (Class of 1967).

Janet Rasmussen was born in Paxton, Illinois on April 21, 1949. After attending University of Illinois for her undergraduate degree, she went on to Harvard University for her Ph.D. in Germanic Languages and Literatures in 1975. She stayed at Harvard from 1975-1977 when she became the Assistant to the Dean of Harvard College. Then she moved to the Pacific Northwest in 1977 where she was a founder of the Scandinavian Area Studies Program and became the first woman to hold the position of Dean of Humanities at Pacific Lutheran University. 1991-1996 Janet was the Vice President for Academic Affairs at Nebraska Wesleyan University. She then became the President of Hollins College in Roanoke, Virginia before returning to PLU to be the Director of the Wang Center for International Programs. Janet has written several books, articles, and other publications. She also established the immigrant oral history archive during her time at PLU.

Names: Richards Film Service (1919), Richards Commercial Photo Service (1949)
Address: C of C Building