Inductees October 1, 2004
Left to Right: Paul Helquist, Rolf Peterson, Odin Christensen, Chancellor Kathryn Martin, Sylvan Bergstahler, Eric Swildens, Dean James Riehl
Dr. Rolf Peterson: Bachelor of Arts – Biology 1970
Dr. Rolf Peterson, a native of Minneapolis, came to UMD in 1966 and
graduated with an undergraduate degree in Zoology in 1970. After a Ph.D. at
Purdue University in 1974, he joined the faculty at Michigan Technological
University, where he is now a professor of wildlife ecology in the School of
Forest Resources and Environmental Sciences. Throughout his career a major
research focus has been on the gray wolf, a species that never fails to
ignite public interest. He has continued a long-term study of wolf and
moose populations in Isle Royale National Park, a project begun by his major
professor at Purdue, Dr. Durward Allen. He has also studied wolf
populations in Alaska, Minnesota, and mainland Michigan, and has advised
research programs involving recovering wolf populations in Yellowstone
National Park and in Norway.
Dr. Peterson is the author of two books, Wolf ecology and prey relationships
on Isle Royale, U.S. National Park Service Scientific Monograph Series No.
11, 1977 and The Wolves of Isle Royale – A Broken Balance, Willow
Creek Press, 1995; as well as the author of 94 technical articles published
in Science (2), Nature (1), and 19 other scientific journals, plus chapters
in 11 books and conference proceedings. During the past decade he has been
awarded the Distinguished Moose Biologist Award, from the 26th North
American Moose Conference for major contribution toward management of moose
in North America; Annual Research Award, Michigan Technological University;
and Best Reporting Award from Minnesota Magazine and publications
Association for article published in Lake Superior magazine entitled
“Of Moose and Wolves”.
Dr. Paul Helquist: Bachelor of Arts – Chemistry 1969
Dr. Paul Helquist received his B.A. in chemistry in 1969 from the University
of Minnesota Duluth. He completed his Ph.D. in organic chemistry in 1972 at
Cornell University. Following a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University,
he joined the faculty at the State University of New York at Stony Brook
rising to the rank of professor of chemistry. In 1984, he moved to Notre
Dame as professor and department chair.
Professor Helquist’s research is concerned with the development of new
methods in synthetic organic chemistry, including the preparation,
structural study, and applications of new transition metal organometallic
complexes as catalysts and reagents for asymmetric synthesis, and the
structure, synthesis, mechanism of action, and pharmaceutical development of
biologically active compounds including antibiotics and antitumor agents,
many of which have their origins as natural products.
In addition to his regular faculty and research responsibilities, he
consults for the pharmaceutical industry, and frequently offers courses and
special lectures elsewhere in the United States and abroad through the
American Chemical Society (ACS) Short Courses and the ACS Speakers Service
Programs. He maintains close collaborative research ties with laboratories
in Sweden, Belgium, Denmark and Japan.
Mr. Eric Swildens: Bachelor of Science – Computer Science 1990
Eric Swildens has been a computer science innovator since his high school
days when he wrote software for the Minnesota Educational Computing
Corporation. He graduated from the University of Minnesota Duluth with a
B.S. in Computer Science in 1990. Mr. Swildens then held a succession of
increasingly challenging positions in software development. In 1996 he
founded Microline Software in Sunnyvale, California, which developed user
interface software. One year later he oversaw the purchase of Microline
Software by Blaze Software and continued to design software for them until
1998 when he joined Resonate, where he oversaw the development of Linux
software. In 1999 Mr. Swildens, with two co-founders, created Speedera
Networks, a web-based content delivery company, where he continues to serve
as Chief Technical Officer. While at Speedera he has been granted five
patents for his software. Mr. Swildens is well known in Silicon Valley as a
high-tech entrepreneur and software developer.
Dr. Odin Christensen: Bachelor of Science – Geology 1970
Dr. Odin Christensen received a B.A. in geology from UMD in 1970 and then
went on to obtain his Ph.D. from Stanford. He spent three years in academia
as an Assistant Professor of Geology at the University of North Dakota where
he taught mineralogy, petrology, geochemistry, and economic geology. He
moved on to a position as Research Geochemist with the Earth Science
Laboratory/University of Utah Research Institute as a member of a team
developing geothermal exploration technology.
In 1981 he joined Newmont and has had a variety of positions, both in
minerals exploration and at company mines. He rose through the ranks to
become Chief Geologist for Newmont Mining Corporation. He left that position
in 2001, to become the Exploration Manager for Empress Minera Inti Raymi for
a year, a mine operated by Newmont. He retired in 2002 to become an
independent consultant. In the past year, he has been working in Mongolia
and Brazil.
He is an avid long-distance mountain runner, having completed the Hardrock
Hundred six times. He and his wife ran the Superior Trail 100 in 2000.
Dr. Sylvan Burgstahler: Mathematics and Statistics Faculty 1961-1997; Department Head 1964-1972
Dr. Sylvan Burgstahler received his undergraduate degrees in Engineering
Mathematics (B.S. ’51), Master of Science (’53) and Ph.D.
(’63) in Mathematics from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. He
was a Fulbright Fellow in 1953-54. He joined the faculty of the UMD
Department of Mathematics in 1961, and he was appointed department head the
following year. During his nine years as head and until his retirement in
1997 Professor Burgstahler played a crucial leadership role in the growth of
the department to its current size. He was instrumental in establishing the
department’s balanced mission emphasizing both excellence in teaching
and scholarly activity. His numerous campus and university service
contributions have had a profound and lasting influence in the development
of our campus to what it is today.
Throughout his career, Dr. Burgstahler has devoted extraordinary time and
energy to the service of the national mathematical community, including
terms as President and Governor of the North Central Section of the
Mathematical Association of America, numerous leadership posts, as well as
charter member and President of the Head-of-the-Lakes Council of Teachers of
Mathematics. His achievements have long been acknowledged by the mathematics
community, and in 1996 Sylvan Burgstahler received the Meritorious Service
Award from the Mathematical Association of America.