Michael Osterholm elected to Luther College Board of Regents

Luther College President Paula Carlson announced the election of four new regents to the college's Board of Regents: Jeffrey Anderson, Sandee Joppa, Michael Osterholm and James N. Young.

"We are so pleased to welcome Regents Anderson, Joppa, Osterholm and Young to the Board of Regents," said President Carlson. "They bring years of professional experience in financial management, human resources, health and higher education to the Board, along with a deep commitment to Luther College. As Luther alumni and parents, they understand the value of a Luther education, and their service as regents will strengthen the college for generations to come."

Anderson, Joppa and Young joined the Board of Regents in February, while Osterholm will begin his service as a regent in May. Osterholm is Regents Professor and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. He holds the McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair in Public Health at the University of Minnesota.

In 2005, Osterholm was appointed to the newly established National Science Advisory Board on Biosecurity. In 2008, he was named to the University of Minnesota Academic Health Center's Academy of Excellence in Health Research and appointed to the World Economic Forum Working Group on Pandemics.

From 2001 through early 2005, Osterholm also served as a special adviser to then-Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson on issues related to bioterrorism and public health preparedness. Thompson appointed Osterholm in April 2002 to be his representative on the interim management team to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Osterholm assisted the new director through the transition period until January 2003.

Osterholm served for 24 years in various roles at the Minnesota Department of Health, the last 15 as state epidemiologist and chief of the Acute Disease Epidemiology Section. While at the Minnesota Department of Health, Osterholm and his team were leaders in the area of infectious disease epidemiology and were among the first to call attention to the changing epidemiology of foodborne diseases.

Osterholm is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a frequent consultant to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, National Institutes of Health, Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Defense. His latest book, "Common Enemy Dispatches from the War with Deadly Pathogens: The Fight We Cannot Afford to Lose," will be published by Little, Brown and Company in December 2016.

A 1971 Waukon High School graduate and 1975 graduate of Luther College, Osterholm holds master's and doctoral degrees in environmental health and a Master of Public Health degree in epidemiology, all from the University of Minnesota. A Waukon native and the son of Abigail Osterholm of Waukon, Osterholm resides in St. Louis Park, MN. He has two children, Erin and Ryan.