Index of University Press Releases

April 23, 2007

New trustees named at DWU

Betty Oldenkamp

Don Messer

Jonn Byre

Deanell Backlund

MITCHELL – Four people have joined the Dakota Wesleyan University Board of Trustees.

Betty Oldenkamp, Sioux Falls, received her B.A. from DWU in 1982. She is the president and CEO of Lutheran Social Services of South Dakota. The former cabinet secretary of the South Dakota Department of Health and Human Services, Oldenkamp received several awards for exemplary service. She also received the 2000 DWU Alumni Award for Outstanding Service to State and University, and she served on the DWU Alumni Board from 1998 to 2004. She is native of Murdo.

Don Messer, Centennial, Colo., received his bachelor’s degree from DWU in 1963, and his master’s degree and Doctor of Divinity degree from Boston University. Messer is the executive director of the Center for Church and Global AIDS. He served as president of DWU from 1971 to 1981. From 1981 to 2000, he was president of the Iliff School of Theology in Denver.

Jonn Byre attended DWU in the early 1980s. He is in the rental property and home renovation business in Sioux Falls.

Deanell Backlund is a 1970 DWU graduate. She is a retired middle school teacher from Mitchell. She and her husband, Dave, own Wild Oak Golf Club.