Luke HansonStaff

Luke joined the Gustavus Advancement team in April 2018. In his role as Director of Planned and Reunion Giving, he provides leadership for the College's planned giving program, with a special focus on alumni whose graduating classes are nearing 40-year and 50-year graduation anniversary milestones. Luke is also the College's liaison for Gustavus donors in a large geographic territory, including Washington state, Oregon, Montana, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri.

Luke grew up in Brookings, South Dakota, and is the son of an ELCA pastor and an elementary school teacher. He is a graduate of Luther College in Decorah, Iowa with a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies. As a Luther student, he enjoyed four international travel experiences: a month-long residency in Austria with the Symphony Orchestra, a tour of the British Isles with the Nordic Choir, a semester in northwest India, and a summer in Oslo, Norway through the Nobel Peace Prize Forum’s Peace Scholar program. After his graduation in 2014, Luke spent one year living in rural Rwanda as a member of the ELCA’s Young Adults in Global Mission program.

Before joining the Gustavus team, Luke spent three months as a door-to-door fundraiser for Twin Cities Public Television, and two years as a Development Officer for Concordia University in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He earned a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) in 2019, and the Certified Fund Raising Executive credential (CFRE) in 2021.

Luke lives in Saint Paul with his wife, Jessa. In his free time, he enjoys cooking unfamiliar recipes, playing his cello, and cycling the bike trails of the Twin Cities. Luke and Jessa are members of Saint Paul-Reformation Lutheran Church.