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Carol Lagergren is a Visiting Instructor in the Education Department. After working 32 years in K-12 education as a classroom teacher and administrator, she moved to Gustavus and taught for several years focusing on Middle and Secondary School Education courses. She currently supervises and supports student teachers in the Education Program. 

Dr. Lucas Rapisarda is a visiting professor of biology. As an environmental social scientist, his research interests sit at the nexus of environment and society, specifically how physical and sociocultural access to the environment impacts the sense of place and natural resource use of historically marginalized communities in the outdoors. At Gustavus, Dr. Rapisarda teaches introductory and organismal biology, as well as an upper-level ornithology course. 

Dr. Claire Woebke began teaching at Gustavus in 2022 as a visiting instructor in the Department of Health and Exercise Science. In 2024, she became an assistant professor and the research coordinator for the Master of Athletic Training Program. She teaches courses on medical and behavioral health conditions, athletic training leadership, and functional return-to-play, as well as the entirety of the Master of Athletic Training Program research sequence. Her own research focuses on embedding cultural humility training and experiences into healthcare education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Lynnea H. Myers, PhD, PhD MSN, RN is a dual PhD-trained nurse and researcher specializing in pediatrics, child development, asthma, and digital health. She currently serves as the faculty mentor for the Gustavus team for the Innovation Scholars Program. She most recently worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden and a Visiting Research Fellow at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Prior to those roles, she was an Associate Professor of Nursing at Gustavus Adolphus College. Her research interests focus on leveraging artificial intelligence and remote monitoring devices to improve pediatric asthma management.

Mr. Tengwall is a visiting professor in the Department of Business & Economics, where he engages students on a range of topics including Management & Leadership, Business Models & Growth Strategy, Sales & Marketing, and Supply Chain/Operations Management. He also serves on the Boards of two companies and provides management consulting services to a range of businesses.

Previously, Mr. Tengwall had a 12-year career with the Marmon Group, a Berkshire Hathaway Company. During this time he was President of EcoWater Systems LLC (2019 – 2024), a leading North American manufacturer and marketer of residential and light commercial water softening and filtration systems. Prior to that, he was president of Marmon Food & Beverage Solutions Group (2013 – 2019), which was comprised of two different businesses, Marmon Link and Marmon Renew. Marmon Link (previous dba 3Wire Group Inc) is a provider of parts, training and service for foodservice and beverage dispensing equipment. Marmon Renew is a re-manufacturer of commercial beverage dispensing and related foodservice equipment.

Prior to his executive leadership roles with Marmon/Berkshire Hathaway, he had a 17-year career with Ecolab (NYSE: ECL). There he held several progressively more responsible leadership roles in the Institutional and Food & Beverage operating divisions. He led the marketing function for both business segments and engaged in multiple acquisitions as part of the overall business growth strategy.

Mr. Tengwall began his career as a microbiologist in the Sterilization Technology & Process Control Validation group at The Upjohn Company (now Pfizer). He then pivoted into marketing and business development roles with IMI Cornelius Inc., a subsidiary (at the time) of IMI plc.

Dr. Jeff Ford has been a visiting assistant professor of mathematics at Gustavus since 2016. He has taught almost every mathematics course offered at Gustavus. His research is in topology, dynamical systems, and mathematics education. Dr. Ford has supervised three honors theses, two interdisciplinary research projects, and six independent studies. He has co-authored two books in dynamical systems and one in linear algebra. He is committed to providing open access educational materials to students and encouraging teachers to use active and inclusive pedagogy. To that end, he has presented more than 20 times at conferences on active learning and alternative grading. 

Dr. Andrew Kendall serves as Associate Director of Choral Activities as well as Conductor of the Lucia Singers and the Choir of Christ Chapel. In addition to conducting his ensembles, he teaches courses in music education methods and conducting. Prior to his appointment at Gustavus, he served as Visiting Instructor and Conductor of The Gustavus Choir during the Spring 2023 semester. He earned his DMA in choral conducting at The University of Iowa, his MM in choral conducting at Louisiana State University, and his BA in music education from Gustavus Adolphus College. He has served as conductor of The Gustavus Choir, the LSU Chamber Singers, The University of Iowa Voxman Chorale, The University of Iowa University Choir, Musicorum, The St. John's Boys' Choir, and has held church music positions in Minnesota, Louisiana, and Iowa. He is a frequent choral clinician, guest conductor, and adjudicator.

Andrew Evenson ’09 has been a Professor in the Business and Economics Department at Gustavus since January 2025. After many years of practicing law and working in public accounting (International Tax – Transfer Pricing), Andrew made the transition to higher education and finds great satisfaction in returning to his alma mater and helping students prepare for careers and life. 

Since Fall 2023, Andrew (“Big E” to his team) has been an assistant coach with the Gustavus Men’s Golf Team. Andrew was a member of the team when he was a student at Gustavus and is so thrilled to be back with the program and supporting student-athletes. His focus in supporting the team is to get to know each player, highlight their strengths, and encourage each player to take satisfaction in making improvement over time.

Andrew has a passion for finding effective ways to explain the principles and processes of accounting so that students can explore the rewarding careers available to them. Through training staff, informing clients, and assisting student-athletes in his various prior roles; he discovered that different methods work for different audiences, but when you find the right mix of instruction, it is very satisfying to open doors for greater exploration, communication, and progress.

Andrew’s accounting career got started as a 2009 accounting major (History minor) graduate from Gustavus. While at Gustavus, he learned fundamental concepts and applied them through modeling and team projects. His professors were very helpful in one-on-one meetings helping him when he felt stuck or guiding his team when they were running into issues. He appreciates that the professors presented varied challenges and held him to high standards because that process gave him the confidence and skills to tackle the difficult tasks and projects of his career.

After graduating from Gustavus, Andrew attended William Mitchell College of Law (now known as Mitchell Hamline School of Law) in St. Paul, MN and received his Juris Doctor degree from there in the spring of 2012. The experience expanded his research, investigation, and learning skills while also giving him the opportunity to work with professors, visiting professionals, and fellow students who provided him with a network of support and wisdom.

Andrew’s teaching methods present concepts in various ways so that students with different learning styles can be reached and to increase the chances that students can recall those concepts and apply those concepts with adaptability (i.e., regular interactive Q&A, stories and examples to bring concepts to life, and projects where the students get to practice applying the concepts and communicating with a team). He also administers examinations with problems that present various levels of difficulty so that students can show what they’ve learned, be proud when they succeed, and learn lessons when they don’t know the full or best answer.

Chris Nolting has been a Visiting Assistant Professor of Physics at Gustavus since 2023. In his classes, he focuses on including many worked example problems and opportunities for hands on learning in groups, and as many physics demonstrations as possible. As a computational astrophysicist, he enjoys showcasing examples related to astronomy whenever possible. His research focuses on the study of galaxy cluster environments and powerful jets from active galactic nuclei, supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies that accrete matter and power some of the brightest objects in the universe. This work is mainly done through numerical simulations on compute clusters and supercomputers using up to tens of thousands of processors simultaneously. Gustavus students working on research with Chris learn coding languages and data visualization techniques, and even 3D print some of the structures they simulate.

Chris is the faculty advisor to the Society of Physics Students and the Gustavus Engineering Club.

Outside of Gustavus, Chris a self-identifying nerd. He is a lover of board games, magic the gathering, Marvel movies, anime, and going on walks with his dog.
 

A Minnesota native, Steve Mellema received his undergraduate degree (with majors in physics and mathematics) from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1972. Following his graduation, he spent six years in Malaysia as a teacher and trainer with the United States Peace Corps. He subsequently attended graduate school at Ohio University, receiving a Ph.D. in experimental nuclear physics in 1983. 

Following postdoctoral positions at Ohio University and the University of Wisconsin, he joined the faculty at Gustavus in 1986. He taught in the physics department through 40 years of graduating classes, and also served three terms as chair of the department. 

As an active member of the American Association of Physics Teachers, Steve incorporated the results of physics-education research into his own teaching of physics for more than three decades, including peer instruction, cooperative-group problem solving, computer simulations, and studio methods. Steve was fortunate to receive two Fulbright Scholar appointments to Malaysia, and used them to bring some of those advancements in physics pedagogy to his adopted "second home'", teaching at the School of Physics at Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang. 

Over the years, he has also led four study-abroad courses taking Gustavus students to visit and study Malaysia. Steve retired from active teaching in 2025, and is currently a Research Professor of Physics.