Annual Dana College event celebrates key donors

Every year for nine years, Dana College has honored its history, its benefactors and its environment by celebrating Arbor Day. Trees are planted in honor of some of Dana’s greatest friends and supporters, so that their gifts to the college will be remembered for years.

“ We chose our Arbor Day celebration as a time to celebrate another kind of growth, the beauty that makes our campus special,” Dr. Myrvin Christopherson, president, told the crowd gathered at the event. “We celebrate and give thanks on this day for the students who earn scholarships that enable them to attend Dana. We also give thanks for the alumni and friends of Dana whose gifts enable us to award the scholarships.”

This year’s Arbor Day honorees were Harold and Marian Andersen of Omaha and the Irving F. Jensen Construction Company, Irving and Tigger Jensen owners, of Sioux City, Iowa. They were guests at a special celebration held April 29 on Dana’s campus in Blair, Neb.

“ The two couples we honor today share many features in common,” Christopherson said. “The husband in each case is Danish-American. The family names — Andersen and Jensen — testify to that heritage. Both couples are a source of great pride to us and to their cities and states.”

The Jensens have had ties to Dana for decades. Irving Jensen Jr. and his wife, Tigger, continue the support passed on by Irving’s father, the late Irving Jensen Sr., and his wife, Elizabeth. Irving Sr. was a trustee of Dana for many years. A scholarship was established by the Jensen family and construction company to honor Irving Sr. and Elizabeth.

Irving Jr. and Tigger have continued the family’s support of Dana. Irving has worked road construction all his life. The oldest of the Jensen children, he graduated from Yale University School of Engineering and served as an officer in the U.S. Air Force before working full-time for Jensen and Krage Contractors in Sioux City, and then for the Irving F. Jensen Company. He is still director and secretary-treasurer of a group of family-related companies that employ between 500 and 600 people. Tigger is active with Irving in many Sioux City community projects as well as her involvement in many church and community volunteer efforts.

The Andersens also have a long history of involvement with Dana. Besides years of continual support of Dana, Harold is the holder of an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from Dana, given to him in recognition of his service to the state of Nebraska and journalism.

Harold is known to most as immediate past publisher and chief executive officer of the Omaha World-Herald Company, where he still contributes a column several times a week. He has brought pride to his state for his service as president of the International Federation of Newspaper Publishers, the first American to hold the position. Marion is also a major figure in Nebraska. She has served as chairwoman of the University of Nebraska Foundation, vice chairwoman of the American National Red Cross Board of Governors, trustee of Doane College and Nebraska Historical Society, and on the board of PBS.

“ Harold and Marian are among Nebraska’s most loyal supporters,” Christopherson said. “There is hardly a volunteer effort that I prize to which they have not been key donors.”

Dana College is a place where all students actively participate. They make things happen — in their own lives and in the lives of others. Through a highly supportive faculty and campus community, Dana students develop interpersonal skills, leadership abilities, and other important values and knowledge as they make choices about their future. Dana’s outstanding academic programs in business, education, music and social work, among others, ensure that students have the knowledge, skills and experience necessary to pursue challenging careers or placement in graduate school.

Dana College is a private, liberal arts institution in Blair, Neb. To learn more, visit www.dana.edu.

Dana College: Develop talents, Take charge, Build a future — We’re with you all the way.

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For more information contact:
Sarah Cavanah
Communications Coordinator
Dana College
(402) 426-7216
scavanah@dana.edu