EWC Board of Trustees Announce New President
August 23, 2007
The Eastern Wyoming College Board of Trustees would like to announce the next leader for EWC. Upon completion of the search process, the Board has appointed Dr. Shari Olson.
EWC Board of Trustees President Sherri Lovercheck added the following about Dr. Olson, "The EWC Board of Trustees is proud to announce Dr. Shari Olson has accepted our invitation to serve as President at EWC. She was selected after a comprehensive search process. We selected Dr. Olson because we believe that she will provide energetic and dynamic leadership as we grow our workforce development activities and design our Center for Educational Excellence. Dr. Olson is a talented leader and will be able to build on Dr. Bottenfield's many contributions to our college."
Dr. Olson currently serves as Vice President, Planning and Administrative Services at Northland Community and Technical College, Thief River Falls and East Grand Forks, MN. In her present position she is responsible for the leadership of integrated planning and budgeting, business services, facilities and building maintenance, information technology services, and auxiliary services. Dr. Olson's background also includes extensive work with business and industry training as Northland saw a great rise in workforce development activities. Northland serves approximately 4700 students.
As a first generation college student, Dr. Olson completed her Bachelor of Science degree in 1983. She received her Master's degree from North Dakota State University in 1991, and her Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of North Dakota in 2004. She served as a faculty member for 10 years.
Dr. Olson and her husband Richard Nikunen Jr. are parents to eighth grader Willie. Mr. Nikunen is a psychology faculty member at Northland and serves as the Head Men's Basketball Coach.
Dr. Olson will begin her term as President at EWC on December 15, 2007.
"It is truly an honor to be selected as president at Eastern Wyoming College. I look forward to meeting the community of learners at EWC, and believe we will build upon the strong foundation that Dr. Bottenfield developed during his presidency of this wonderful institution," added Dr. Olson.
