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Now that hearings at the Capitol are underway -- University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks 

 -- I thought it would be good to get a glimpse of the people who'll be steering higher-ed legislation.

guide put together by the Minnesota State College Student Associatio

n on the members of both the House and Senate committees on higher education.

is President of the  Senate and will chair the Senate Higher Education Committee this  session.  She was first elected to the Senate in 1996.  Sen. Fischbach  is an alumna of Saint Cloud State University and her district includes  the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University.  This is Sen.  Fischbach’s first time serving on a higher education committee.

will serve as vice chair of the  Senate committee this session.  Sen. Miller is a freshmen legislator who  defeated DFL incumbent and former Higher Education Committee member  Sharon Erickson Ropes by just over 400 votes.  Sen. Miller is an alumnus  of Minnesota State College – Southeast Technical, where he earned an  A.A.S. degree in accounting.  At age 27, Sen. Miller will be the  youngest member of the Senate.

 is the former chair of the  Senate Higher Education Committee and will serve as Minority Lead this  session.  She was elected to her seventh Senate term this November.   Sen. Pappas is an alumna of Metropolitan State University and now  teaches political science there.  She also serves as a Commissioner to  the Midwestern Higher Education Compact.

 was elected to his first term this  November, handily defeating DFL incumbent Lisa Fobbe.  Sen. Brown is an  independent insurance agent, and prior to that he worked for fourteen  years in the Christian music business.

 is a first-term Senator who  unseated DFL incumbent Mary Olson.  Sen. Carlson is an alumnus of  Bemidji State University and now serves as an adjunct professor in  Bemidji State’s business department.  Sen. Carlson also owns an  insurance agency with his wife, Ann.

 was reelected to his second term in  November and is serving on the Higher Education Committee for the first  time.  He is an alumnus of Ridgewater College, earning an A.A.S in  automotive technology in 1981 and a certificate in supervisory  management in 1987.  Outside of the legislature, Sen. Gimse works as a  home builder and land developer.

 has served on the Higher  Education Committee since his election to the Senate in 2006 and  previously served on the House Higher Education Committee from 2002 to  2006.  Sen. Latz is an attorney who attended the University of  Wisconsin-Madison and Harvard Law School.  Before being elected to the  Legislature, Sen. Latz served for ten years on the St. Louis Park City  Council.

was elected to his first term  this November, narrowly defeating DFL’er Bruce Hentges to fill the seat  DFL Senator Tarryl Clark left open when she retired to run against  Michelle Bachman.  Sen. Pederson has worked as a part-time instructor in  customized training at St. Cloud Technical College.  Prior to being  elected to the Senate, he served on the St. Cloud City Council.

 was just elected to her fifth  term in the Senate and is a long-time member of both the Senate E-12  Education and Higher Education Committees.  This session, she will also  serve as chair of the Senate Finance Committee.  Outside of the  legislature, Sen. Robling works as a freelance journalist.

 was elected to his third term  in November and has served on the Higher Education Committee since  2007.  This session, Sen. Senjem will chair the influential Capital  Investment Committee.  During the 2009-10 legislative session, Sen.  Senjem served as Senate Minority Leader.  He works as an environmental  affairs officer for the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

 has served on the Higher  Education Committee since she was first elected to the Senate in 2006.   Sen. Sheran received her Master’s Degree from Minnesota State University  – Mankato and has taught there as an assistant professor of nursing.   In 2008 and 2009, Sen. Sheran was named the Minnesota State University  Student Association’s “Senator of the Year.”

was first elected to the Senate  in 1998 and served on the Higher Education Committee from 2003 to  2004.  Sen. Skoe is a farmer and an alumnus of Augsburg College.

 served in the House of  Representatives from 1993 to 2000, when he was elected to the Senate.   He has served on the Senate Higher Education Committee since 2003.  Sen.  Tomassoni played professional hockey in Italy for 16 years and played  for Italy in the 1984 Winter Olympics.

 will serve as chair of the  House Higher Education Policy and Finance Committee this session.  He  has served on the committee since 2003 and previously served as chair of  the committee from 2005 to 2006. Rep. Nornes is an alumnus of the Brown  Institute of Broadcasting and owns two radio stations in Fergus Falls.

 will serve as committee  vice-chair this session.  Rep. Dettmer has served on the Higher  Education Committee since his first session in 2007.  He graduated from  Bemidji State University in 1973 with a degree in health and physical  education, and went on to obtain his Master’s Degree from the University  of St. Thomas.  He spent his career teaching physical education courses  and coaching wrestling at Forest Lake High School.  Rep. Dettmer joined  the Army Reserves in 1986 and was deployed to Kuwait for 20 months  following 9/11.

is the former chair of the  House Higher Education Committee and will serve as Minority Lead this  session.  Rep. Rukavina has served in the House since 1987 and served on  the Higher Education Committee from 1987-88 and again from 2007 to the  present.  He is an alumnus of Mesabi Range Community and Technical  College and the University of Minnesota-Duluth.  Rep. Rukavina was the  recipient of the Minnesota State College Student Association’s  “Legislator of the Year” award in 2008 and 2009.

 was elected to his first  term this November, beating DFL’er Carol Lewis by 13 votes to fill  retiring DFL Representative Larry Haws’s open seat.  Rep. Banaian is an  economics professor at St. Cloud State University, where he serves as  chair of the economics department and director of the Center for  Economic Education.

 was elected to his first term  in November, defeating DFL incumbent Andy Welti.  Rep. Benson is an  assistant professor of business administration and director of human  resources at Crossroads College in Rochester.  Prior to his career in  higher education, Rep. Benson worked for the U.S. Postal Service and  served as Postmaster of Rochester from 1988 to 1995.

 was elected in November to fill  retiring Republican Representative Rob Eastlund’s open seat.  Rep. Daudt  served as an Isanti County Commissioner from 2004 until his election in  2010.  He is also a founding member of Project 24, a non-profit  organization that builds orphanages in Kenya.

was first elected to the House in  2008 and is new to the Higher Education Committee.  Rep. Doepke was a  direct marketing and fashion industry executive for many years until she  retired in 1999.  She served two terms on the Wayzata School Board and  has served for seven years as a member of the TwinWest Chamber of  Commerce.

 was first elected to the House  of Representatives this November, unseating DFL incumbent Brita Sailer.   Rep. Hancock was the co-owner and operator of R&D Tire and  Automotive in Bemidji from 1995 to 2008, when he sold the company to  Northwest Tire.  He now works as general manager of the Northwest Tire  Bemidji location.

 was elected to his first term  this November, unseating DFL incumbent Paul Rosenthal.  Rep. Mazorol is  an attorney and senior vice president of university relations for  Bethel University.  He has also served as vice president of the Bethel  University Board of Trustees and as a member of the Board of Directors  of the Minnesota Private College Council.

 was first elected to the  House in 2006 and is new to the Higher Education Committee.  He is a  professor at Gustavus Adolphus College and holds a J.D. from the  University of California-Davis and a Ph.D. from Northwestern  University.  He has also served on the St. Peter Board of Education and  as chair of the Minnesota Valley Education District.

 has served on the House Higher  Education Committee since she first took office in 2007.  She is a  former teacher and has been heavily involved in education policy her  entire career.  Prior to her election to the House, she served for eight  years on the Rochester School Board.  Rep. Norton currently serves as  executive director of the Rochester Area Math/Science Partnership.

 was first elected to the House  in 1986 and served on the Higher Education Committee from 1987 to 1990  and again from 1993 to 2006.  He received both his Bachelor’s and  Master’s Degrees from Winona State University.  Rep. Pelowski is a  teacher at Red Wing High School and also works as a golf pro.  Prior to  his election in 1986, Rep. Pelowski was chair of the Winona League of  Women Voters.  At the time, he was the only male ever elected to lead a  local chapter.

 was first elected to the House  in 2004 and has served on the Higher Education Committee since 2007.   She received her Master’s Degree from Winona State University and works  as a counselor at Riverland Community College-Austin.  Previously, she  served as director of Riverland College’s Women’s Center, and then as  director of admissions.  Prior to her election to the House, Rep. Poppe  served on the Austin City Council from 1994 to 2002.

 was elected to his first term  this November, unseating DFL incumbent Al Juhnke.  Rep. Vogel is an  alumnus of Alexandria Technical College and has worked as a Realtor  since 1995.  He is also works in youth ministry and serves as Chaplain  of the Willmar camp of the Gideons.

Education News

On Campus Blog

Alex Friedrich

Author

Now that hearings at the Capitol are underway — University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks has been testifying this week — I thought it would be good to get a glimpse of the people who’ll be steering higher-ed legislation. Here’s a guide put together by the Minnesota State College Student Association on the members of…

Who's who on the state legislative higher-ed committees

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