Stephanie Herseth Sandlin

Stephanie Herseth Sandlin was inaugurated as Augustana’s 24th president — and the university's first woman president — in September 2017. In her first two years on campus, she and her leadership team engaged faculty, students and staff in long-term strategic planning and secured unanimous approval from the Board of Trustees for Viking Bold: The Journey to 2030. Prior to joining Augustana University, Herseth Sandlin served as general counsel and vice president of corporate development for Raven Industries, Inc., a publicly-traded company headquartered in Sioux Falls, SD. She also served as South Dakota’s lone U.S. Representative from 2004-11. When elected in 2004, she was the first woman from South Dakota to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives as well as the youngest woman serving in the House during that time. She attended college in Washington, D.C., earning her B.A., M.A. and J.D. degrees from Georgetown University. During this time, she was a teaching fellow for university students and an instructor on the faculty of the law school.