Paul Scott comment: Dr. David Tiede deserves thanks for his role in a successful presidential search at Luther College

Dr. David Tiede

(Comment by decorahnews.com's Paul Scott)

Now that the Luther College Board of Regents has selected Dr. Paula Carlson as the college's 10th president, I want to thank someone whom I believe paid an important role in the process.  This isn't someone on the Board of Regents or the presidential search committee, but someone I believe had a big role in making the search a productive one—Luther Interim President Dr. David Thiede.

I haven't talked to Dr. Tiede more than a few times, but something he said to me in an interview last August has stayed with me.  Do you remember how embarrassing the first presidential search was?  Do you remember the divisiveness caused by the first nomination?  Dr. Tiede came in and smoothed the waters.  He did this by reminding the Luther community of what they had in common.

"We need to have as strong a 'we' as possible," he told decorahnews.com.  He also predicted that if the Luther community was reminded of the values it shared, "we will be able to have a "celebrative welcome" for our 10th president."

That prediction is about to come true.  Dr. Tiede strikes me as a humble person—someone who wouldn't care about whether he gets credit or not.  But I'm happy to point out his valuable contributions to setting Luther College back on the right course.

For previous decorahnews.com stories about Dr. Tiede, visit:
http://www.decorahnews.com/archived-stories/2013/07/5993.html
and http://www.decorahnews.com/archived-stories/2013/08/6175.html