Former South Winneshiek Superintendent and seven others will receive awards from Luther College

Eight Luther College alumni will receive Distinguished Service Awards from the school.

The recognition will be given at the college's annual Homecoming Alumni Dinner at 6:00 p.m. Friday in Peace Dining Room in the Luther Student Union.

Recipients of the 2018 Luther Distinguished Service Award include 1958 Luther graduate Russell Loven of Guttenberg.  After graduating from Luther, Loven went on to earn a master's degree in counseling from the University of Northern Iowa in 1963 and a Ph.D. in education administration from the University of Iowa in 1991.

From 1978 to 1994 he was the superintendent at South Winneshiek School District.  From 1995 to 2002, he served as the superintendent for the combined Garnavillo and Guttenberg school districts.  He was appointed the mayor of Guttenberg in 2011 and served through 2017.

He and his wife Juanita (Zeman), Luther class of 1956, are members of the Luther President's Council and Heritage Club, and they founded the Loven-Zeman Scholarship in 1995. They are the parents of alumnus Thomas Loven, class of 1985, and the grandparents of Cade Loven and Seth Loven, both class of 2009.

Others who will receive the Distinguished Service Award are Austin Capital Bank chief executive officer, president and organizing director J. Erik Beguin, a 1993 Luther graduate;  Marilyn (Wangberg) Brattskar, a cantor in Holmen Church in Asker, Norway and a 1978 Luther graduate; Deborah Hafner DeWinter, the pastor of First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Poughkeepsie, New York and a 1973 Luther graduate; 1988 Luther College graduate David Lietz of Washington, D.C., the principal and founding member of The Lietz Law Firm; the president of Kentucky Medicaid, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Cecelia (Nybro) Manlove, a 1978 Luther graduate; retired attorney Wayne Rohne of Arlington, Texas, a 1953 Luther graduate; and Des Moines attorney Anjela A. Shutts, a member of the Luther Board of Regents and a 1993 Luther graduate.