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Ann M. Svennungsen

President, Texas Lutheran University
Ann M. Svennungsen became the 14th president of Texas Lutheran University on July 1, 2007.

Svennungsen was born and raised in Shelby, Montana, where she first put down roots in the Lutheran Church (ELCA) and established an abiding love for learning.  After graduating summa cum laude in mathematics from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, she received her Master of Divinity degree from Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota.

Spending 22 years in pastoral ministry, Svennungsen served congregations in Iowa City, Iowa and Minneapolis. In 1996 she became senior pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Moorhead, Minnesota, a 3,700-member congregation and the largest ELCA congregation to be led by a woman senior pastor.

In 2003, Svennungsen was named president of Atlanta-based Fund for Theological Education, a national, ecumenical organization devoted to raising the next generation of excellent and diverse ministers and scholars, annually providing $1.2 million in scholarships and other support.

President Svennungsen now brings her background of visionary leadership, faithful scholarship, and effective fundraising into the community of Texas Lutheran University.  With energy and wisdom, she is leading TLU toward the faithful fulfillment of its vocation in the 21st century.

Svennungsen is married to Dr. William Russell, a Reformation specialist and scholar in residence in the TLU theology department.  They have three children: Sarah, an attorney in Minneapolis; Mary a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania; and John, who lives with his family in Seguin.

Svennungsen has the distinction of being the first female president in the 117-year history of Texas Lutheran University.