Three Wartburg College graduates received Alumni Citations during Homecoming recognizing their achievements and contributions to the college, church, community and workplace.

The Rev. Dennis Dickman, a 1959 graduate, pastor and educator; Laura Olson, a 1992 graduate, an attorney focused on international law; and Jennifer Wolff, a 1993 graduate and occupational therapist, were presented with the citations Sunday, Oct. 13, at the Homecoming luncheon.

Dickman graduated from Wartburg Seminary in 1963 and led churches in Ohio and Colorado before returning to Waverly as pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church from 1980 to 1997.

He also has served as director of continuing education at Wartburg Seminary and a senior pastor in Clive. He has been teaching Old Testament courses and assisting with Sunday services at Nazareth Lutheran Church in Cedar Falls since 2011.

Dickman has been a Wartburg College regent and was awarded an honorary degree from Wartburg Theological Seminary. He currently chairs the Wartburg-Waverly Sports and Wellness Center Advisory Board.

Olson worked for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva and The Constitution Project, where she was senior counsel. She helped integrate elements of international humanitarian law into the Moscow State University journalism curriculum for students covering the war in Chechnya and was on an ICRC team that interviewed detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

For the last three years she has headed the immigration section in the Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, working with senior government officials, representatives of international and nongovernment organizations, and academia regarding international law and efforts to combat terrorism.

Wolff, an occupational therapist with Taylor Physical Therapy Associates in Waverly, has been in a wheelchair since 2006 following removal of a tumor inside her spinal cord. She earned her master’s degree in occupational therapy from the College of St. Catherine in 2005, when she had already had one spinal cord surgery and could walk only short distances with assistance. 

Wolff was instrumental in establishing a Parkinson’s disease and stroke support group at Waverly Health Center. She has lobbied for improved transportation and access issues on Capitol Hill as part of the National Registry of Rehabilitation Technology Suppliers.

She was named Ms. Wheelchair Iowa in 2011, advocating better insurance coverage for complex rehabilitation technology, like wheelchairs and standers. Wolff also is a member of the Olmstead Consumer Task Force, which serves as a watchdog for all Iowa legislation that could potentially affect persons with any type of disability.