Gordon Soenksen ’72
Greensboro, N.C.

Gordon Soenksen has spent his professional career building up institutions of private higher education through his roles as a fundraiser and consultant.

After graduating from Wartburg, Soenksen returned a few years later as a development assistant in Advancement. He was then the director of alumni relations and annual giving before serving as the director of the Wartburg Design for Tomorrow, a $21 million capital campaign. It included the construction of the former Physical Education Complex and the Whitehouse Business Center; updates to the former Student Union, including the addition of a bookstore and Visitors Center and renovations to Buhr Lounge, the Den, and the Dining Hall; renovations to Old Main; the college’s first endowed chair; the introduction of computers for academic and administrative work; and a tripling of the college’s endowment.

Soenksen left Wartburg for the University of Chicago, where he earned on his Master of Business Administration while working as the associate director of development and director of capital programs for the business graduate school. He then went to Duke University for a similar role as the associate dean for external affairs, raising $12.5 million in one year to build the R. David Thomas Executive Education Center. At Guilford College, as the vice president for institutional advancement, he led the team that solicited the college’s first $5 million gift to the endowment.

At St. Olaf College, Soenksen served as the vice president for advancement and oversaw a successful $145 million capital campaign, the largest campaign of any Lutheran college at that time. He then returned to Duke as the associate dean for development and alumni relations; spent time at Wake Forest University as associate dean for advancement and then associate vice president, principal gifts; and was the chief development officer for the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro.

Throughout his career, Soenksen has offered his services as a fundraising consultant to organizations across the globe and led in his community through volunteer work. He has served many boards, including those of the Hospice for the Carolinas, Leadership Greensboro, United Way of Northfield, Hospice at Greensboro, National Hospice Foundation, and Hospice of Minnesota.

“Colleagues and donors alike attest to his work as a spirited expression of faith and learning, ethics in fundraising, and deep commitments to each of his institutions,” wrote one of his nominators.

For his dedication to the cause of private higher education and his service to Wartburg, the Wartburg College Alumni Board is pleased to present Gordon Soenksen with an Alumni Citation.