Concordia Magazine

Dr. James Aageson

Dr. James Aageson joined the faculty in the religion department in 1985 and retires after 28 years at the college. 

Aageson earned his bachelor’s degree from Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Wash., his Master of Divinity degree from Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn., his Master of Theology from Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Va., and his Doctorate in Philosophy from Oxford University, England.

Prior to coming to Concordia, Aageson taught at Great Falls (Mont.) High School from 1970 to 1972 and served as a pastor for congregations in Anaconda, Mont., and Great Falls. 

Aageson has been very active in research, receiving several research grants during his tenure at Concordia. He has written numerous articles, given many lectures and presentations and published several books. He was honored with the Wije Distinguished Professorship Award in 2008. He has also been involved with many committees including a Nobel Peace Prize Forum committee, a presidential search committee, the core curriculum committee and the major projects and campus master planning committee. He was also chair of the Concordia environmental sustainability task force.

Students coming to Concordia with their own assumptions about religion, mostly learned in Sunday school, often found it enlightening to experience the academic study of religion in Aageson’s classes. A former student called his class an “eye-opener” and said “Jim’s stewarding of it ignited in me a passion for exploring history and the impact of biblical texts – a passion that continues to inform my current research and teaching.”

Aageson was chair of the religion department from 1993 to 1998, chair of the division of Arts and Humanities from 2003 to 2009 and retires as dean of Arts and Sciences. In his many roles at the college he was admired by colleagues for his leadership style and mastered the challenge of overseeing a diversity of faculty, academic departments and programs, each with their own specific needs and aspirations.

Aageson and his wife, Julie, plan to spend the next year at their place in Montana and in the Pacific Northwest where their children and grandchildren live. During the next winter they plan to spend time in Oxford, England, and maybe Tanzania. He’s not giving up work entirely, though. He’ll be working on a book project, accompanying the orchestra on its international tour to Israel next spring, and following that he’ll lead a Concordia alumni trip to the cities of Paul and other early Christian sites in Greece and Turkey.

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