Roland Paul Dille (September 16, 1924 – May 26, 2014) was an American

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, f ...

. He was president of

Minnesota State University Moorhead Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM) is a public university in Moorhead, Minnesota. The school has an enrollment of 7,534 students in 2019 and 266 full-time faculty members. MSUM is a part of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities ...

(MSUM) from 1968 to 1994.

Biography

Dille was born on a farm near

Dassel, Minnesota Dassel is a city in Meeker County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,469 at the 2010 census. History Dassel was platted in 1869, and named for Bernard Dassel, a railroad official. A post office has been in operation at Dassel s ...

. He took a

bachelor’s degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in English Literature at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

. While serving in the Army during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

he was awarded the

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

. After military service, he earned a doctorate from Minnesota in 1962, with a thesis "David Garnett and the Bloomsbury group."WorldCat
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Career

From 1956 to 1961 he taught at

St. Olaf College St. Olaf College is a private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota. It was founded in 1874 by a group of Norwegian-American pastors and farmers led by Pastor Bernt Julius Muus. The college is named after the King and the Patron Saint Ola ...

in Northfield, then at

California Lutheran College California Lutheran University (CLU, Cal Lutheran, or Cal Lu) is a private university in Thousand Oaks, California. It was founded in 1959 and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, but is nonsectarian. It opened in 196 ...

, and finally came to Moorhead in 1963. He was dean of academic affairs there from 1966, and president from 1968. He retired in 1994.

Honors

*Member, National Council for the Humanities *President of the

American Association of State Colleges and Universities The American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) is an organization of state-supported colleges and universities that offer degree programs leading to bachelor's, master's or doctoral degrees. AASCU grew out of the Association o ...

*Acting chancellor of the Minnesota State University System

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dille, Roland 1924 births 2014 deaths Minnesota State University Moorhead faculty University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts alumni St. Olaf College faculty People from Meeker County, Minnesota