The Honorable Robert A. Flaten ’56, Former U.S. Ambassador to Rwanda
Robert Flaten was ambassador to Rwanda from December 1990 to November 1993. He retired from the Foreign Service in May 1994. Before serving in Rwanda, Ambassador Flaten held several positions in the U.S. State Department, including director of affairs for India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. He organized and spearheaded a legislative plan for continuing assistance to Pakistan and Afghanistan, and subsequently was part of the team that negotiated the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. Earlier State Department assignments included posts in Israel, Pakistan and France. From his home in Northfield, Minn., Flaten works with the Nobel Institute to honor and promote the work of Nobel Peace Prize laureates. This work has included serving as chair of the Nobel Peace Prize Forum Executive Committee. As a senior fellow at the Center for the Study of Foreign Affairs, he examined the role of democratic institutions in the development and implementation of foreign policy in several countries. He is currently ambassador in residence at St. Olaf College, teaching a course on American Public Policy. After earning his B.A. from St. Olaf, Flaten pursued graduate studies in international relations at George Washington University (M.A.) and the University of Pennsylvania.

His Excellency Knut Vollebæk, Norwegian Ambassador to the United States
Before being named ambassador to the United States, Knut Vollebæk was Norway’s minister of foreign affairs from 1997 to 2000. As head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in 1999, he played a key negotiating role during the war in Kosovo. During this time, he had close relations with American political officials, in particular former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Ambassador Vollebæk joined the Norwegian foreign service in 1973 and served at Norwegian embassies in India, Spain and Zimbabwe. He was Norway’s ambassador to the Central American states with residence in Costa Rica from 1991 to 1993. He also has held various positions within the United Nations, including his service as deputy co-chair of the International Conference on Former Yugoslavia in 1993 and director of United Nations affairs from 1993 to 1994. In 2001, Vollebaek was appointed Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav by His Majesty King Harald V. He received the honor for his years of public service.
As a student, Vollebaek spent a year at the University of California studying political science. He received his master’s degree at the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration.

Larry L. Rasmussen ’61, Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics, Union Theological Seminary
Larry Rasmussen graduated with a B.A. from St. Olaf College. He received the B.D. from Luther Theological Seminary in 1965 and the Th.D. from Union Theological Seminary in 1970. He is a lay theologian of the Evan-
gelical Lutheran Church in America. Rasmussen’s current work in Christian ethics includes analysis of power, methodological issues in the Bible, and ethics, technology and ecology. One of his recent books, Earth Community, Earth Ethics, won the 1997 Grawemeyer Award in Religion. Rasmussen serves as co-moderator of Unit III (Justice, Peace, Creation) of the World Council of Churches. He has been a member of the St. Olaf Board of Regents since 2001. He was a featured speaker at the Nobel Peace Prize Forum at Augsburg in 1999.

Philip Brunelle, VocalEssence Founder and Artistic Director
Philip Brunelle founded VocalEssence (originally the Plymouth Music Series) in 1969, leading its mission to explore the interaction of voices and instruments through innovative programming. His conducting engagements have taken him around the world. Recently he has conducted the BBC Singers, the Baltimore Symphony and the Cleveland Orchestra. He has served on the board of directors of Chorus America and the National Council on the Arts, and has been a member of the St. Olaf Board of Regents since 1997. Brunelle has received many awards, including the Kodály Medal from the government of Hungary, the Royal Order of the Polar Star from the King of Sweden, and honorary doctorates from St. Olaf College, Gustavus Adolphus College, St. John’s University and United Theological Seminary. He was honored with the Minneapolis Award by Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton and the F. Melius Christiansen Award by the Minnesota Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association. In 2002 he received the U.S. Bank Sally Ordway Irvine Award for Commitment, recognizing lifetime achievement, contribution and leadership in culture and the arts.