Psychology professor honored with award

(Fall 2010)
By MONTANA ZIGLAR

Ivan Lorentzen, a psychology professor at FVCC, was named the western region faculty member of the year this October. He is the third FVCC faculty member to receive the award.

“I was surprised that I was even nominated for the award, and to have won a regional thing was a complete surprise,” Lorentzen said.

Lorentzen was named the 2010 Association of Community College Trustees Faculty Member of the Year for the western region. He was one of five community college faculty members recognized at the conference. In the Western region there are 93 community colleges from 10 western states and three Canadian provinces.

According to the Board of Trustee's nomination letter, Lorentzen has made many contributions to the campus. He helped to found the scholars program and was the driving force behind the Honors Symposium which is a gathering of speakers from around the world.

FVCC Board of Trustees Chair John Engebretson said that not only is the longevity of Lorentzen’s career an honor, it is also what Lorentzen brings to the community.

“Ivan's involvement in the community, as a board of trustee member of both elementary and high school districts, among many other civic roles, has been demonstrated time and time again,” Engebretson said in the nomination letter written for the award.  “He proves every day that his service to the community doesn't end when he leaves the classroom.”

FVCC English instructor Lowell Jaeger has been teaching here for 26 years and said that he is very proud of Lorentzen for winning the award.

“He deserves the award he received,” Jaeger said. “I feel he has always been an important member of our college community and the community at large,” Jaeger said.
Jaeger was just recently awarded the Montana Governor’s Humanities award for his publishing and writing, and his work with AmeriCorps, Vista, Campus Compact and Montana Conservation Corps.

Even with the longevity of Lorentzen’s career the decision to teach at FVCC was unplanned.

“It happened by accident,” Lorentzen said. “I graduated at Bozeman and was looking for jobs and applied to many, but received rejection letters. Three or four days before school in the fall I received a call from Bruce Johnson who had a position for a psychology instructor and asked if I would be interested.”

FVCC had been put together because in the 1960’s only 7 percent of Flathead High School graduates went on to post-secondary schools.

“This was the lowest statistic in the state,” Lorentzen said. “The campus was put together on a shoestring because community leaders decided this was unacceptable. The economy was unstable and the campus was politically unpopular.”

The first year Lorentzen taught at FVCC he was without an office.

“We were downtown teaching and we shared offices, soon after the funding ran out and another psychology instructor resigned and I moved into that position,” Lorentzen said. “I taught for 20 years at the downtown campus and 20 years at this campus, once the bond for a new campus was passed after the third attempt.”

Now Lorentzen can be found in his own office in the BSS building or in a classroom teaching psychology. 

Montana Ziglar is a student in Journalism 101C, News Writing and Reporting.