A Strong legacy to leave

Judith "Judy" Strong had always been a believer in transforming lives. In any position she held, whether it was professor, dean, or Vice President of Minnesota State University Moorhead, she firmly held to the value of personal connections and experiential learning to impact lives. 

"As I sit in this chair as Dean, in her office, I always try to live by her example," Lisa Nawrot says.

Lisa is following in Judy's footsteps as the current dean of the College of Science, Heath & the Environment at MSUM. When she was looking to get her start as a professor at MSUM, Strong was the one who interviewed her for the position, and from then on, Judy's care was evident to her.

When Judy was dean, she hosted a picnic for new hires every year, inviting Lisa and others into her home. "When your boss does something like inviting you to their house, you remember those things," Lisa says.

Judy also nominated Lisa for an award at the end of her first school year as a professor at MSUM. "She told me that I hide my light under a basket, that what I do is often not seen or recognized," Lisa said. She wanted Lisa's efforts to be recognized by others, to showcase what her employee was doing well.

Judy's impact was not just on her employees, but is now on students through the Judith Strong Fund. Her fund is strictly concentrated on providing hands-on experiences to students. This fund has allowed MSU Moorhead to build new and updated science laboratories, as well as allowing students to conduct research in and outside of these lab spaces.

"Experiential learning is popular now, but Judy figured out the value of that thirty years ago," Lisa says.

A significant part of this fund goes to the Strong Summer Scholars Research Grant, which finances students to not only spend their summer researching, but to get compensated for it. This allows students in the natural sciences to gain practical experience in their field while also being paid for their summers, when a large majority of them save up to pay for their education.

"I wouldn't be able to do the research at all without the Judy Strong funding," third-year biology major Amber Sullivan says.

Amber was able to do research in her freshman year, and is still conducting research through the grant. The ability to research throughout her entire education was a big selling point for Amber, as she was connected with professor of Bioscience Brian Wisenden at preview weekend before becoming a student, and had researched with him for most of her semesters. Amber also conducted research with associate professor of Bioscience Chris Merkord. 

Amber spent one of her summers researching the impact of experiential learning while running an ocean literacy camp for kids at MSUM's Oceanarium. The Oceanarium is a rare find in the region, and offers these kids their possible first experiences with ocean critters. Amber and the team taught through traditional and experiential methods.

"After the camp, we were able to show that there was an increase in the students' passion and care for the ocean," Amber says.

Amber also noticed that experiential learning, like research and labs, has really improved her education as a whole, just as it does with the students she taught. "I learn better in a lab than I do in a lecture, and the kids held on better to the information that they were taught through hands-on activities," she says.

Judy was a trailblazer, emphasizing the experiential learning that is now being implemented extensively on campuses all over the United States.

Amber and her cohorts' research from that summer was published, and they got the opportunity to present their findings at the Ocean Literacy Conference hosted by the New England Ocean Science Educators Collaborative (NEOSEC), with their trip being partially financed by fund.

Judith Strong's generosity, kindness, and belief in the value of personal relationships and experiential learning for students has built a foundation for the science programs MSUM has today. Her legacy is everywhere, from the labs she's funded and the research she's made a way for, to the banners at the Student Academic Conference that adorn her name.