ABERDEEN, S.D. (Press Release) – Presentation College’s Board of Trustees has named Paula Langteau, EdD, as the College’s next President. Langteau, who has been serving as Interim President since October, 2019, will assume the role of President immediately. Langteau succeeds Margaret “Maggie” Huber, who served the institution as president from 2012 and announced her retirement in August, 2019.

“The members of the Presentation College community, and the Aberdeen community in general, are very familiar with Dr. Langteau. Instead of engaging in a traditional national search, the Board of Trustees made the decision to find a dynamic leader to serve the institution on an interim basis. That person was Dr. Paula Langteau” said David Giovannini, chair of Presentation’s Board of Trustees. “Upon her arrival we outlined a number of goals for her to achieve within a six month period of time. Dr. Langteau not only achieved those goals but surpassed them, and she did so in a way that was collaborative and gained the trust of not only the Board of Trustees, but the Presentation Community as a whole, leading to today’s unanimous decision.”

Sister Janice Klein, President of Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary who sponsor Presentation College, said that “the Sisters are grateful to the Board for their dedicated successful search in finding an experienced college President who leads with collaboration and partnerships. Dr. Langteau is committed to embracing the mission of Presentation College and the Sisters’ mission of incarnating the compassion and justice of Jesus wherever they serve. She engages students, faculty, staff and the Aberdeen community as she leads with creativity and innovation. We are pleased with her appointment and promise our prayers for Dr. Langteau and the Presentation College community”.

On her appointment today, Dr. Langteau said, “I am honored to be named President of Presentation College. I am simultaneously humbled and overwhelmed with pride to be working with the College’s dedicated faculty and staff, and Board of Trustees, committed to the mission and values inspired by the work of the Presentation Sisters. Furthermore, the community of Aberdeen has been incredibly supportive of our efforts to partner to do more together than we can do individually. I look forward to a future filled with increased collaborations and innovation to enrich our service to this incredible community.”

A seasoned administrator with more than 30 years of higher education experience, Langteau has a deep commitment and proven track record of contributing to students’ development, well-being and success with a focus on growing small campus enrollment by implementing innovative, market responsive programming and institutional branding. Previously serving as Campus Executive Officer, at the University of Wisconsin-Marinette, and Bemidji State’s NTC campus, Langteau provided strategic leadership and oversight to academic programs, student services, enrollment management, finance, facilities, marketing, fundraising and community relations.

Langteau also served for a number of years as a Principal Consultant for Academic Game Changers Consulting, LLC, providing leadership and program consulting for institutions of higher education. In other previous roles she has served as Dean of Instruction at Nicolet College (WI) and Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Georgia Perimeter College (GA). She began her career as an English Instructor at Ball State University (IN).

Some of her notable career accomplishments include the following:

• Assisting the Minnesota State Advanced Manufacturing Center for Excellence and faculty from 19 separate Minnesota State campuses in developing the curriculum for three new consortia programs.
• Providing competency-based curriculum design training to University of Wisconsin faculty to develop 25 courses for the nationally-recognized UW Flex Option, including the first self-paced, competency-based, A.A.S. degree by a public institution and a number of bachelor’s degrees.
• Transitioning the University of Wisconsin Colleges from a campus-based model to a regional leadership model.
• Partnering with the US Navy and 18 national shipyards and design agents to develop the first-and-only-of-its-kind in North America, online, fast-track shipbuilding design program and online, 3D, virtual shipyard orientation program for the University of Wisconsin.
• Implementing a laddered nursing curriculum including seven shared program agreements at Nicolet College, which included program reviews and institutional accreditation processes within nursing programs.
• Designing and implementing a comprehensive faculty development model at Georgia Perimeter College, preparing faculty to offer the College’s first online degrees.
• Achieving tenure and the rank of Associate Professor within the University System of Georgia and the University of Wisconsin.
• An extensive record of scholarly publication and presentation.

Langteau holds a Bachelor of Arts from Eureka College, a Master of Arts from Ball State University, and a Doctorate in Higher Education Management from the University of Pennsylvania. She also completed the Institute for Education Management at Harvard University. Her dissertation research focused on the leadership strategies of those implementing significantly disruptive innovation in higher education.

Langteau and her husband, Dr. Leo Hodlofski, have two children—a son, Nicholas, who is a rising college senior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a daughter, Galen, who is a graduating high school senior at Wayland Academy (WI) this spring.