Teresa “Terry” Rasmussen ’84 elected secretary of the Walker Art Center Board of Trustees in Minneapolis.
The Walker Art Center elected Seena Hodges President of its Board of Trustees at their annual meeting on September 13, 2021. Hodges is the first person of color to hold the position. The Walker also elected a new slate of officers, including Vice Presidents Karen Heithoff and D. Ellen Wilson, Treasurer Sarah Lynn Oquist, and Secretary Teresa Rasmussen. While women have held leadership positions throughout the Walker’s history, this is the first time that all of the officers are women. The board also approved a new five-year strategic plan at the meeting.
Teresa Rasmussen is President of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, the country’s largest fraternal benefit society. Formerly she served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary. Before joining Thrivent in 2005, Rasmussen served in progressively responsible legal positions with American Express and Ameriprise Financial. She began her legal career in 1984 as part of the US Attorney General’s honors program, where she was a trial attorney in the tax division of the US Department of Justice in Washington, DC. She received her bachelor’s degree in accounting from Minnesota State University-Moorhead. After passing the CPA exam, Rasmussen earned her juris doctorate degree from the University of North Dakota. She is a member of the bar in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Colorado. Rasmussen married Jon Trangsrud in 1983. She has also served on the boards of American Fraternal Alliance, the trade association for fraternal benefit societies; MacPhail Center for Music; Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota; Association of Life Insurance Counsel; Lutheran Community Foundation; Americas Board of the International Cooperative; and the Mutual Insurance Federation.
