James Anderson

Ruth Anderson and her family established this memorial scholarship after James passed in 2016 at the age of 92. James was born and raised in Poynette, WI. He graduated from Luther College in Decorah, IA, and earned the M.A. degree at the University of Minnesota and the Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin, specializing in Rural Sociology. James taught Sociology at Bethany College in Lindsborg, KS from 1954-1960 and at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse from 1960-1988. During his last four years at UW-L, he served as Associate Dean of the College of Arts, Letter, and Sciences. He was a Fellow of the American Sociological Association.

James believed in institutions and worked on their behalf. He served on the Board of Trustees of LaCrosse Lutheran Hospital, the Board of Directors of the La Crosse Lutheran Hospital Foundation, the Board of Trustees of Carthage College in Kenosha, WI, the Board of Trustees of Lutheran Campus Ministry of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan, on the Board of Directors of Norskedalen, and on the Church Council of English Lutheran Church, where he was a member for fifty-five years.

He will be remembered as a man who did good work, a man committed to education, a man committed to his community, a man of faith, and a man who loved, and was loved by, his family. At the time of his passing, he and Ruth had been married for 66 years. Ruth Aas Anderson passed away in August 2021.