MINNEAPOLIS (May 19, 2011)—Lowell V. Stortz, president of Leonard, Street and Deinard, will be a commencement ceremony speaker honoring the Sesquicentennial Class—the class of 2011—at Augustana College at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 21, at the Sioux Falls Arena in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Augustana will also confer Stortz with an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters at the ceremony.

After graduating summa cum laude from Augustana in 1980, Stortz went on to earn his J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law, graduating summa cum laude in 1983.

During his career as an estate planning attorney, Stortz has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota Law School, Hamline University School of Law and University of St. Thomas School of Law. He is also a frequent lecturer on tax and business planning for Minnesota Continuing Legal Education.

Stortz has a long-standing commitment to community service and actively provides legal advice and business counsel to nonprofit organizations and charities serving those in need. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Minneapolis Foundation and the Board of Directors of Abbott Northwestern Hospital Foundation.

From 1999 to 2010, he was a member of the Augustana College Board of Trustees, serving as board chair from 2007-2009. He championed the board's professionalization and helped promote a sense of shared purpose, mutual respect and friendship among all members of the Augustana community.

Also speaking at the commencement ceremony and receiving an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters will be Jane M.H. Zaloudek, Augustana class of 1972. Zaloudek is principal and director for Aspiriant, a California-based wealth management firm, and former chair of the Augustana College Board of Trustees.