Dr. William “Bill” Ammentorp, former Professor of Educational Administration and chair of the department, passed away at his home in Cannon Falls on Saturday morning, February 4, 2023.
Bill is the only child of Olaf and Marie (Larsen) Ammentorp. He was born on August 26, 1933 in Withee, Wisconsin, on his parents’ dairy farm. Bill graduated from Carleton College and received a Ph.D. in Educational Administration from the University of Chicago. While at Carleton he met Mary Ann Brusenbach, who became his sweetheart and later his wife.
Most of Bill’s professional career was spent teaching at the University of Minnesota, where he was Professor of Educational Administration for 40 years until retiring in 2006. He served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees at St. Mary’s College in Winona and Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Shattuck-St. Mary’s High School in Faribault. He was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow and received the Carleton College Distinguished Alumni Award. Among Bill’s achievements were founding and co-directing the Leadership Academy at the University of Minnesota from 1993-2004, and founding and co-directing the Tribal College Leadership Program from 1998-2004.
“I join with Associate Chair Fran Vavrus and all of our departmental colleagues in expressing my deepest sympathies to all of Bill’s former students, colleagues, family, and friends,” said Dr. Kenneth Bartlett, Chair of the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development. “I was hired in 1999 into what was then the Department of Work, Community, and Family Education and interacted often with Bill during a time of close cooperation through the Leadership Academy program with the Department of Educational Administration. In some ways, that spirit of cooperation helped lay the foundation for the eventual merger of both of these departments. I have very fond memories back then as a young assistant professor of the kind support Bill always showed and the encouragement for seeking to find the joys in research and teaching rather than being overly stressed by the fickle winds of university administration.”
In addition to teaching full time, Bill was devoted to the family farm in Cannon Falls. The farm was always close to Bill’s heart and was the setting for raising his family and entertaining friends.
He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Mary (Brusenbach); son, Matt and his wife Sandra, daughter, Marnie and her husband Curt Jorenby, as well as five grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held on Sunday, February 12 at 2:00 pm, with visitation from 1-2 pm, at Lundberg Funeral Home, 5839 Hwy 19 Blvd, Cannon Falls.
