JAMESTOWN — The University of Jamestown will welcome three new inductees into the Alumni Hall of Fame on May 2. The induction ceremony honors alumni who have made outstanding contributions to their alma mater and humanity. Admission to the Hall of Fame is the highest honor presented by the University of Jamestown Alumni Association.
The honorees include Teree Rittenbach, Ph.D. (’76), Dr. Mark Murphey, MD (’78), and Will Bernhagen (’79). Rittenbach will also be awarded the title of Faculty Emeritus.
“The University of Jamestown Alumni Hall of Fame is the highest honor bestowed upon a Jimmie alum,” said Brett Moser, vice president of development and alumni relations. “This year's class is an amazing group of accomplished individuals professionally, but more impressive is how they serve others, leading with integrity and passion for decades. All of their stories started on our beautiful campus, and we are excited to welcome them back, inspiring others and celebrating their amazing lives."
Teree Rittenbach graduated from UJ with a Bachelor of Arts in Nursing in 1976. Since then, the Jamestown native has dedicated the last five decades of her life to the nursing profession, serving various communities throughout North Dakota and abroad while also educating the next generation of nurses.
Rittenbach spent close to 48 years as a nursing professor at UJ and will retire in 2025. She also spent decades working as a registered nurse and geriatric nurse practitioner in Jamestown, while also serving as an adjunct instructor for nurse practitioner programs at University of North Dakota in Grand Forks and University of Mary in Bismarck.
Rittenbach serves on more than a dozen committees and professional associations and still finds time to volunteer in the community and with her parish. Beloved by her colleagues, nursing students and piano students, Rittenbach is a three-time UJ Professor of the Year and has received numerous other awards including the Outstanding Rural Health Educator/Mentor from the Dakota Conference on Rural and Public Health.
Dr. Mark Murphey, originally from Jamestown, graduated from UJ in 1978 with degrees in biology and chemistry and is currently the physician-in-chief of the American College of Radiology’s Institute for Radiologic Pathology (AIRP) in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Receiving his MD from the University of Kansas School of Medicine in 1982, Murphey has been an academic radiologist for over 35 years and has directed all his scholarly activities to his subspecialty of musculoskeletal imaging. In his early years at Kansas, Murphey published the first article on MRI of the sacroiliac joint and in his current tenure at AIRP he has particularly emphasized research on the imaging appearance of musculoskeletal tumors.
Murphey has published 154 peer reviewed articles, 155 abstracts, 27 books and book chapters, 72 scientific exhibits and has given 700 international presentations, while also receiving numerous awards, including the President’s Medal of the International Skeletal Society and being inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Radiology.
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Will Bernhagen, originally from Ellendale, North Dakota, graduated from UJ in 1979 with a degree in business administration and is the president and CEO of Cen-Dak Leasing of Montana Inc.
Raised by a single mother who worked multiple jobs, Bernhagen learned the value of a hard day's work from an early age. His work ethic led to all-district honors as an offensive guard on the gridiron for Jimmie football and legendary UJ coach Rollie Greeno, which helped hone Bernhagen's nose-to-the-grindstone attitude.
Bernhagen quickly immersed himself in his Montana heavy truck and trailer leasing venture following graduation, and he would also go on to become a successful real estate developer in Montana, Wyoming and Belize.
Bernhagen, who credits a large part of his success to his experiences at UJ, has served on UJ's Board of Directors since 2015 and is the chair of UJ's Student Affairs Committee. Along with his time, Bernhagen has also generously supported UJ financially, from donating his vacation home in Belize to UJ's annual Dine and Bid live auction event, to walking the 500-plus miles from his home in Sheridan, Wyoming, to
Jamestown in 2019 to raise money for his beloved alma mater.
In addition to the UJ Hall of Fame honorees, three former faculty members will be awarded the title of Faculty Emeritus, which is a rank assigned to associate professors or professors who have limited or terminated their responsibilities as a faculty member after 10 or more years of distinguished service to the University. An additional faculty member will be awarded the title of Vice President Emerita.
The title of Faculty Emeritus will be awarded to Sharon Cox, David Godfrey and Rittenbach. The title of Vice President Emerita will be awarded to Tena Lawrence (’81/’17).
Sharon Cox joined the University of Jamestown in 1992 to teach art and journalism after teaching previously in Virginia, Mississippi and Georgia. As Art Department chair and associate professor of art, she taught numerous art classes, put on art shows, and was an advocate, counselor and mentor for not only her art majors but for countless other students and alumni. She retired from the University of Jamestown in 2020.
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David Godfrey earned degrees in political science and English from Washington State University and completed his Ph.D. in English from the University of Kentucky. He joined the faculty of the University of Jamestown in 1988, teaching classes including American Literature, the American Short Story and Writing in the Professions. He retired from the university in 2022.
Tena Lawrence earned her Master of Arts in Leadership in 2017 and her Bachelor of Arts in business administration, history/political-science and secondary education in 1981, both from the University of Jamestown. After a career in banking, she joined the University of Jamestown in 2007 as director of development. She went on to be named dean of enrollment, then vice president of public relations and marketing, and finally executive vice president. She continues to lend her expertise to special projects at the University of Jamestown and has served many local non-profit organizations. In 2020,
she was named to the Top 25 Women in Business by Prairie Business Magazine. She retired from the University of Jamestown in 2023.
The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place in the foyer of the Harold Newman Arena on Friday, May 2, after a brief social beginning at 5 p.m. Tickets for the dinner are available for purchase for $20. For more information or to RSVP, contact Brett Moser, vice president of development and alumni relations, at brett.moser@uj.edu or call (701) 252-3467, ext. 5638
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