Meet Our Staff

Ann Sponberg Peterson ‘83
Associate Vice President for Advancement and Director of Development

Ann earned her degree in music at Gustavus and then completed a master of music degree at the University of Colorado Boulder, specializing in music history and literature. She served at Gustavus from 1986 to 1997, first in admissions and then with development. She was vice president of development at Lutheran Social Service of New England and Regis College in Massachusetts, and then senior director of development at Suffolk University and Suffolk University Law School in Boston. Before returning to Gustavus, Ann served 11 years as director of development for principal gifts and co-campaign director at Luther College.

Ann founded and leads the philanthropic project Empowering Learners, which supports schools of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia. She has chaired the board of trustee of the ELCA Foundation and served with the Association of Lutheran Development Executives and the Minnesota Planned Giving Council.

While each member of the Advancement team has experience and training with planned giving, Ann’s particular area of expertise is bequests, trusts, and other types of legacy gifts. Please contact her with questions:

507-933-7453
annpeterson@gustavus.edu

Luke Hanson, MBA, CFRE
Director of Planned and Reunion Giving

Luke joined the Gustavus Advancement team in April 2018. In his role as director of planned and reunion giving, he provides leadership for the College's planned giving program with a special focus on alumni whose graduating classes are nearing 40-year and 50-year graduation anniversary milestones. Luke is also the College's liaison for Gustavus donors in a large geographic territory, including Washington state, Oregon, Montana, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri.

Luke grew up in Brookings, South Dakota, and is the son of an ELCA pastor and an elementary school teacher. He is a graduate of Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, with a bachelor of arts in international studies. As a Luther student, he enjoyed four international travel experiences: a month-long residency in Austria with the Symphony Orchestra, a tour of the British Isles with the Nordic Choir, a semester in northwest India, and a summer in Oslo, Norway, through the Nobel Peace Prize Forum’s Peace Scholar program. After his graduation in 2014, Luke spent one year living in rural Rwanda as a member of the ELCA’s Young Adults in Global Mission program.

Before joining the Gustavus team, Luke spent three months as a door-to-door fundraiser for Twin Cities Public Television and two years as a development officer for Concordia University in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He earned a master of business administration (M.B.A.) in 2019 and the Certified Fund Raising Executive credential (CFRE) in 2021.

Luke lives in Saint Paul with his wife, Jessa. In his free time, he enjoys cooking unfamiliar recipes, playing his cello, and cycling the bike trails of the Twin Cities. Luke and Jessa are members of Saint Paul-Reformation Lutheran Church.

507-933-7512
lhanso11@gustavus.edu