Luther President Richard Torgerson names James Thomsen to Board of Regents

Related Media

James Thomsen

DECORAH, IA (04/01/2013)(readMedia)-- Luther College President Richard Torgerson has announced the appointment of James Thomsen of Eden Prairie, Minn. to the Luther Board of Regents. Thomsen will assume his duties as a Luther Regent at the board's October meeting.

"Jim and Kathy have long supported Luther," said President Torgerson. "Jim's responsibility for strategic positioning at Thrivent and his experience in organizational change will be a great asset to the Board as Luther responds to a changing marketplace."

Thomsen currently serves as the senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. In this position, he leads the marketing, products and member services division of the company. Thomsen also oversees several divisions within the company, including affinity marketing, product development and marketing, member and field support services, centralized services, Thrivent Financial Bank, and brokerage and managed accounts.

Thomsen joined Thrivent Financial for Lutherans in 1986. Throughout his career, he has served in distribution management positions in Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago and St. Louis. He joined Thrivent Financial's senior executive team in 2001.

In addition to his leadership at Thrivent Financial, Thomsen serves on the board of directors for LL Global, a worldwide association of insurance and financial service companies. He has served on the board for the Children's Theatre of Minneapolis, Lutheran Family Services of Colorado, Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago and the Penn State Center for Global Business Studies.

Thomsen served on Luther's Alumni Council from 1989-2006, and he and his wife, Kathy, served as national leaders for Luther's "Leadership for a New Century" campaign. The Thomsens are currently members of the Luther College Presidentsråd, a presidential advisory group.

Thomsen earned a bachelor's degree in management from Luther and is a graduate of Harvard Business School's advanced management program.

Thomsen and his wife, Kathy have two children and reside in Eden Prairie, Minn.