Elmer L. Andersen is considered "dean of Minnesota Republicans." As a state senator from 1949 to 1958, he championed legislation on fair employment practices, special education, and the state's first civil rights bill. As Minnesota's governor in the early 1960s, he led the cause of creating new parks, an effort that eventually led to the establishment of Voyageurs National Park in northern Minnesota. For 30 years the president of St. Paul-based H.B. Fuller, Andersen and his wife, Eleanor, established the Elmer L. and Eleanor J. Andersen Foundation in 1957. Through the foundation they have funded the work of many education, environment, arts, and human service groups, as well as numerous libraries. Andersen, who served as a University of Minnesota regent from 1967 to 1975, gave the university more than 12,000 rare and precious books from his personal collection. On May 14, 1999, the
Board of Regents unanimously voted to name the newest University library facility in his honor.
Roberta Cordano is committed to raising the quality of life of the signing community. She is one of the founders of two bicultural/bilingual charter schools for deaf, hard-of-hearing, and deaf-blind children. The Metro Deaf School, a pre-K through 8th grade program, opened 10 years ago; Minnesota North Star Academy, a high school, will open in September 2003. The schools use ASL (American Sign Language) as the primary language of instruction, with English introduced as a second language. Both employ deaf and hearing teachers to carry out their bicultural/bilingual philosophies. Cordano was Assistant Attorney General for Minnesota from 1990 to 2000, and currently is the director of disability services at the University of Minnesota.
Pakou Hang was born in a refugee camp in Thailand. She and her family immigrated to the United States when she was an infant. Among the first generation of Hmong to attend college, Hang graduated from Yale University in 1999, then returned to the Twin Cities where she has been active in electoral politics. In 2002, as Mee Moua's campaign manager, she played an instrumental role in the election of the first Hmong to statewide office in the United States. Hang capitalized on the Hmong community's oral tradition by producing audiotapes on the political process and using Hmong radio as a grassroots organizing strategy. She also served as deputy political director for the late Senator Paul Wellstone, bringing her organizing talents to the broader political community.
Walter F. Mondale has served as Attorney General for Minnesota, U.S. Senator, Vice President of the United States, and U.S. Ambassador to Japan. Building on an impressive career as a public servant for the citizens of Minnesota, Mondale accepted Jimmy Carter's invitation to join the Democratic ticket and, in 1976, was elected Vice President. Mondale was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in 1984 and, at the request of President Clinton, served as Ambassador to Japan from 1993 to 1996. When Senator Paul Wellstone's plane crashed on October 25, 2002 -Mondale stepped in to run in Wellstone's stead. Although his bid for the Senate was not successful, Mondale remains active in the community, continuing the Mondale Lectures on Public Service and other initiatives.
