Diane Fladeland’s Life in Nursing, Teaching, Learning, and Leading at Mary

Just before the end of her 40th fall semester, as her well-deserved retirement approached, Dr. Diane Fladeland, the University of Mary vice president for academic affairs (VPAA), concluded her remarks at the annual faculty and staff Christmas party with these simple instructions: "Take care of this place ... and Merry Christmas."

Woven throughout her address were memories of bravery and risk throughout Mary's history: how, from the very beginning, and at every turn, these qualities have underpinned the university's effort, determination, and unwavering trust in the Holy Spirit. She told stories of her travels with Sister Thomas Welder and Monsignor Shea. She remembered the unifying and uplifting campus community that banded together during fires and floods. She honored treasured friends and colleagues, including those who had supported her through life's most challenging moments. Above all, she thanked the Benedictine Sisters of Annunciation Monastery, whose prayer, love, and sponsorship continue to sustain the university and everyone who's a part of it.

At no point did she honor herself or her career, which includes 26 years as VPAA and countless achievements and accolades. Instead, a true servant leader, she gladly expressed gratitude for her time at the University of Mary.

Recognition for Fladeland's distinguished decades of service brought tremendous celebration and standing ovations, but she wasn't looking for those: "I just want people to say, 'She was really happy. She loved her job and worked hard, and she was one lucky gal.'" To understand such a humble sentiment is to understand Diane Fladeland.

Independent Spirit

Raised on a farm outside Jamestown, ND, Fladeland was immersed in a culture of work and education from the very beginning.

"It was very lovely and unique growing up on a farm," she says. "Dad had dairy cattle, and that's what I was mostly interested in, but I also helped with the yard work, tended the flowers, and helped cook."

She sees herself and her eventual career as part of the broader tapestry of the North Dakotan ethic: "We're hardworking and industrious people in North Dakota. Everybody around us worked hard, and that's the way we grew up - it's just how things were."

Her rural roots also offered an excellent, albeit unusual, opportunity for her knowledge to blossom: a one-room schoolhouse. "It was a very good education," Fladeland says. "Grades 1 through 8 were all together, and the older kids would help the younger kids with their lessons. You had to be a really independent learner."

That spirit of independence continued throughout her education, and when she began attending Jamestown High School, despite learning in a class of 360 students, she continued to excel in her classwork. She began looking for opportunities to lead, and her industrious mindset led her to be elected as president of the Young Citizens League, a patriotic youth organization focused on improving citizenship and character in young people. As a junior, she attended Girls State at the University of North Dakota (UND) and was so impressed by the campus that she decided to attend college there.

Natural Nurse, Born Educator

Initially a psychology major, Fladeland spent the summer after her freshman year working at the state hospital in Jamestown. She was very interested in the mind and how it affected the patients she met. A coworker encouraged her to consider psychiatric nursing instead of psychology, and with the skills she had learned while caring for animals on the farm, Fladeland took to nursing naturally.

She also met her eventual husband, Mike, on a blind date while studying at UND. By the end of her sophomore year, the two were married. Mike, a member of the US Air Force at the time, was stationed at Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda, MI.

"There were no four-year schools nearby," Fladeland says, "so I transferred to Mercy College in Detroit, and my trips to Mercy began a major thread in my life: Do whatever it takes to earn an education."

Every Monday, Fladeland would wake up and drive over three hours to campus, and every Friday, after finishing her courses, she drove back to Wurtsmith.

Eventually, Mike left the Air Force, and they moved to Chicago, where Diane began her nursing career at a primary care unit in Lutheran General Hospital. Her patients often needed help to understand their diagnoses as well as treatment, and she enjoyed teaching them. Nursing and education became intertwined.

Shortly thereafter, Diane and Mike learned they were expecting a baby, so the couple returned to the Jamestown area, where Diane began working at a local clinic. When it came time for her to have their baby, the attending nurse asked if a student could observe her delivery. Diane agreed, and the student nurse entered the room along with the clinical teacher.

The labor and delivery progressed, and Fladeland gave birth to a healthy baby boy. While she was still lying in the hospital bed, the teacher, who had discovered her nursing background, said, "Would you think about doing clinical instruction for Jamestown College?"

Fladeland, with her baby in her arms, said, "Can I at least have a day or two to think about it?"

But the seed was planted, and she soon agreed, launching a career in nursing education. She thrived in her new role supervising student nurses during their clinical experiences. Eventually, the chair of nursing at Jamestown College, with accreditation requirements on her mind, asked Fladeland and three of her colleagues to earn master's degrees. So they enrolled in a summers-only master's program in nursing at the University of Portland and shipped their young families to Oregon for three summers. With two preschoolers in tow, once again, Fladeland did what it took.

A Prairie Homecoming

Shortly after Diane completed her master's, Mike accepted a job at Montana-Dakota Utilities in Bismarck, so they packed up and moved.

"I saw an opening for a nursing faculty at Mary College," she says, "so I applied and interviewed with Sister Kathryn Zimmer."

She was hired, and in 1985, she began teaching at the little campus on a windswept prairie bluff. It wasn't long before Sister Mary Margaret, chair of the Mary College nursing department, wanted to start a nurse practitioner program and needed faculty with PhDs to do it. Now with four children at home, Fladeland enrolled at the University of Minnesota. The three youngest lived with her in the Twin Cities during the summer, while her oldest son stayed with Mike.

Just like in Fladeland's one-room schoolhouse, her children learned to be inventive and work together. "The big kids took care of the little kids," she says. During the academic year, she continued to take coursework while teaching at Mary. Each week, she spent Monday and Tuesday in Minneapolis before returning to Bismarck, completing her clinical hours, and teaching her courses.

Transformational Leadership

When faced with any challenge, Diane has always responded with commitment, positivity, and dedication. In 1997, Dr. Tom Johnson, Mary's VPAA at that time, hired Fladeland as an assistant vice president. Three years later, in 2000, when Johnson retired, she took his place and has held the position until now.

Over the last 40 years, Fladeland has watched Mary College transform into the University of Mary. Gone are the days when buses transported students from the north end of campus to the south end, when Mary only offered a handful of degrees. She oversaw Mary's positioning as America's Leadership University in the early 2000s, and she's championed multiple renovations to the core curriculum. She's grown Mary's graduate programs into a full portfolio of master's and doctoral degrees, and she helped launch the university's Hamm School of Engineering. She's seen Marauders Athletics move from a few NAIA teams to 18 NCAA Division II teams, and she's served as a mentor and friend to countless Mary students, supporters, and colleagues.

One element, however, has remained constant throughout Fladeland's entire career: "The Sisters [of Annunciation Monastery] are the same - our founders and sponsors," she says. "Mary has never wavered in our devotion to the Sisters."

Amidst so much change, Fladeland has embraced the same "whatever it takes" approach she applied to earning her education, but she borrows her favorite slogan from Bill Murray's 1991 comedy, "What About Bob?".

"Baby steps," she says. "Baby steps is my philosophy for life - you do what needs to be done, one day at a time. That's how we finish all of our initiatives at Mary - except we don't walk the baby steps; we run while we have the light of life!"

In her view, one particular initiative has spurred all the other changes.

"We've embraced who we are as a Christian, Catholic, and Benedictine institution. We've always lived the mission, but we've become much more intentional about it," she says. "When you know what you're doing is true, good, and beautiful, word spreads.

And it has spread. Enrollment has crossed the threshold of 4,000 students, and she doesn't see the university slowing down.

"I won't ever truly leave the University of Mary. This place is my home - it's in my blood."

For Life

Though she has seen her role change, grow, and transform during her decades at Mary, Fladeland has tried to approach every duty the same way. Whether she was with patients, students, faculty, or the President's Council: "You just care for people," she says. "Care about the person in front of you. No matter what job I've had, I've always been a nurse, and I've always been a teacher."

Even approaching retirement, she remained excited about the future of the university. Dr. David Echelbarger has stepped into the role of VPAA, rising from the same position Fladeland held prior to becoming vice president in 2000.

"There will be all sorts of new and wonderful things at the university," she says. "It's in good hands."

One thing is certain: Diane Fladeland is grateful for her career at the University of Mary. She remembers the reflection that long-time university photographer Jerry Anderson gave upon his own retirement.

"Jerry said, 'The University of Mary is worth giving a life for,' and he was right. But at this place, you don't just give a life - you get a life," she says. "I could not be who I am today if it wasn't for Mary. You have so many consistent opportunities here to deepen your faith and to deepen your humanity."

When Fladeland closed her office door for the final time, she finished a chapter, sure, but her story at Mary isn't over: "I won't ever truly leave the University of Mary. This place is my home - it's in my blood."