Month: October 2025

On Friday, Nov. 7, and Saturday, Nov. 8, the Center for Ethics and Public Engagement, in collaboration with Luther College’s Career Center and The Landing Market, will host a panel discussion and a community conversation exploring the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) across education, industry and everyday life. The events are free and open to the public.

“Many of us, myself included, may feel like AI is infiltrating every aspect of our lives. AI is reshaping how we learn, how we work, how we shop, and how we travel,” said Hongxiao Yu, assistant professor of management at Luther. “I organized this program entitled ‘Artificial Intelligence: What’s Next?’ to focus on the questions that I keep thinking about in my own life and research.”

“Artificial Intelligence: What’s Next?” Panel Discussion

The program, “Artificial Intelligence: What’s Next?” begins with a panel discussion at 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 7, in Peace Dining Room, located on the second floor of the Dahl Centennial Union. The panelists are Brian W. Carnell, chief information officer of Lifescale Analytics; Haemoon Oh, an Educational Foundation Distinguished Professor in the School of Hotel Restaurant and Tourism Management at the University of South Carolina (USC); Nathan Thompson, chief executive officer and co-founder of Assessment Systems; and David Zalk, manager at Deloitte Consulting Services.

With more than 25 years of experience in the IT industry, Carnell has worked for some of the top technology companies in the world including Dell, Oracle, Cisco Systems, WANG and EchoStar. Carnell is the creator of one of the first AI-driven autonomous flight systems for pest management.

Oh served as the dean of USC’s College of Hospitality, Retail, and Sport Management from 2015 to 2020. Prior to USC, he was the head of the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management in the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass). Before he joined UMass, Oh was a faculty member and graduate program director of the hospitality management program at Iowa State University for more than 12 years.

Oh has a bachelor’s degree in tourism sciences from Hanyang University in South Korea and a master’s in hospitality administration from the University of Nevada–Las Vegas. He earned a Ph.D. in man and environment relations with a concentration in marketing from Pennsylvania State University.

Thompson is a tech entrepreneur, psychometrician and AI researcher with a passion for improving assessment of people. He has a Ph.D. in psychometrics from the University of Minnesota, with a focus on adaptive testing algorithms for personalized assessment. Thompson earned a bachelor’s degree with a triple major of psychology, mathematics and Latin from Luther in 2000.

“I credit my career to the inspiration, guidance and drive for lifelong learning that I received at Luther, especially from certain professors with pivotal impact,” Thompson said. “I’m delighted for the opportunity to share my experiences in AI, technology, and business, and hopefully stimulate the interest of future researchers.”

As a manager in Deloitte’s consulting practice, Zalk specializes in large-scale AI and data programs for financial services clients. He assists clients in solving challenges at the intersection of data, technology, and business process, enabling organizations to govern and leverage AI and data for competitive advantage. Zalk earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting and math from Luther in 2015.

“Artificial Intelligence: What’s Next?” Community Conversation

The “Artificial Intelligence: What’s Next?” program continues with a Community Conversation at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 8, at The Landing Market, 211 College Drive. Local business owners, Luther alumni and community members interested in AI and its role in shaping the future of work and learning are encouraged to attend this informal gathering.

“My goal is for leaders in academia and the business community to come together and discuss the growing influence of AI today. By listening to these AI experts and sharing our experiences, we can critically assess and responsibly engage with emerging AI technologies,” Yu said.

Yu organized the “Artificial Intelligence: What’s Next?” program as the Center for Ethics and Public Engagement (CEPE) Faculty Research Fellow. Yu’s research explores how users perceive and trust artificial intelligence in decision-making contexts, particularly within the fields of hospitality, tourism and education. She investigates the ethical challenges and human factors that influence AI adoption and misuse, with the goal of promoting transparency, informed use, and public trust. During her fellowship, she will conduct interviews and surveys, develop a theoretical framework on AI trust, and engage the campus through guest speakers, student research and public events.

In addition to the public events on Nov. 7–8, the “Artificial Intelligence: What’s Next?” program also features discussions with Luther students in various departments including management, economics, data science and computer science.

Each year, the CEPE selects a guiding theme to inspire and share its programming. “Artificial” is the theme for the 2025–26 academic year.

This 2025 Homecoming season, Luther College continued the tradition of presenting the Weston Noble, Dr. Carlo A. Sperati and Hemp Prize Awards, which recognize excellence and achievement in music and music education. Student and alumni award winners are recognized each year during the annual Homecoming concert. This year’s concert took place on Sunday, Oct. 5.

2025 Weston Noble Award

Juan Tony Guzmán, director of the jazz program and professor of music at Luther College, is the 2025 recipient of the Weston Noble Award. Weston Noble served on Luther’s music faculty from 1948 to 2005. During that time, the college grew in numbers and national reputation, and Noble became a leader in training trailblazers in the field of music education. Established in 2004, the Weston Noble Award recognizes music educators who honor and continue Noble’s legacy.

“Receiving this award inspires me to keep improving my service to Luther College and to the world,” Guzmán said. “I was close to Mr. Noble since I came to the United States in 1988. Like many others, I benefited from his wisdom, generosity, kindness and humor. This award has deep personal meaning and professional significance to me. I hope to contribute to the legacy of our great educator, Mr. Noble. I am grateful for this distinction.”

Guzmán is a widely sought-after conductor for all-state and honor choirs, concert bands, jazz bands and symphony orchestras in North America, Central and South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. An active arranger, Guzmán is known for his arrangements of Caribbean and Latin American music. Many of Guzmán’s arrangements have been published by Boosey & Hawkes and Oxford University Press.

He has done clinics and presentations for the Dominican Republic National System of Youth Orchestras, the World Choral Symposium, the Music Educators National Conference, Associação de Regentes de Corais do Brasil, the Association of British Choral Directors, the Scottish Association for Music Education, the Festival 500 in Canada, and the AMIS International Music Festival among others.

Guzmán holds a Ph.D., a certificate in pedagogy of music theory and a master’s degree from Florida State University. In 1990, he earned his bachelor’s degree in music education from Luther. He also has a degree in electromechanical engineering from the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra in Santiago, Dominican Republic.

Guzmán served as the Weston Noble Endowed Chair in Music from 2017 to 2020. In 2018, Guzmán received the Dr. Carlo A. Sperati Award and is among an elite list of people to have been awarded both honors from Luther College.

2025 Dr. Carlo A. Sperati Award

Jon Ailabouni, Luther College graduate of 2010, is the 2025 recipient of the Dr. Carlo A. Sperati Award. Sperati, a pillar of Luther College and the Lutheran music tradition, was the conductor of the Luther College Concert Band for 38 years until his retirement in 1943. His work ethic and demand for perfection and patience when working with music students are part of the identity of the Luther College music department to this day. This award recognizes those traits in music educators as they follow in Sperati’s footsteps.

“It is an honor to share this award with so many of my heroes and mentors, and I’m humbled to be recognized for the work that I do, which is just one of many ripples that emanate from the legacy of Dr. Sperati. I am grateful to all of my teachers, colleagues, peers, collaborators and students, former and current,” Ailabouni said.

Ailabouni is an in-demand trumpeter, composer and educator living in La Crosse, Wis. He serves as the director of jazz studies at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse (UWL), where he teaches the trumpet studio and courses in improvisation and directs the Jazz Orchestra, Jazz Ensemble, jazz combos, and the Hoefer Brass Quintet.

Ailabouni’s background is steeped in Western European classical music and Black American music traditions including the blues, modern jazz and free improvisation. His creative work focuses on instrumental composition and improvisation that uses emotion and story as focal points for expression. Recent creative projects include his debut album of original music entitled “You Are Not Alone” (SkyDeck Music, 2023) and liturgy setting “The Spirit Is Moving: A Jazz Liturgy of Renewal” (Jon Ailabouni Music, 2025). Ailabouni can be heard performing regularly with Chris Merz and Shorter Stories, Mike Conrad and the Iowa Jazz Composer’s Orchestra, Isthmus Brass, and the La Crosse Jazz Orchestra. Ailabouni is a frequent clinician and guest artist including at the Jazz Education Network Conference and jazz festivals across the country.

Ailabouni earned his master’s degree in jazz studies from Western Michigan University in 2013. He taught at Luther College from 2013 to 2021 and has served on the faculty at UWL since 2021.

2025 Hemp Family Prize for Orchestra Performance

Luther College senior Audrey Zielstra is the 2025 recipient of the Hemp Prize. The Richard C. and Joann M. Hemp Family Prize for Orchestra Performance is given annually to a senior member of the Luther College Symphony Orchestra. The $8,000 scholarship is funded through an endowment established by Richard ’64 and Joann (Harr) Hemp ’65. Richard Hemp is a regent emeritus, former chair of the Luther College Board of Regents and former interim president of Luther College. The auditioned prize awards students of exceptional performance, talent, musicianship and leadership.

Zielstra is the principal percussionist of the Symphony Orchestra and Concert Band. She is the first percussionist to receive the Hemp Prize in the scholarship’s history.

“I am grateful to the Hemp family for this opportunity, and I am honored to represent Luther’s hard-working percussion studio,” she said. “I’m still shocked to have received this award as a non-music major. It really has been such an amazing experience.”

Zielstra is majoring in history and anthropology. She started learning percussion when she was in the sixth grade at her middle school in Glenwood, Iowa.

“Some of my favorite musical experiences at Luther have been traveling with Concert Band on their tour to Japan, performing with the percussion ensemble in Christmas at Luther, and playing timpani for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s monumental masterpiece, Requiem in D minor, KV 626 last spring,” Zielstra said.