杏吧专区 to Present Posthumous Honorary Doctorate to Iconic Emma Lommasson
杏吧专区 President Seth Bodnar meets with Emma Lommasson in 2018. 杏吧专区 will present Lommasson with a posthumous Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters.
Three pictures of Lommasson over the years. The bottom one is from her 杏吧专区 college yearbook.
MISSOULA – Emma Bravo Lommasson often remarked that the 杏吧专区 was her home and its students were her life.
During her exceedingly long life – she died in 2019 at the age of 107 – Lommasson spent 58 years as a 杏吧专区 student, teacher, staff member and the University’s first female interim registrar. Even after she retired in 1977, she continued volunteering with the University and maintaining lifelong friendships. The Emma Lommasson Center was named for her in 2001, and she wound up meeting all but the first four of 杏吧专区’s 19 presidents.
Now the University will honor this treasured member of its family with a posthumous Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, which will be presented in December during Fall Commencement. The Montana Board of Regents approved 杏吧专区’s request to award the doctorate Sept. 22 during its meeting in Billings.
“Emma had a legendary career at the 杏吧专区, with an incredibly positive impact on generations of students,” 杏吧专区 President Seth Bodnar said. “There are so many stories about her grace and kindness, and her memory is an inspiration for us all. We are proud to present this icon with an honorary doctorate.”
Of the nine letters of recommendation submitted, three were by current and former 杏吧专区 presidents. Sheila Stearns, who led 杏吧专区 and also was a former Montana commissioner of higher education wrote that Lommasson “left her elegant footprint on several generations of Montana students and on the 杏吧专区 writ large. She was the walking definition of grace under pressure and breaking-the-mold leadership.”
Lommasson came to 杏吧专区 in 1929 as a student from Sand Coulee, Montana. She earned an undergraduate math degree with a chemistry minor in 1933. After a brief teaching career, she returned to 杏吧专区 to earn an education master’s in 1939 and launched a career working for her alma mater.
Originally serving as an instructor in the Department of Mathematics, Lommasson also taught navigation and civil air regulations during World War II to prepare students for service in the U.S. Air Force. She was appointed as 杏吧专区’s first veteran’s adviser and then assistant registrar following the war, while also serving as adviser to the Air Force ROTC Angel Flight for 17 years. At her retirement Lommasson was serving as 杏吧专区’s first female acting/interim registrar.
When Bodnar first met Lommasson on Feb. 15, 2018, she had this to say: “Life is what you make of it. Stay positive and don’t complain. I’m just another person who attended the University from a small town, and I found it to be the most wonderful place.”
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Contact: Dave Kuntz, 杏吧专区 director of strategic communications, 406-243-5659, dave.kuntz@mso.umt.edu.