{{Short description|American college and university administrator}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Carleton Opgaard | office1 = President of Dakota State University | predecessor2 = ''Position established'' | term_end2 = 1978 | term_start2 = 1969 | office2 = President of Malaspina University-College | term_end1 = 1983 | term_start1 = 1978 | term_end = 1990 | birth_name = Carleton Myron Opgaard | term_start = 1983 | office = President of Tacoma Community College | alma_mater = Valley City State University (BA)<br>University of Wyoming (MA)<br>University of Washington (PhD) | birth_place = Fort Ransom, North Dakota, U.S. | death_date = July 6, 2014 (aged 85) | birth_date = February 18, 1929 | death_place = Tacoma, Washington, U.S. }}
'''Carleton Opgaard''' (February 18, 1929 – July 6, 2014) was an American college and university administrator and founding president of Malaspina College (now Vancouver Island University).<ref>[http://yellowpagesnorthdakota.com/gpage3.html ''Dr. Carleton Opgaard'' (Famous People born in North Dakota)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718140527/http://yellowpagesnorthdakota.com/gpage3.html |date=July 18, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/tribnet/obituary.aspx?pid=171712811 |title=CARLETON OPGAARD's Obituary by News Tribune (Tacoma) |publisher=Legacy.com |date= |accessdate=2014-07-18}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Carleton Myron Opgaard was born in Fort Ransom, North Dakota, the son of immigrants from Norway. Opgaard obtained his bachelor's degree from Valley City State University in Valley City, North Dakota in 1952. Thereafter, he received his master's degree from the University of Wyoming in Laramie and his Ph.D. from the University of Washington in Seattle. He attended the University of Oslo in Norway as a Fulbright scholar.
== Career == In his initial administrative assignment, Opgaard was principal of Edmonds Woodway High School in Edmonds, Washington.
In 1969, he was the founding president of Malaspina University-College, now called Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. During the centennial of the college, he was the president of Dakota State University (1978–1983) in Madison, South Dakota.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120730002901/http://www.departments.dsu.edu/dsuarchives/Archives/RemarkablePeople/Presidents/president_opgaard_carleton.htm ''President Carleton Opgaard'' (Dakota State University)]</ref> He also served as president of Tacoma Community College in Tacoma, Washington, (1983–1990). He later served as interim president of Columbia Basin College and Edmonds College in Washington.<ref>[http://www.dsu.edu/presidents-office/past-presidents.aspx ''Past Presidents'' (Dakota State University)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100910020150/http://www.dsu.edu/presidents-office/past-presidents.aspx |date=September 10, 2010 }}</ref>
For his service to education, Carleton Opgaard received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Valley City State University.<ref>[http://alumni.vcsu.edu/awards/vp.htm?p=106|&inf=275|#275 ''Dr. Carleton M. Opgaard - Class of 1952'' (Valley City State University] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160408032350/http://alumni.vcsu.edu/awards/vp.htm?p=106 |date=April 8, 2016 }}</ref>
== Death == Opgaard died on July 6, 2014, in Tacoma, Washington.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Carleton M. Opgaard|url=https://archives.dsu.edu/carleton-m-opgaard/|language=en-US|access-date=2020-06-01}}</ref>
==Selected works== *''Waldemar Theodor Ager, Norwegian immigrant author in America'' (University of Wyoming, 1957)
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Opgaard, Carleton}} Category:People from Ransom County, North Dakota Category:University of Washington alumni Category:Heads of universities and colleges in the United States Category:University of Wyoming alumni Category:1929 births Category:2014 deaths Category:Academic staff of Vancouver Island University Category:American people of Norwegian descent Category:Valley City State University alumni