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The winners of the 2025 St. Olaf College Alumni Awards were honored during a ceremony on campus November 7.

Alison Feigh ’00, the director of the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center, received the Distinguished Alumni Award. The college presented Alumni Achievement Awards to Sarah Hutto ’01, a University of Minnesota physician and professor specializing in women’s health; Jon Nordby ’70, a forensic science and forensic medicine expert; and Sarah Branton ’00, a longtime music educator. Mark Johnson ’91, the executive and artistic director of the Minnesota Boychoir, received the Outstanding Service Award.

The Alumni Awards are given each year to Oles whose service and leadership exemplify the ideals and mission of the college. In honoring these graduates for their exceptional achievements and professional contributions, they become an integral part of college history and a testament to St. Olaf’s tradition of excellence. Any member of the St. Olaf community may nominate an Ole for an Alumni Award. Awardees are selected by the Alumni and Family Board, with final approval by the St. Olaf Board of Regents. 

“St. Olaf alumni advance the mission of the college by making a difference in communities near and far with their considerable talents, skills, and expertise. The Alumni Awards are an opportunity to highlight alumni accomplishments and to reflect on the far-reaching, positive impact of a St. Olaf education,” says Director of Engagement and Alumni and Parent Relations Ellen Draeger Cattadoris ’07. “This year’s honorees are notable for their professional achievements and for their commitment to serving others. We are proud to call them Oles!”

“The Alumni Awards are an opportunity to highlight alumni accomplishments and to reflect on the far-reaching, positive impact of a St. Olaf education. This year’s honorees are notable for their professional achievements and for their commitment to serving others. We are proud to call them Oles!”

— Director of Engagement and Alumni and Parent Relations Ellen Draeger Cattadoris ’07

While on campus to receive their awards, the Alumni Award recipients visited classes and spoke with small groups of students interested in their career field. Read more about each of this year’s award winners below.

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD WINNER

Alison Feigh ’00
Alison Feigh ’00 is the director of the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center, a Zero Abuse Project program that works to prevent crimes against children while connecting families of the missing and exploited to important resources. In her more than 20 years of missing children advocacy, she works with students, parents, youth workers, faith leaders, law enforcement, and the media to help prevent childhood abuse and abductions. Feigh’s work also includes writing curriculum for youth-serving organizations, training professionals about the online challenges kids face, and advocating for families of the missing. She is the author of two children’s books and co-author of a textbook titled Sex Crimes and Offenders: Exploring Questions of Character and Culture. She was recently awarded the 2024 Visionary Voice Award from the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.

ALUMNI ACHIEVEMENT AWARD WINNERS

Sarah Hutto ’01
Sarah Hutto ’01 is an associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and women’s health at the University of Minnesota, where she is involved in clinical care, research, and teaching. Her clinical interests include high-risk obstetrics, minimally invasive gynecological surgery, preventive care, and full-spectrum reproductive and contraception care. She has been recognized for her excellent clinical care by her peers as a University of Minnesota Physicians Clinical Excellence Honoree from 2022–25, and she has been named a Top Doctor by Minnesota Monthly and Mpls.St.Paul Magazine multiple years. Hutto’s true passion is medical education, and she has also received a number of awards for her excellence in education and teaching. She currently serves as the director of the OB-GYN Residency Program, and before assuming this role she served as the OB-GYN medical student clerkship director for six years. Hutto completed her residency in obstetrics, gynecology and women’s health at the University of Minnesota, where she served as chief administrative resident.

Jon Nordby ’70
Jon Nordby ’70 worked in forensic science and forensic medicine for more than 45 years, specializing in the scientific and medical investigation of violent human death. He worked for the medical examiner’s offices in Seattle and Tacoma, Washington, and for the National Disaster Medical System. He is a founding member of the Department of Homeland Security, a position that resulted from his work at the World Trade Center in New York City following 9/11 and his prior work with the Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing in 1995. Nordby started an independent practice in forensic science and medicine, Final Analysis Forensics, which focused on the scientific reconstruction of puzzling death cases. His work served prosecutors, defense attorneys, public defenders, law enforcement, the Defense Department, and various innocence projects throughout the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Costa Rica, and the Netherlands. He also taught at the University of Washington and at Pacific Lutheran University, eventually retiring as a full professor. He has presented talks and written papers, articles, and chapters for scientific works, as well as authoring four books on forensic science and forensic medicine.

Sarah Branton ’00
Sarah Branton ’00 is in her 25th year of teaching and her 20th at Cherry Creek High School in Denver, Colorado, where she directs multiple choirs and teaches Advanced Placement Music Theory. Under her direction, choirs have performed at numerous state and regional conventions, at Carnegie Hall, and on tours throughout the United States, Europe, Australia, and Iceland. Branton currently serves as the assistant director and section leader with Kantorei, a Denver-based adult choir dedicated to performing choral music at the highest level of musical excellence. She also chairs the Colorado All-State Choir and has previously worked on the board of Colorado ACDA. Branton regularly serves as a guest conductor and clinician for honor choirs and festivals, and she is on faculty at the summer Sitka Fine Arts Camp in Sitka, Alaska. In addition to her work as a vocalist, conductor, and educator, Branton is an accomplished orchestral and jazz bassist.

OUTSTANDING SERVICE AWARD WINNER

Mark Johnson ’91
Mark Johnson ’91 began his work with the Minnesota Boychoir in 1992 as the accompanist and was hired as the artistic director in 1993. After majoring in vocal music education at St. Olaf, he taught junior high choral music for six years before becoming the full-time conductor of the boychoir. From 1995 to 2007, he was a member of the staff at Albemarle, a summer music camp program of the American Boychoir School in Princeton, New Jersey. Johnson’s reputation in choral work, especially with children’s groups, has led to many invitations to work as a clinician, accompanist, and adjudicator for honors choirs and festivals around the globe. He conducted the Young Men’s track for the World Voices Australia Festival at the Sydney Opera House in 2007 and the Minnesota Music Educators Association Celebration of Young Musicians Festivals in 2014 and 2016, among many others. ACDA of Minnesota honored Johnson with the Minnesota Choral Director of the Year Award in 2022, and he is currently president of the organization, serving in a leadership capacity until 2029.