Dr. Roger Ludeman, who served as vice president for student and public affairs at Bemidji State University from 1980–1987, has been named a 2025 Pillar of the Profession by the NASPA Foundation, a fundraising organization that advances the mission of a national association of student affairs professionals in higher education.
Each year NASPA’s annual conference, its foundation recognizes distinguished individuals who have served as leaders, teachers and scholars in student affairs and higher education. Pillar of the Profession candidates are nominated and supported by colleagues, students or friends. Pillars and a selected member of the NASPA Foundation board then raise $3,500 in the nominee’s name to support research and scholarship in student affairs.
The NASPA Foundation’s Pillar of the Profession Award honors student affairs professionals who have:
- provided significant service to NASPA through regional and/or national leadership roles within the Association;
- created a lasting impact on the institution(s)/organization(s) at which they have worked, leaving a legacy of extraordinary service recognized by a cross-section of institutional/organizational stakeholders; and/or
- demonstrated sustained, lifetime professional distinction in the field of student affairs and/or higher education.
John L. Hoffman, president of BSU and Northwest Technical College, is also a prior recipient of NASPA Pillar of the Profession honors.
“NASPA is the largest and leading international professional association for student affairs educators, and the Pillars of the Profession award is essentially its Hall of Fame,” Hoffman said. “Dr. Roger Ludeman is unquestionably a pillar of the student affairs profession. His decades-long career, marked by innovation and leadership, makes him profoundly deserving of this honor.
“Beyond his extensive contributions in the U.S., Roger’s groundbreaking work in international education, particularly through his leadership in the International Association of Student Affairs and Services, has left a lasting impact across the globe,” Hoffman said. “He has been a mentor to countless student affairs educators, and the organizations he has shaped will carry his legacy into the future. I’m proud to know Roger and to celebrate his contributions to Bemidji State University and the global student affairs community.”
Ludeman is one of 20 student-affairs professionals to receive 2025 Pillars of the Profession honors. Since the award was founded in 1999, more than 400 professionals at all levels have been honored by the NASPA Foundation
2025 NASPA Pillar of the Profession Roger Ludeman
Roger Ludeman’s student affairs career began in 1967, when he was named dean of students and adjunct instructor in psychology and counselor education at Penn State Beaver, a commonwealth campus of Pennsylvania State University located in Monaca, Pa. From there, he spent five years as dean of student affairs and adjunct associate professor of guidance and counselor education at the University of Toledo before coming to Bemidji State in 1980. He served as BSU’s vice president for student and public affairs until 1987, when he became vice chancellor for student affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he retired as assistant chancellor emeritus in 2000.
He has continued to serve the student affairs and higher education professions in the two-plus decades since his retirement, spending several years in South Africa — two as a Fulbright visiting lecturer and three working on a grant project with the Kellogg Foundation — and serving for 11 years as president and executive director of the International Association of Student Affairs and Services, an organization which named him president emeritus in 2012.
Ludeman holds a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of South Dakota-Springfield and he has a master’s degrees in secondary education and psychology from the University of South Dakota-Vermillion. He also earned a master’s and doctorate degrees in counselor education and education psychology from the University of Pittsburgh.
NASPA Pillars of the Profession with BSU Ties
Ludeman is thought to be the fourth recipient of NASPA Pillars of the Profession honors with ties to Bemidji State University. He joins:
- Dr. Lisa Erwin — 2016 — vice president for student development & enrollment, 2007–2011
- Dr. John L. Hoffman — 2017 — president, 2022–present
- Dr. Joy L. Hoffman — 2019 — first spouse, 2022-present
About the NASPA Foundation
The NASPA Foundation raises funds to advance NASPA’s mission and legacy. It supports student affairs professionals by awarding scholarships for aspiring and current student affairs professionals to attend NASPA events; innovation grants for student affairs professionals to start new, otherwise unfunded, programs at their institutions; grants funding research into emerging trends in the student affairs field; and awards recognizing outstanding work in the student affairs profession.