Office of the Provost
Meet the Team
The Provost's Team
Julie Finnern, Ph.D.
Associate Provost for the College of Arts & Sciences
Started at Bethel: 2017
Education:University of South Dakota—Ed.D.
University of Minnesota—M.A.
Wheaton College—B.A.
Todd Harmening
Associate Provost for Academic Systems and Planning
t-harmening@bethel.edu
Started at Bethel: 2025
Education:
University of Minnesota—Ed.D.
American University—M.P.
Minnesota State University—B.S.
Tom J. Brown, Ph.D.
Dean of the School of Business
tom-brown@bethel.edu
Started at Bethel: 2025
Education:
University of Wisconsin, Madison—Ph.D.
University of Wisonsin, Madison—M.S.
Oklahoma State University—MBA
Oklahoma State University—B.S.
Barrett Fisher
Interim Dean of the College of Arts, Sciences, & Education
b-fisher@bethel.edu
Started at Bethel: 1993
Education:
Cornell University—Ph.D.
Cornell University—M.A.
Bowdoin College—A.B.
Peter Vogt
Dean of the School of Theology & Bethel Seminaryp-vogt@bethel.edu
Started at Bethel: 2001 as a professor; 2019 as a dean
Education:
University of Gloucestershire—Ph.D.
Bethel Seminary—M.Div.,
American University—B.A.
Matthew Vraa
Dean of the Anderson Family College of Health Sciences
vraa@bethel.edu
Started at Bethel: 2025
Education:
Faulkner University—Ph.D.
Bellin College—DSc
Regis University—FAAOMPT
Regis University—DPT
Argosy University—MBA
Carroll College—MPT
Carroll College—B.S.
Cheryl Fisk, Ph.D.
Started at Bethel: 2022
Education:
Saint Mary's University of Minnesota—Ed.D.
Crown College—M.A.
Crown College—B.S.
Jeff Olson
Started at Bethel: 1999
University of St. Thomas—B.A.
St. Paul bible College (now Crown College)—MBA
Brenda Niemi
Education:
Northwestern College—BA
Emily Dehmer
Started at Bethel: 2022
Education:
Yeshiva University—MA
St. Norbert College—BA
Mary Michener
Jon Nykanen
Special Assistant to the Provost for Artificial Intelligence
j-nykanen@bethel.edu
Started at Bethel: 2025
Education:
Metropolitan State University—DBA
University of St. Thomas, St. Paul—MBA
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis—BEE
Matthew Thiesen
University Library Director
m-thiesen@bethel.edu
Started at Bethel: 2024
Education:
University of North Texas—M.S.
Western Seminary—M.A.
Grace University—B.A.
Kimberly Thorstad
Started at Bethel: 2016
Education:
St. Cloud State University—M.S.
Winona State University—B.S.
Ray VanArragon
rvanarra@bethel.edu
Started at Bethel:
Kara Wicklund
Director of Instructional and Media Designk-wicklund@bethel.edu
Started at Bethel: 2011
Education:
Bethel University—EdD
Bethel University—MA
Northwestern University St. Paul—BS
Virginija M. Wilcox
Associate Dean of International and Off-Campus Programsvirginija-wilcox@bethel.edu
Started at Bethel: 2021
Education:
Unviersity of South Dakota—MA
Black Hills State University—BA
Tonia Rucker
Started at Bethel: 2022
Education:
Clemson University—B.S.University of California, Berkeley—M.A.
