Springfield, Ohio – Two more names were added to the list of Wittenberg University alumni who have brought honor to their alma mater with exceptional personal or professional accomplishments and continued dedication to the ideals for which the university stands.
Ingrid Lundquist, class of 1978, and Brian Agler, class of 1980, received Wittenberg Alumni Citation Awards during the university’s Homecoming Weekend, Oct. 7-9.
Lundquist, a higher education specialist and counselor at Penn State Talent Search and New Castle High School in New Castle, Pa., works with high school students to prepare them for college and the college transition.
Residing in Poland, Ohio, but employed by The Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pa., Lundquist is embedded at nearby New Castle High School as part of the guidance office, where she provides college advising to students from low-income families. The program is part of the Federal Trio programs that started back in the 1960s. There are only 450 of these programs across the country with Penn State administering seven of them.
“My work experience in admission and financial aid, along with the time spent working on college campuses, prepared me to return to a high school setting to assist students with the college readiness and selection process,” she said. “I came to Wittenberg to be trained to teach elementary education and remedial reading, but my time as an admission tour guide and student office assistant started me on a different career path in education.”
Lundquist started her career in Wittenberg’s Office of Admission immediately after graduation.
“I started on July 1, and as it is said, ’the rest is history,’” Lundquist said. “The years as an admission representative not only exposed me to the inner workings of the admission world, but also to the inner workings of the administrative side of my alma mater. Thanks to serving on numerous Wittenberg committees (orientation, retention, search committee, etc.), I developed a deeper understanding of how a college ’works’ and an appreciation for those who helped students have a meaningful college experience.”
Agler’s love of basketball and his sparkling career at Wittenberg led him to bigger and better opportunities upon leaving his alma mater, too.
A Prospect, Ohio, native, Agler led the Tigers to their only NCAA Division III championship in basketball as a freshman point guard in 1977. He started in all 112 games in his career as a player for the Tigers, scoring 1,243 points, and is the school's career assist leader with 481, an average of 4.3 per game. Agler was named Most Valuable Player in the Ohio Athletic Conference and first-team All-America as a senior in 1980. During his career, Wittenberg compiled a 91-21 record (.813) with the national title in 1977 and a third place finish in 1980. He was inducted into Wittenberg’s Athletics Hall of Honor in 1995 and the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014.
After graduating from Wittenberg, Agler played professional basketball in Europe for a year before starting his coaching career as an assistant at Muhlenberg College. But this was just the beginning.
He is currently the all-time winningest coach in women's professional basketball history and was named coach of the Women’s National Basketball Association’s (WNBA’s) Los Angeles Sparks just last year. Under his leadership, the Sparks captured the WNBA title this season, their third overall. In the process, Agler became the first head coach to win WNBA titles with two different teams. His other title came in 2010 as head coach of the Seattle Storm. During his seven seasons as head coach and director of player personnel with the Storm, he compiled a 136-102 record (.571) leading the team to six consecutive postseason berths (2008-2013).
