The Henry L. Bolley Academic Achievement Award honors individuals who have attained noted achievements in the area of education as teachers, researchers, and/or administrators.
Hometown: Beach, North Dakota
NDSU Degree: BS Range Science
Dr. Karen Launchbaugh ’84 has built a career defined by scientific excellence, inspired teaching, and a deep commitment to the land-grant mission. Raised on a sheep and cattle ranch in western North Dakota, her connection to rangelands began early through hands-on experience and FFA. She chose NDSU for its strong agricultural programs, earning a bachelor’s degree in range science while developing leadership skills as president of the Range Club and Mortar Board Honor Society. She later earned an M.S. in range science from Texas A&M University and a Ph.D. from Utah State University.
Now a professor of rangeland ecology at the University of Idaho, Karen is nationally and internationally recognized for her research and leadership. She is a pioneer in targeted grazing — an ecological approach to vegetation management — has conducted extensive research on the topic and co-edited “Targeted Grazing: A Natural Approach to Vegetation Management and Landscape Enhancement” (2006), a foundational text that has shaped Natural Resources Conservation Service programs and land restoration efforts across the western U.S. Her work is distinguished by its real-world impact, bridging research with practice for ranchers, land managers, and public agencies responsible for managing millions of acres of land.
Teaching is at the heart of Karen’s career. From her early experience as an undergraduate teaching assistant at NDSU to faculty roles at Texas Tech University and the University of Idaho, she has been known for immersive, field-based education and exceptional mentorship. Her legendary field trips — where students learn directly from ranchers, sleep under the stars, and share meals around a campfire — have inspired generations of land managers. Her teaching excellence has been recognized with numerous honors, including the Range Science Education Council Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award (2013) and U.S. Professor of the Year for Idaho (2014). “My greatest joy is seeing former students managing lands and working in land management organizations and agencies,” she said.
Karen’s service and leadership extend well beyond the classroom. As chair of the University of Idaho’s Rangeland Ecology and Management Department, she helped establish the University of Idaho Rangeland Center and served as its founding director. She has also been a long-standing leader in the Society for Range Management, serving as president in 2023 and receiving its highest honor, the Frederick G. Renner Award, in 2024. Through her research, teaching, and outreach, Karen has profoundly shaped rangeland science and exemplifies the land-grant mission in action.
Margaret and her husband, Hugh Veit ’79, established the Eleanor S. Fitzgerald Memorial Graduate Student Scholarship to support NDSU students earning advanced degrees in the Department of Health, Nutrition, and Exercise Sciences or the Department of Human Development and Family Science.
Core areas of home economics remain part of current NDSU degree programs such as accounting; apparel, retail merchandising, and design; education; family and consumer science; financial planning; human development and family science; interior design; and nutrition science.
Home economics programs opened doors, particularly for women, to earn college degrees and pursue careers in education, Extension, state and federal government, business and industry, health care, and more. NDAC listed domestic economy as one of its courses in its founding year, 1890.
Established by Dr. Teresa Conner, dean of the NDSU College of Health and Human Sciences, and cochaired by Dr. Margaret Fitzgerald ’83 and Col. Esther Meyers ’75, the Wisdom Keepers provide support and share their knowledge and expertise with students, faculty, staff, and leadership in the College.
The home management house at NDAC was the first facility built on a college campus specifically for home management practice. In 1954, it was named in honor of Alba Bales, the first female academic dean at NDAC.