Established on 01.28.1992 by Dr. Peggy Pittman Munke
The Ing Dahl Endowed Scholarship for Social Work Majors honors the work of a Concordia faculty member who devoted his professional life both to strengthening relationships within families and communities and to helping individuals work through personal challenges on the way to better long-term mental health. His commitment to social work was matched only by his commitment to his students. This scholarship serves to recognize one of Ing Dahl’s goals: to promote and support Concordia students who are attracted to the rich field of social work - touching on everything from health, to education, to family life, and preparing them to make a difference in the communities where they will live.
Ing immigrated with his parents from Norway in 1939, when they settled in Northfield, Minnesota. He found the Midwest to his liking and spent most of his life there. Ing attended St. Olaf College and graduated in 1952 with degrees in sociology and economics. He also met his future wife there and after he and Mary Strom were married in 1953, they moved to St. Louis where Ing received a Master's in Social Work from Washington University in 1955. He worked for Lutheran Social Service in Minneapolis before moving to Moorhead in 1958 to begin work with the Fargo-Moorhead Psychiatric Clinic.
Ing joined Concordia College’s Social Work department in 1966, and subsequently brought the program to full accreditation, a major step in its success. In addition to teaching and curriculum development, he enjoyed leading students on many seminars to New York City and San Francisco. In 1976, Ing and his colleagues recognized an unmet need to train Long-Term Care Administrators; Ing developed the proposal for a Long-Term Care Administration Program, and in 1978, the first set of program courses was offered. The LTC program graduated its first majors in 1980. Ing retired in 1996 after serving as Social Work Program Director since 1968.
Ing and Mary raised three children in Moorhead and have enjoyed time over the years with their six grandchildren, two of whom were Cobbers: Jon Voss (Class of 2017) and Carrie Voss (Class of 2022).
The Ing Dahl Endowed Scholarship for Social Work Majors is selected on merit by the faculty of the Department of Social Work and awarded by the Office of Financial Aid. The scholarship will be awarded to a student who has demonstrated competency in social work theory and concepts, both oral and written work, in community service and application of knowledge to practice (best accomplished through an internship). The award will be given to a student in their junior or senior year.