Student Spotlight: Brenda Paulsen '79

Some people quietly live big lives. 

Dr. Brenda Paulsen is one of those people. 

Paulsen retired from USF in December after 21 years of adjunct teaching. She was heavily involved in the theatre department, helped launch USF’s doctorate program and brought inspiration to Christmas at USF.

Even more impressive, she began her career at age 44. 

After graduating from Sioux Falls College in 1979 with an English degree, Paulsen married her husband, Thane, and had two daughters, Kate and Amanda. She directed her energy towards raising a family. 

“In 1997, I was thinking about our looming empty nest and wondering what I was going to do with myself,” she says. “God told me to get my master’s degree and teach at USF.”

Faithful discernment led her to earn a Master of Arts in English in 2003 and a Doctor of Education in Education Administration and Adult and Higher Education in 2016. She served USF as an adjunct professor, but her heart was on the job full-time.

“I loved being on campus,” she says.

Paulsen initially taught undergraduate English and literature classes but ended her career leading doctoral courses. She also proposed and taught puppetry, playwriting and an interim travel study.

“In 2010 and 2011, Thane and I took students on a ten-day sailing trip. We studied Literature of the High Seas and Thane taught them how to sail,” she explains. “It was an incredible experience.” 

The couple’s love of sailing began on Lewis and Clark Lake and led them to the ocean. They spend months each year exploring the Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas and even embarked on a 3,300 voyage across the Atlantic, just the two of them, in a 39-foot sailboat. 

This adventurous spirit is reflected in Paulsen’s passion for the arts. Her theatrical influences inspired her to create the Paulsen Family Legacy Award for a theatre student who exhibits excellence in the theatre arts. She was also instrumental in bringing the “tableaux vivant” nativity scenes to Christmas at USF.

Paulsen summarizes her career with a quote from author Henri Nouwen.

 “My whole life, I have been complaining that my work was constantly interrupted, until I discovered that my interruptions were my work.”