FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 20, 2007

Contact: Merl Paaverud or Rick Collin

(701) 328-2666

BERGER ELECTED PRESIDENT OF STATE HISTORICAL BOARD

BISMARCK – Dr. Albert Berger of Grand Forks has been elected by fellow board members as president of the State Historical Board. The board oversees the operations of the state’s history agency, the State Historical Society of North Dakota (SHSND).

Chester E. Nelson, Jr., of Bismarck has been elected vice president, and Gereld Gerntholz of Valley City has been elected secretary. All three officers serve two-year terms. They were elected at the Board’s quarterly meeting October 12 at the North Dakota Heritage Center in Bismarck.

Berger, an associate professor of history at the University of North Dakota, has served on the Board since July 1, 2001. He was reappointed by Governor Hoeven in 2004, and again in 2007. State Historical Board members are appointed by the Governor for three-year terms.

Nelson served as legislative budget analyst and auditor for the State of North Dakota for 35 years before retiring in 2000. He has served on the Board since July 1, 2001, and was reappointed by the governor in 2004, and again in 2007.

Gerntholz, a former state legislator, is vice chairman of the board of directors of the Dakota Boys Ranch Foundation. A retired colonel with the North Dakota Army National Guard, he has served on the State Historical Board since July 1, 2003, and was reappointed by Governor Hoeven in 2006.

Other members of the State Historical Board are Marvin Kaiser of Williston; Richard Kloubec of Fargo; Diane Larson of Bismarck; Art Todd III of Jamestown; Sara Otte Coleman, State Tourism Director; Kelly Schmidt, State Treasurer; Alvin A. Jaeger, Secretary of State; Francis Zeigler, State Transportation Director; and Douglass Prchal, State Parks and Recreation Director.

The SHSND manages 55 state historic sites and two state museums, operating as North Dakota’s department of history, archaeology and archives since 1895. The agency has 60 full-time employees and some 200 volunteers working in its four divisions statewide. For more information about the SHSND, contact the North Dakota Heritage Center, call (701) 328-2666 or visit its web site at www.nd.gov/hist

– 30 –