2020 SIOUX AWARDS
COL. TERRANCE E. SEVERSON, USAF (RET.), ’65 SIOUX AWARD RECIPIENT
Telecommunications professional and veteran’s love for UND grows by the year.
The memories Terry Severson has of the University of North Dakota go way back. He was 4 years old when his father returned from the Army after World War II and moved his family to Grand Forks to pursue an accounting degree at UND. Terry remembers living in the brand-new Tin Huts while attending a nearby two-room schoolhouse. “Dad left with his degree, and I left with my first-grade report card in 1949.” After several relocations, the oil boom drew the Seversons to Tioga, N.D., which Terry considers home. Terry returned to UND years later as a student himself and took up many extracurriculars, including freshman and varsity football, Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, Blue Key Honor Society, Student Senate, and UND’s Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC). “Back in those days, UND being a land grant college, the requirement was that all able-bodied male non-veteran students take two years of ROTC,” Terry said. “So, there were a thousand of us walking around campus wearing green or blue uniforms on drill days.” That requirement led to a lifelong career as Terry was commissioned a Second Lieutenant from the AFROTC program, simultaneously earning
26
UND Alumni Magazine | Summer 2020
a Bachelor’s of Electrical Engineering, and went on to serve on active duty for 27 years in communications-information assignments in three countries, nine states and the Pentagon. Terry retired in 1992 at the rank of Colonel. Among his successes was the establishment of the initial air-ground data link for Operation Looking Glass, an airborne command and control center devised during the Cold War era, and his command in the Philippines was recognized as the best communications unit in the Air Force. While at Squadron Officer School in Alabama, Terry graduated first in his class of 775 officers. “That’s when the lightbulb went off in my mind that this kid from rural North Dakota can compete with officers from big name institutions. ... I realized I didn’t have to take a back seat to anybody,” he said. After working for several large and small companies following retirement from the Air Force, he cofounded Trace Systems Inc., in 2006. The Virginia-based telecommunications services and systems company contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense and employs 350 people around the world. Whether commanding troops or navigating the business world, the challenges have
outnumbered the victories in Terry’s career, but he says that’s to be expected. The famous words from Teddy Roosevelt’s “Man in the Arena” speech have long held a place in Terry’s mind and on his desk. He summarizes: “You are the individual on whom all the responsibility and authority lie. Somehow, you have to set the tone and set the path. It’s not just accepting the congratulations – those are few and far between. Most of the time, it’s solving problems and getting the job done, regardless of the difficulties and criticisms.” While Terry fulfilled his ambition of seeing the world, visiting North Dakota became a growing priority. His late wife, Diane, encouraged the trips with their two boys and later, the purchase of a townhome in University Village near UND’s campus. “After bouncing around the world with the Air Force and seeing lots of places and doing a lot of things, my closest associations are from North Dakota. I find those connections the most rewarding,” said Terry. Over the last decade, he has flown home to attend annual hockey series with former roommates and fraternity brothers, the late Dave Koland, ’64 and Mike Lodoen, ’65 (2018
