The UMM Alumni Association Board has named Jon Dalager ’79 and Gabe Desrosiers ’05 as the 2026 UMMAA Distinguished Alumni Award recipients. The award honors UMM alumni who have made noteworthy contributions in their professional lives, in public service or in service to the University of Minnesota.
Jon Dalager was an engaged student at UMM, serving as president of the Morris Campus Student Association and participating in campus governance. He graduated with distinction and has remained connected to the university through decades of alumni leadership, including service as a board member and president of the Alumni Association, strengthening alumni engagement and student support.
Dalager is currently an attorney with Eckberg Lammers, P.C. He previously served as a tenured professor at Georgetown College, a dean at Wayne State College and Metro State University, and system director for Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. Across law and higher education, Dalager has advanced academic program development, policy and student success initiatives, with a consistent focus on access, equity and institutional effectiveness.
His service includes leadership with the Minnesota Sinfonia and the Minnesota Fulbright Association. He has coached mock trial teams, hosted exchange students and supported community theatre. His global engagement includes a 2013 Fulbright Award at Goethe University in Frankfurt and a 2021 Fulbright Award for the International Education Administrators Program in France. He has also presented internationally and lectured in Saudi Arabia.
A colleague noted, “Dr. Jon Dalager exemplifies the intellectual breadth, global perspective, and commitment to service that UMM seeks to cultivate. His work has impacted hundreds of thousands of students, shaped higher education policy across Minnesota, and developed the next generation of leaders. Most importantly, he does this work with integrity, humor, and genuine care for people.”
Gabe Desrosiers (Misko Ginew) is a highly respected Anishinaabe knowledge keeper, born and raised in the Lake of the Woods region of Ontario, Canada. He was taught the ancient life ways and language of his Anishinaabe ancestors, knowledge that he is sharing as Native American cultural liaison at UMN Morris.
Desrosiers is a champion grass dancer, songwriter and powwow singer, as well as a translator and a voiceover artist for the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. He has provided the first in-person Ojibwemowin instruction at UMN Morris.
As an educator, Desrosiers is strongly committed to fostering intercultural understanding through song, dance and Anishinaabe language education and instructions. He has mentored students as language speakers, teaching assistants, and future teachers and made Ojibwe language and culture more visible and present in campus life. He has helped lead healing ceremonies connected to the boarding school legacy and has ensured that truth-telling is accompanied by ceremony and restoration. His work has ensured that Indigenous language, ceremony and community are not peripheral to campus life, but present and alive.
A colleague notes that “Desrosiers’ life work is rooted in service—to elders, youth, Tribal Nations, and future generations—always guided by the teachings of his traditional upbringing. “His intergenerational approach affirms that education and identity are inseparable. Through sustained cultural leadership, language preservation and community-centered service, Gabriel Desrosiers reflects honorably on UMN Morris as an institution committed to relationship, respect, and Indigenous sovereignty.”
Dalager and Desrosiers will be honored during the Alumni Association annual celebration on Friday, Oct. 2, as part of the 2026 homecoming festivities at UMN Morris.