Dr. Erin Edlund serves as the vice president for university engagement at Morningside. She oversees the areas of alumni engagement, career services, marketing, communication, web content, social media, sports information, print shop, and mail room.

Before arriving at Morningside in 2018, Edlund served for 13 years in the Minnesota State system, the third largest higher education system in the country with 33 state colleges and universities and serving around 300,000 students.

From 2016 to 2018, Edlund served as director of marketing for the Minnesota State system office. In this role Edlund oversaw the implementation of the new Minnesota State brand, launched several systemwide marketing campaigns designed to support the marketing work of the teams at the state colleges and universities, and developed two comprehensive social media campaigns around Minnesota State’s legislative requests that contributed to some of the most significant capital funding received in the history of the system at that time.

Prior to being promoted to the system office, Edlund spent 11 years working for Dakota County Technical College, a member of the Minnesota State system located in Rosemount, Minn. She began as a communications coordinator serving both the credit and noncredit divisions of the college, then was promoted to director of marketing, and was then named director of institutional advancement overseeing all external-facing areas of the college including marketing, government relations, foundation, and alumni.

In 2013, Edlund was invited to continue her responsibilities at DCTC while also serving as the director of marketing at Inver Hills Community College. In this role, Edlund oversaw the alignment of two separated departments becoming one to serve both brands. As a result of this work, she was appointed as a half-time employee for 18 months to the Minnesota State Charting the Future Core Team in 2014, providing marketing guidance for the system’s strategic planning initiative and to help oversee the successful execution of more than 70 campus events across Minnesota designed to engage students, faculty, staff, and the community in the planning process.

Edlund currently serves as president of the Sergeant Bluff Community Foundation, chairs fundraising for the SB-L School Foundation, is a member of the board for Center for Siouxland, has been a leader for the Pioneer Valley Clover Kids, and served as the publicity chair for Sergeant Bluff’s RAGBRAI Kick-off in 2022.

Edlund was also previously elected to the board of directors for the National Council of Marketing and Public Relations (NCMPR). Working alongside incredibly talented teams, she has accrued 18 national marketing awards and more than 100 regional marketing awards for marketing, public relations, and digital work. In 2011, Edlund was named the NCMPR District 5 Communicator of the Year and went on to be named the national 2012 NCMPR Communicator of the Year.

A native of Burt, Iowa and a graduate of Algona High School in Algona, Iowa, Edlund also holds a bachelor’s degree from Drake University in Des Moines, IA, a master’s degree from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn.; and a Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She and her husband, Jeff, reside in Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, with their three children, Evelyn, Wyatt, and Lolo Grace; her father-in-law, Ron; two labs, Norman and Reagan; and their rescue cat, Priscilla.