Hill-Murray School has appointed Jim Hansen, a 1973 graduate and business and education leader, to be its next president.

"Jim has distinguished himself as a best-in-class, transformational leader who inspires teams to deliver great results," Dan Hackman, the chairman of the school's board of trustees, said in a statement. "We're excited to work with Jim to take Hill-Murray to the next level of excellence."

Hansen was part of the second graduating class at the Maplewood school following the merger of the all-boys Hill High and all-girls Archbishop Murray High. The school now serves grades 6-12.

In a news release, Hill-Murray said Hansen has held leadership roles at companies that include Medtox Scientific and Ciprico Inc., and has served for 30 years as an adjunct professor in the graduate school at the University of St. Thomas.

Said Hansen, "I am honored to join a venerable institution with such a rich community of alumni, parents and friends committed to faith-based individualized education."

Oakdale

Franken eyes STEM in Tartan High stop

U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., visited Tartan High recently to see students demonstrate STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills in a chemistry lab and a metals fabrications class, a school district news release said.

Students were working on a robotics project and a lab experiment.

Franken also met with two students who work in the school's student-run credit union.

The North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale district said representatives from Ecolab, Haberman Machine and Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare were on hand, too, to speak to students about career opportunities in STEM-related fields.

Anthony Lonetree