Governor Tim Pawlenty today announced that he has designated Dr. David E. Sturrock of Marshall as Minnesota's official liaison to the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. 

Sturrock is a professor of political science in the Department of Business and Public Affairs at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, where he has taught since 1996.  Sturrock was previously a faculty member at the State University of New York, Brockport, Case Western Reserve University, and the University of Georgia.  His teaching and research specialties include American political institutions, American political thought, state and local government, and political parties and elections.

Sturrock has been the coordinator of Southwest Minnesota State University's political science program since 1996, and has supervised over 30 student internships, with placements including the United States Congress, U.S. State Department, Minnesota Legislature, local governments, non-profit organizations, and election campaigns. 

Sturrock is a gubernatorial appointee to the Commission on Judicial Selection and a member of the MnSCU Trustee Candidate Advisory Council.  He has also served on the Minnesota
Academic Standards Committee. 

Sturrock has served in Marshall as a City Councilman, Chairman of the Planning Commission, and as member of the Community Services Advisory Board and the McKnight Partnership Welfare-to-Work Advisory Committee.

The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission was created by the U.S. Congress to plan observances and events to celebrate the 200th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln's birth on February 12, 2009.   The Commission will emphasize the contributions of Abraham Lincoln's thoughts, ideas, and actions throughout the period leading up to the bicentennial of his birth.  Each state has the opportunity to designate a resident of that state to serve as the official state representative to the Commission.