“Sunburst over Northern,” a wooden sculpture, was dedicated on March 22 in the atrium of the ONU Dicke College of Business Administration.

Dr. Les Thede created the wooden sculpture as a memorial to his wife, Diane. She retired as an administrative assistant at ONU after working there 26 years. She was a member of the ONU Women’s Book Club and Bridge Club. She died May 1, 2018.

Dr. Thede is a retired ONU electrical engineering professor. In 2000 he began creating furniture. His company is EverLasting Furniture (ELF).

He first became interested in woodworking in high school when he took an industrial arts class, but had to put that aside for several years while he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Iowa and the doctorate from the University of Toledo.

He joined the ONU faculty in 1984 and taught here for 23 years.