Alumni

Karen T. (Olson) Kugler, ’00

Majors: Economics and Pre-Law

Karen Terese Kugler (nee: Olson) is a 1999 graduate of Carthage College. At Carthage, Ms. Kugler majored in Economics and minored in Political Science and Spanish. She was awarded the John R. Commons award in Economics in 1998 and the Senior Award in Economics in 1999. Ms. Kugler was a Supplemental Instructor (SI) for Economics. She was involved in a number of campus activities during her tenure at Carthage, including Omicron Delta Epsilon, Phi Alpha Delta, Alpha Chi, Omicron Delta Kappa, Honors Counsel, Pals and Partners, and CUMBYA. She was also a member of a band called Amish Power Company.

After graduating, Ms. Kugler attended the University of Minnesota Law School, graduating in 2002. In 2002, Karen was awarded the Wennestrom Award for the best clinical student at the Law School. While in law school, she wrote a portion of a brief submitted to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals [Booth v. Ramstad Hvass, 302 F.3d 849 (8th Cir. 2002).] Ms. Kugler was a managing editor for the Journal of Law and Inequality and was a clinic director for the Civil Practice Clinic.

Before Ms. Kugler was admitted to the Minnesota Bar in October 2002, she worked at St. Cloud Area Legal Services representing low income individuals in family law, Social Security disability law, and school discrimination cases.

From September 2004 to July 2006, Ms. Kugler practiced at Lubov & Associates, LLC in the practice areas of family, criminal, commitment and personal injury law. She joined J. Oakes & Associates in July 2006 to focus her practice on family law. She has worked on a number of cases involving the division of million or multi-million dollar estates, unique financial and legal issues, and complex custody issues.

While a career in family law may not seem like the most obvious career path for an economics major, the critical thinking skills Ms. Kugler learned as an economics major laid the foundation for her current successful practice. While many attorneys dislike "math," Ms. Kugler's love of economics has caused her to embrace the financial aspects of her family law practice.

Alumni

Christina (Wright) Bruff, '04

Economics and International Political Economy
Mrs. Bruff joined the Peace Corps after graduation and now works as an analyst with the Government Accountability Office in Washington, D.C. Read more ...

Dr. Thomas Kemp, '95

Economics
Dr. Kemp is an associate professor of economics at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Read more.

Karen T. (Olson) Kugler, '00

Economics and Pre-Law
Ms. Kugler is now a family law attorney. She has worked on a number of cases involving the division of million or multi-million dollar estates, unique financial and legal issues, and complex custody issues. Read more ...

Amanda Thoe, '09

Economics and International Political Economy
A Ruud Academic Excellence Scholar, Ms. Thoe is now working as a tax specialist for the Minnesota Department of Revenue and plans to continue her education at the University of Minnesota. Read more ...