AURI mourns the passing of project development director Wayne Hansen, age 60, who died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in rural Morgan on August 3. He is survived by his wife Linda, daughter Danica Buckingham and son John Hansen.
Hansen was born and raised in rural Morgan and earned bachelors, masters and doctorate degrees before returning to his family farm in 1979. Besides operating the farm, Wayne worked for the USDA, then as a Redwood County Extension educator for the University of Minnesota from 1983 to 2003. He joined AURI in 2005, working primarily on renewable energy and biomass projects at AURI’s Marshall laboratory and Center for Producer-Owned Energy.
“Wayne had a wealth of knowledge that will certainly be missed, but most of all he will be missed as a person,” says Teresa Spaeth, AURI executive director. “He was well liked and respected personally and professionally, a person who was very active in his community. Wayne will certainly be missed by a lot of people.”