Born in North Dakota in 1894, Sigurd B. Severson attended St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., and received his law degree from the University of Minnesota in 1925. He spent most of his professional career as a law teacher, first at the University of North Dakota, from 1933 to 1937, and then at St. Paul College of Law.
As the college’s first full-time professor, Severson taught for five years before assuming the deanship. He guided the school through the lean years of World War II and through the postwar years that saw waves of returning veterans. Under his leadership, St. Paul College of Law achieved full accreditation by the American Bar Association. Severson died suddenly while returning by train from an American Bar Association meeting.