An independent day school serving grades K-12 | St. Paul, MN

Alumni/ae Spotlight Series

The Alumni/ae Spotlight Series is an opportunity to connect and check-in with alumni/ae since they have graduated from St. Paul Academy and Summit School and highlight the work they are doing in their respective fields and careers. Below you will find some of our recent interviews. If you would like to be considered or would like to suggest another alumnus/a to be featured, please complete this short form.

Lucien Bruggeman '10

As an Investigative Reporter for ABC News, Lucien Bruggeman '10 has a unique opportunity to cover political campaigns, legal affairs, and national security issues, crafting stories to educate and inform audiences. For many of these stories, Lucien relies on his writing skills that he developed while at SPA to help make his stories engaging for readers and to help audiences  better understand important issues and topics.

Thinking about his time at SPA and how it has helped him in his career, “every teacher encouraged us to use clean and concise language. No frills -- an excellent foundation for a journalist. I vividly recall Upper School English teacher John Wensman circling each use of passive voice in my essays and making drawings from the lines connecting them.” These foundations would come to play an important role in his career down the road. He also credits Upper School math teacher George Leiter with helping make math, a subject that was not as easy, a fun and enjoyable experience. Outside of the classroom, Lucien played hockey and soccer, which he still thinks about fondly and with pride.

Lucien attended Lafayette College in Pennsylvania where he played soccer and received his undergraduate degrees in Government & Law and Art. After his junior year, he landed an internship at the Colbert Report which inspired him to pursue a career in television and writing. After graduating from college and with no immediate jobs available at the Colbert Report, Lucien took an overnight job on the national desk for ABC News. “I never intended to be a journalist, but one opportunity led to another and I found myself on the investigative unit in Washington, D.C. midway through the Trump administration.” 

Now based in New York City, Lucien works on a variety of projects through various modes of communication. “I try to devote portions of my day to long-term projects and day-of stories to help as many of those platforms as I can. I might spend a few weeks on a story for Nightline, crash a piece for Good Morning America, or hop on a big news event and share a unique angle on abcnews.com.” he says. Utilizing interpersonal skills and creativity thinking, he works regularly with sources to gain a better understanding about subject-matter and potentially uncover a story or angle that is new and fresh for prospective viewers. He was recognized for his work as part of an award winning team covering the 2020 Presidential Election with regard to election security and protecting the right to vote where he reported on two Georgia election workers who faced threats of violence. “We don’t do it for the awards, but that certainly contributed to the pride I felt about that period of work.”

His advice for current students is to “work hard and take advantage of all the opportunities that SPA offers you -- especially if you have a feeling that you might, like me, be a late-bloomer. I aspired to be like the naturally gifted students who could get good grades without appearing to work hard. But I was not naturally gifted in that way. And yet, I had it in my head that success without hard work was some sort of virtue. That was silly. And to this day I regret not taking advantage of all the resources that were available -- including one-on-one time with teachers.”

Outside of work, Lucien enjoys staying as active as possible -- “I play more soccer than my joints can probably handle and pound as much pavement with my dog as her joints can handle. My wife and I like to go for runs and yoga classes, then compromise all that goodness with drinks or dinner with friends at our stellar local bars and restaurants.” 

You can read stories written by Lucien and his colleagues at https://abcnews.go.com/author/lucien_bruggeman.

Past Features