Why I Donate
Attending Idaho State University changed my life and set me on a wonderful career path. I am so grateful for the scholarships I was generously awarded as a student; they made all the difference. And made me want to give back! So when I read the touching letters from students who have benefited from a scholarship I have funded, it doubles my gratitude. It makes me thankful for what ISU scholarships did for me. And it makes me so thankful for what scholarships are doing for ISU students today. I know it will make a difference in their lives.
As an Idaho State University "Dad" (I graduated from Michigan State University), I encountered Idaho State University in 2005 for the first time, and it was a great match from the start. It's been important in our family to be able to support engineering programs as well as the Performing Arts Center. Also, I have had the honor of serving for the last decade on the Idaho State University Foundation (I currently am the foundation's chair) as we have seen rapid and sustainable growth in support of the endowments of this university.
Idaho State University offers a broad range of great degree programs at a price point that is amazingly accessible. Furthermore, when you spend or donate a dollar at Idaho State University, you can "move the needle" - be it with new facilities and Technology programs at the Eames Complex; Health Sciences in Meridian; Engineering in Pocatello and Idaho Falls; or across the vast array of other great programs. The late Joe Jensen (for whom the Jensen Grand Concert Hall at the Stephens Performing Arts Center is named) once quipped to me at dinner that "a major, life-changing donation at Idaho State University would be just a drop in the bucket at Harvard, Michigan or Stanford; that's what excites me about being a part of all of this." Joe served this foundation and Idaho State University his entire adult life, and he inspired many of us.
We've seen the foundation's assets almost quintuple in the last 12 years, and we have set aggressive goals for the next decade. The students attending Idaho State University in 2030 are boarding school buses across Idaho and the intermountain west; it's exciting to be a part of building their future, one great degree at a time.
North Wind is proud to give and continue the partnership with ISU to grow our scholarship reach to students. As a company in the engineering, construction, environmental, and IT/cyber industries, we want to support and inspire students and our future workforce to pursue further education in the fields of STEM.
I worked in the ISU Geosciences Department for 40 years and supervised over 100 M.S. Geology student theses. We were never fat, always short on money, but long on a shared sense of the wonders of the earth, the joy of working in the field, and the Department as a community.
Starting in 2001, my wife Katie and I, with help from Scott Hughes, Allan Priddy, Cathy Loupy, and many student work parties, built the Lost River Field Station, following on the Summer Geology Field Camp taught by Tom Ore and Dave Rodgers. We gave the facility to the Department in 2011.
When I retired in 2021, we, along with at least 25 alumni and colleagues, established an endowment to support multi-day Geosciences Department field trips for both undergrads and grad students. This endowment will help the Department continue motivating and challenging students to explore the complex geology of Idaho and the western U.S. in the future. We love to support the teaching and research efforts of the Geosciences Department and its students.