Andrew G. Hopp is a graduate of South Dakota State University, where he completed a Master of Science degree in Geography in 2007. His thesis, titled “South Dakota Pheasant Hunting Preserves,” reflects a research focus on land use, wildlife conservation, and rural tourism in South Dakota. His academic work integrates geographic information systems (GIS), environmental planning, and cultural geography, with particular attention to recreational land management in the Northern Plains.
Richard Powell Holm was born on February 1, 1949, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and raised in De Smet, South Dakota. He earned his medical degree from the University of South Dakota and Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1981, he returned to South Dakota, settling in Brookings, where he practiced at Brookings Health System and Avera Medical Group. From 1983 to 2013, he served as Director of Continuing Medical Education at the hospital and was a Full Clinical Professor of Medicine at the USD Sanford School of Medicine.
Dr. Holm held several leadership positions, including Chief of Staff at his local hospital, President of the South Dakota State Medical Association, and Governor of the South Dakota Chapter of the American College of Physicians. A frequent speaker at medical conferences, he was also active in professional associations including the American Medical Association and the Gold Humanism Honor Society.
A prolific writer, Dr. Holm contributed to four medical textbooks and published articles in journals such as the Journal of the American Medical Association, New England Journal of Medicine, The Pharos, and South Dakota Journal of Medicine. He also authored The Picture of Health: A View from the Prairie (2008).
He hosted a weekly 30-minute call-in radio show on KBRK and served as host and medical editor of On Call with the Prairie Doc, a one-hour television program on South Dakota Public Broadcasting. In recognition of his service, he was inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame in 2016 and received the National Volunteer of the Year Award from the American College of Physicians.
Dr. Holm married Joanie Smith, a registered nurse and certified pediatric nurse practitioner from Jacksonville, Florida. They had four children: Eric, Carter, Preston, and Julia.
Dr. Holm passed away on March 22, 2020."
Edward Patrick Hogan was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the eldest of five children of Edward W. Hogan and Dorothy Fehrenbach Hogan. He attended St. Gabriel the Archangel Grade School and graduated from Bishop Du Bourg High School. He earned a B.S. in 1961, an M.A. in 1962, and a Ph.D. in 1969, all from Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri.
Dr. Hogan joined the faculty of South Dakota State University in 1967 as a member of the Geography Department, where he was responsible for developing South Dakota’s only geography program. Over the course of his career at SDSU, he held several leadership positions, including Head of the Department of Geography from 1973 to 1991, Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences from 1977 to 1983, and Coordinator of Student Academic Affairs within the same college from 1983 to 1991. From 1991 to 1999, he served as Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs. In December 1999, he was appointed Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Chief Information Technology Officer. He also served as Coordinator of Faculty Development and Articulation, and Director of Summer Term.
Dr. Hogan received numerous honors throughout his career, including the Distinguished Teaching Award from the National Council for Geographic Education and the Distinguished Service Award from the Defense Mapping Agency. He was listed in multiple biographical directories such as Who’s Who in the Midwest, Who’s Who in the World, and International Who’s Who. He was also featured in Leaders in American Geography, a publication profiling seventy-nine individuals who have had a major influence on geographic education in the United States. In 1991, Governor George S. Mickelson named him the State Geographer of South Dakota.
Dr. Hogan is married to Joan Ford Hogan. They have five children: Bridget, Edward Jr., Timothy, Erin, and Molly.
"Ben Frank Hofer was born on August 16, 1926, in Milford Township, Beadle County, South Dakota, to Josua and Anna Hofer. He married Elsie Waldner in 1946, and together they farmed grain and livestock in Spink County, South Dakota, raising three children: Lowell, Darla, and Rachel. Following Elsie’s death in 2000, Ben married Agnes Glanzer Waldner in 2002.
In 1961, Hofer was named Outstanding Young Farmer by the Redfield Jaycees. He was actively involved in local agricultural and civic affairs, serving on the Spink County Pest and Weed Board, the Union Township Board, and as chairman of the Yale Board of Directors for the Farmers Elevator Cooperative. He also held a position on the South Dakota Weed and Pest Commission.
In 1995, Ben and Elsie moved to Huron, South Dakota, after their daughter Darla and her husband, Harold Loewen, took over the family farm. In Huron, Ben joined the Huron Area Chamber of Commerce and served on its Agriculture Committee and Consumer Awareness Committee. He ran as the Republican candidate for the South Dakota State Senate in District 21 in 1996 but was defeated by Democrat Charlie Flowers.
Hofer was a dedicated member of the Bethel Mennonite Brethren Church in rural Yale, South Dakota, and served on various church boards, including the Mennonite Aid Property Board, the Central District Conference Board of Trustees, and the Board of Youth and Evangelism. He passed away on May 2, 2018."
Hobo Day is the homecoming celebration of South Dakota State University and features a parade through campus and downtown Brookings, a Jackrabbits football game, and longstanding university traditions. The first Hobo Day was held on November 2, 1912. The event has developed into the largest one day celebration in South Dakota and serves as a central occasion for alumni to return to the university for athletic events and campus activities. Over time, Hobo Day has become an enduring part of South Dakota State University’s institutional history and student life.
The university library at South Dakota State University developed alongside the growth of the institution and its academic programs. The library began in the fall of 1885, when two rooms on the second floor of Old Central were designated as reading rooms and housed a small reference collection of approximately 500 volumes. Early library administration was informal, with faculty members and students sharing responsibilities. The first book purchase occurred in 1886, and by the 1887–1888 academic year the collection had grown to more than 2,000 volumes. Continued expansion through donations and purchases increased the holdings to approximately 35,000 bound volumes by 1925.
In 1927, the library moved into the newly constructed Lincoln Memorial Library, the first land grant college library in the state dedicated to President Abraham Lincoln and the first building in South Dakota financed through a cigarette tax. The facility included reading rooms, classrooms, seminar rooms, and stack space, and it also housed academic departments as campus needs evolved. Collection growth accelerated following World War II and the establishment of doctoral programs in the mid 1950s, placing increasing pressure on available space. After years of study and planning, a new library building was completed in 1977 and named Hilton M. Briggs Library in honor of the university’s longest serving president, who led major campus expansion efforts. Since that time, the library has served as the university’s main academic library, supporting instruction, research, and preservation of institutional and regional history through its collections, archives, and digital resources.
arol Hepper, born in 1953 and raised in McLaughlin, South Dakota, earned a B.S. in 1975 from South Dakota State University. She gained national recognition with her inclusion in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum’s 1983 exhibition New Perspectives in American Art and relocated to New York City in 1985. Her work has been exhibited at numerous institutions, including the Orlando Art Museum, Worcester Art Museum, Cranbrook Academy of Art Museum, The Phillips Collection, the Walter Art Center, and the Art Gallery of Western Australia. Her artwork is held in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Detroit Institute of Arts, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the Dannheisser Foundation, among others. Hepper has also served as a visiting lecturer at Brandeis University, Princeton University, the Maryland Institute College of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, and the School of Visual Arts