Established in 1955, the Eastern South Dakota Science and Engineering Fair (ESDSEF) has served as a regional showcase for student research at South Dakota State University. Held each spring, the fair invites students in grades 6 through 12 to present independent scientific investigations across a wide range of disciplines. As an affiliated regional event of the International Science and Engineering Fair, projects are evaluated according to established scientific review, safety, and ethical standards, with top competitors advancing to national and international levels of competition.
Administered by a Fair Director and committee in collaboration with the SDSU chapter of Sigma Xi, the fair reflects a longstanding partnership between the university and the broader scientific community. Sponsorship has included Sigma Xi, South Dakota State University, the Division of Continuing Education, the Greater State Fund, and the SDSU Foundation. Over time, the event has been hosted in various campus venues, including Club 71 at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium, accommodating hundreds of student participants and judges.
Through medals, trophies, scholarships, and sponsored awards, the fair promotes STEM education and encourages young scholars to pursue scientific inquiry. For more than half a century, it has functioned as both an academic competition and a significant outreach initiative, strengthening connections between SDSU and schools across eastern South Dakota while fostering the next generation of researchers and innovators.
Anthony S. Dylla was born on December 21, 1924, in Andover, South Dakota, to Julius and Lucy Dylla. Raised on a farm, he entered the U.S. Army in 1946 and served in Japan until 1948. Following his military service, Dylla attended South Dakota State University in Brookings, where he earned both a bachelor's and a master's degree in agricultural engineering. From 1959 to 1982, he worked as an agricultural engineer with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, conducting irrigation research in Reno, Nevada; Morris, Minnesota; and Columbus, Ohio. He retired in 1982 and settled in Pueblo, Colorado. Dylla married Colette Lathrop of Sioux Falls in 1955. He passed away on January 7, 2006, in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Poet David Dwyer grew up just north of New York City and commuted to Manhattan for high school. He later settled in Lemmon, South Dakota, with his wife, writer Kathleen Norris, after she inherited her maternal grandparents’ farm.
Dwyer’s debut poetry collection, Ariana Olisvos: Her Last Works and Days, received the Juniper Prize and was published in 1976 by the University of Massachusetts Press. His second collection, Other Men and Other Women, was supported by a $20,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and published in 1988 by Sandhills Press in Ord, Nebraska. His work also appeared in leading literary journals and anthologies, including The New York Quarterly, The Agni Review, and The Virginia Quarterly Review.
David Dwyer died in 2003 at the age of 57 after a long illness, leaving a legacy of reflective and evocative poetry.
Amy Dunkle spent nearly 20 years working in community journalism as a reporter, news editor, and managing editor. She later worked as a freelance writer for newspapers, magazines, and trade journals for over a decade. Dunkle is the author of The College on the Hill, an anecdotal history of South Dakota State University. She also served as communications coordinator for Rhode Island NSF EPSCoR, writing about research and education initiatives funded by the National Science Foundation.
James Norman Dornbush was born February 16, 1928, in Aberdeen, South Dakota, to Isaac Henry and Beatrice (Yocum) Dornbush. He grew up in Pollock, South Dakota, where he graduated from high school. He received his bachelor’s degree from South Dakota State College in 1949 and taught for two years at the college. On August 7, 1952, he married Maxine Biggar in Brookings. Shortly after, he served in the U.S. Army from July 18, 1952, to September 7, 1953.
Dornbush earned a master’s degree in public health and sanitary engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1959 and a doctorate in environmental and sanitary engineering from Washington University in St. Louis in 1962. In 1964, he and his family returned to Brookings, where he joined the Civil Engineering Department at South Dakota State University as a professor. His career was devoted to research and consultation in water pollution control and sanitary engineering.
He was an active member of the First Presbyterian Church, Rotary International, the Elks, and several professional organizations.
David Benton Doner was born July 7, 1895, in Sully County, South Dakota, to Benton and Harriette L. (Hunt) Doner. He enrolled at South Dakota State College in 1913 as a member of the first four-year class to graduate from the School of Agriculture for high school students. His freshman college year was interrupted by World War I. In 1919 and 1920, he taught agriculture at the College to returning soldiers. In 1920, he became assistant secretary of the College while continuing his education and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1928. On April 24, 1918, he married Edna Pearl Beals, and they had three children: Valeria, Dean, and Keith.
Doner devoted forty-two years of service to South Dakota State College, later South Dakota State University. He served as Registrar from 1922 to 1953 and became Director of Admissions and Records in 1953. In 1932, he was appointed Dean of Men. From 1936 to 1961, he served as Secretary of the Alumni Council and as editor of the Alumnus. Following the establishment of the SDSC Alumni Foundation in 1945, he served as its Treasurer until 1964. In recognition of his service, the Alumni Foundation named him a Distinguished Alumnus in 1964, the year of his retirement, and in 1973 the university awarded him an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree. During his career, he served under nine presidents and signed 12,693 diplomas. Doner was also active in civic and professional organizations, including service with the Boy Scouts, the Brookings School Board, the South Dakota State Associated School Boards, Kiwanis, and fundraising efforts for the Crippled Children’s Hospital and School in Sioux Falls. He died in September 1978.
Jay Dirksen graduated from General Beadle High School in Madison, South Dakota, where he won the State Class B Championship in the mile.
He attended South Dakota State University, earning a bachelor’s degree in Physical Education in 1968 and a master’s degree in 1969. Following graduation, he served as the men’s cross country and track coach at South Dakota State University, where he also established a women’s cross country program. In 1977, he became the assistant men’s track coach at the University of Illinois. In 1982, he accepted a position as the head women’s track and field coach at the University of Missouri. After one year at Missouri, Dirksen joined the University of Nebraska–Lincoln as head cross country coach and assistant head track coach, overseeing distance runners. He spent 29 seasons at Nebraska before retiring in 2011.
Jay Dirksen married Diane Stewart in 1972. They have two children, a son, Derek, and a daughter, Kristi.