90 for 90: Honoring Jerry Lohr

Jerry Lohr’s impact on South Dakota State University is impossible to miss. The Jerome J. Lohr College of Engineering, academic and research spaces, the home of the SDSU Alumni & Foundation, an endowed faculty position, and the top lifetime giving society all bear his name.

Yet his greatest impact on our university might be the millions of dollars he’s invested in scholarships over the past four decades – yes, millions. $7.7 million to be exact.

And he continues to be among the largest providers of scholarships to this day.

Jerry turns 90 on January 1, 2027. In recognition of that milestone, a circle of family, close friends, and colleagues have championed the idea of funding 90 scholarships in his honor for the 2027-28 academic year.

Jerry is humbled by the gesture and fully supportive of any effort to get more scholarship dollars into the hands of deserving students.

We invite you to be part of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to honor a once-in-a-lifetime benefactor of SDSU on his 90th birthday.

You can help by establishing a new scholarship, growing an existing one, or making a gift to the general scholarship fund to be awarded next fall.