Alumnus Duane Jacklin Supports Global Studies with New Family Endowment

Duane Jacklin

Though his feet are firmly planted on the ground of the Inland Northwest, Spokane-area Honors alumnus and entrepreneur Duane Jacklin has made a significant international investment by funding Honors’ newest global study scholarship.

The Jacklin Family Honors College Education Abroad Endowment was created in January 2009.  It is part of a $1 million gift to WSU by three Jacklin brothers: Duane (’67 Ag Econ and Honors) and his older brothers Doyle (’62 Agronomy) and Don (’66 Agronomy).  While some of the family gift funds the Jacklin’s joint projects at WSU, each brother also designated a portion of the gift to an area or areas in the university close to his heart.

Creating international awareness

Duane Jacklin had been inspired by stories he read about Honors students studying abroad.  So, not only was it important to him to help Honors; he wanted it to specifically help students wishing to study abroad.

“I want more students to have a better understanding of the world, and the role of the U.S. in it,” says Jacklin.

“Americans are by nature rather insular.  Students need the chance to discover on their own how the rest of the world thinks about and views us.  That’s not something you can get from books; you need to experience it firsthand.

“I would hope the Honors students chosen for this scholarship will really appreciate the lives and cultures and businesses beyond our borders.  And that they will contribute to, and do well in, their programs abroad, so that others will also think well of Americans.” 

Global business

Jacklin has lived what he believes in.

For many years, the three brothers did business as owner-executives of the Jacklin Seed Company, a Post Falls, Idaho-based corporation founded in 1936 and one of the world’s largest producers, marketers, and breeders of top-quality turfgrass seed planted on renowned golf courses as well as on parks, athletic fields, and home lawns.

The Jacklin’s traveled to, and did business in, 46 countries.  “When you do that, you get a good perspective on America’s place in the world.  You just feel it.”

Also at that time, Jacklin Seed provided internships for international students enrolled at the University of Idaho, located in Moscow, Idaho, eight miles east of WSU.  “We taught them about American business.  And our own employees benefitted by getting to know many people from other countries through the program.”

Jacklin Seed was purchased by the Boise-headquartered, agribusiness J.R. Simplot Co. in October 1997.  Today, the brothers own and operate Riverbend Commerce Park, a 300-acre campus complex for light-industrial and software companies in Post Falls; Jacklin Investment Co., a venture capital business; and Jacklin Land Co., developers of Riverbend and owner-manager of regional properties.

Valuing his honors education

Though he himself never studied abroad, Jacklin’s own education at WSU was enriched by his participation in the Honors program.  He joined it just a few years after it was started in 1960 by Vic Bhatia.

“It was a young program then but I remember it was filled with social and physical science classes, and economics, and English literature,” he says.  “The courses each carried four or five credits, so they met almost every day.  We had plenty of rich discussions following professors’ lessons.  For a kid from what is now Spokane Valley, it was a real eye opener for me to learn to appreciate art and literature.  I really loved the discussions.  Honors was fun, and I enjoyed meeting students from everywhere.”

Attending WSU is a Jacklin family tradition.  The brothers’ father, Arden, was a Cougar, as was their uncle Randall Johnson, the man who developed the Cougar-head logo still known around the world.  In the years following, nieces, nephews, and many more relatives have joined the WSU family.  Even Duane and wife Susan’s son, Taggart, took classes in Pullman the semester his college, Tulane University in New Orleans, was closed in 2005 following Hurricane Katrina’s devastating impact on the Gulf Coast.

Jacklin says he does not get back to Pullman often, but would especially like to visit with students when he is in town.

“They are the future of this nation and our world.”