A Gift Received...a Challenge Issued

Richard O. (Dick) Jacobson has pledged $3 million to support the completion of UNI’s Human Performance Complex, which will be named the Richard O. Jacobson Human Performance Complex. He has challenged UNI to secure an additional $2 million from other sources to help fund programs served by the Complex.

Dick Jacobson learns strength training techniques

Dick Jacobson, a Belmond, Iowa, native, is the founder of Jacobson Companies. Beginning in 1968 with a single Des Moines warehouse, Jacobson grew the warehouse facilities to more than 30 million square feet, while expanding the company into a business encompassing eight separate companies and employing more than 6,500 people in 25 states.

One of his recent business ventures is in the ethanol industry. Hawkeye Renewables is the third-largest producer of ethanol in the United States.

Jacobson also is a noted philanthropist whose Des Moines-based Richard O. Jacobson Foundation supports numerous educational and civic programs and projects throughout Iowa. To date, he has given away more than $50 million.

“This is a phenonmenal opportunity to build a first-class facility to house the many programs that will enhance the lives of thousands of Iowans throughout the state. I am pleased to be a part of this project,” says Jacobson.

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