[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 6068-6069]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                   THE RETIREMENT OF DR. HERB CHEEVER

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, quite often on the floor of the Senate, 
we give speeches about extraordinary people who do extraordinary 
things. Today, I'd like to recognize someone whose name you won't see 
in the headlines, but who is truly extraordinary in every sense of the 
word. Earlier this year, my good friend Dr. Herb Cheever, Dean of the 
College of Arts and Sciences at South Dakota State University (SDSU), 
announced that he would retire.
  Dr. Cheever grew up in Brookings, South Dakota and received his 
undergraduate degree from SDSU. After earning his doctorate from the 
University of Iowa and teaching in Kansas and Wisconsin, Dr. Cheever 
returned to his alma mater. He and his wife Sydna raised three boys in 
Brookings--Jason, Michael and Gene--and Herb and Sydna have long been 
tireless advocates of the arts in our state.
  South Dakota State University is a wonderful school. Its reputation 
for academic excellence and cutting edge research is known across the 
country.

[[Page 6069]]

Dr. Cheever is to be commended for the critical role he played in the 
development of the University, but he should also be recognized for his 
commitment to the things one can't measure by a standardized test.
  Dean Cheever is a passionate believer in the importance of public 
service. Throughout his teaching career, his commitment to serving 
others was something that was impressed upon all of his students. When 
I was an undergraduate at SDSU, Dean Cheever taught me more about the 
importance of public service than I could have imagined possible, and 
there is no doubt in my mind that he helped steer me down the career 
path that I eventually chose to follow.
  The impact Dean Cheever had on me wasn't confined to his work as an 
educator. He was also instrumental in helping shape my interest in 
politics. Dr. Cheever and I volunteered together on George McGovern's 
race for the Senate in 1968. It was a true pleasure for me to work 
alongside him during that exciting time.
  Later, Dean Cheever took leave from SDSU to help Dick Kneip remain 
governor, and to direct the South Dakota Democratic Party. 
Politically--and luckily for me--Herb Cheever has worked on behalf of 
the Democratic Party. However, as everyone who knows him can attest, 
that is the only venue in which he plays favorites. Dean Cheever's 
commitment to education and his community, and his passion for public 
service have made a deep and lasting impression on thousands of young 
people on SDSU's campus over the years, and I am pleased that I was 
fortunate enough to be among them.
  I am proud to call Dean Herbert Cheever a friend, and I am pleased to 
join Sydna, their friends and family in wishing him the best as he 
begins the next important chapter of his life. While his colleagues and 
students will undoubtedly miss his daily presence in the classrooms of 
SDSU, I am confident that he will continue to touch many lives.

                          ____________________