James W. Abbott

James W. Abbott (born June 12, 1948) is an American retired politician and academic, most recently serving as the president of the University of South Dakota from 1997 to 2018. Abbott was the Democratic nominee in the 2002 South Dakotan gubernatorial election. Abbott is a distinguished alumni of the Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity.

Jim Abbott
President of the University of South Dakota
In office
July 1, 1997 – June 21, 2018
Preceded byBetty Asher
Succeeded bySheila Gestring
Member of the South Dakota House of Representatives
from the 18th district
In office
1991–1993
Personal details
Born (1948-06-12) June 12, 1948
Sioux City, Iowa, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)
Colette Pugh
(m. 1987; died 2016)
[1]
Children1
EducationUniversity of South Dakota (BA, JD)

Career and politics

Abbott is a businessman and former politician. He represented Yankton County in the South Dakota State Legislature from 1991 to 1993. In 1994, Abbott was the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor on the ticket with gubernatorial candidate Jim Beddow, a former president of Dakota Wesleyan University.[2] The ticket was defeated by Republicans Bill Janklow and Carole Hillard. He was the Democratic nominee for Governor of South Dakota in 2002, but lost to Republican Mike Rounds. Abbott also mounted an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination for U.S. House of Representatives in 1996, losing the nomination to Rick Weiland.

Academic career

Abbott was named president of his alma mater, the University of South Dakota, in 1997. Abbott received his bachelor's degree in 1970 and his Juris Doctor in 1974 from University of South Dakota School of Law.[3]

South Dakota gubernatorial election, 2002

In 2002, Abbott took a leave of absence from the presidency to seek to Democratic nomination for Governor of South Dakota. He won the Democratic primary against State Senators Ron J. Volesky and Jim Hutmacher.[4] He was defeated in the general election by Republican Mike Rounds.

Return to academia

After the election, Abbott returned to the presidency of the University of South Dakota.

In June 2007, Abbott took a leave of absence to donate a kidney to USD Chief diversity officer Bruce King at The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. The surgery was successful and Abbott returned to work two weeks later. He is a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity.

References
  1. Walker, Carson (May 4, 2016). "USD Grieves Death of First Lady Colette Abbott". USD News. University of South Dakota. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  2. Berke, Richard (1994-06-08). "A Governor Is Ousted, but Others Prevail". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-02-08.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-05-14. Retrieved 2010-05-19.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. Greco-Lawson, Stephanie (August 8, 2005). "Newspaper Coverage of Native American Candidates and Politicians". Media & Minorities: The Politics of Race in News and Entertainment. Spectrum Series: Race and Ethnicity in National and Global Politics. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (published 2005-08-08). pp. 225–228. ISBN 978-0847694532. Retrieved 2015-02-08.
Party political offices
Preceded by
Bernie Hunhoff		 Democratic nominee for Governor of South Dakota
2002		 Succeeded by
Jack Billion
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