Friends, colleagues remember Mike Reger

Former SDSU VP for admin died Friday

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BROOKINGS – A leader both on and off the campus of South Dakota State University. Those were memories of some of the people who knew and worked with Michael P. “Mike” Reger, a former executive vice president for administration at South Dakota State University who died Friday in Estelline. He was 68 years old.

A Chicago boy, born there on Dec. 8, 1948, Reger found his way to the SDSU campus in 1979 as associate director of housing. He would go on to spend 30 years of his career in higher education at SDSU.

Prior to joining the SDSU team, he was a University Fellow at Ohio State University working on his doctorate. Prior to that he had earned a bachelor’s degree in 1970 and a master’s in 1972.

Reger advanced to dean of student affairs in 1984 and remained there until his next promotion. From 1993 to his retirement in March 2010, he served as executive vice president for administration. His responsibilities included supervision of financial operations, human resources, communications and physical facilities.

In addition to his key role in numerous capital on-campus building projects, Reger was instrumental in SDSU’s move to NCAA Division I status and the implementation of a multimedia advertising campaign that contributed to more than 30 percent growth in enrollment.

Additionally he oversaw the development of the University Master Plan, which helped reshape the campus and set the stage for future growth. He also participated in SDSU’s first capital campaign.

Friend and leader

While he leaves behind a most impressive list of professional accomplishments in higher education administration, Reger will also be remembered by those who knew him well as a friend and leader, both on and off campus.

“He was my best friend,” said Zeno Wicks III, a retired Fullbright professor of plant science and statistics at SDSU. “He and I had an awful lot of good laughs together.”

He also remembered Reger from their days together at SDSU as “always the man in the spotlight, but when the accolades and cheers resounded, it was not his style to take the stage.”

Dean Kattelmann, SDSU associate vice president for facilities and services, said, “Mike was one of my better bosses that I’ve worked with in over 40-plus years in construction management and administration.

“He was always very thoughtful, very professional and he empowered you as an individual.”

Karyn Weber worked with Reger as assistant director of human resources and later as director of human resources. She then worked with him as assistant to the vice president.

“He was just an impressive leader for our campus: open door policy, willingness to work through situations, always had a great word of advice with regard to situations,” Weber said. “But it wasn’t his decision; so he would always walk through the situation with you and have you come up with the decision, which at the end was really the way to be.

“I have so many good things to say about Mike. He was a great listener, a great leader, an excellent communicator. He was really able to manage a lot of different areas on our campus, a lot of different situations.”

Char Honkomp, who has been active with her husband, Tom, in youth hockey in Brookings for about 30 years, recalled that Reger served as referee-in-chief for the South Dakota Amateur Hockey Association.

“For more than 20 years, he was in charge of all the other referees, to make sure they got their training and took their annual tests; and he helped assign them to games,” Honkomp said.

Reger is survived by his wife Patricia, of Brookings; a stepson, Paul Heer of Brookings; two brothers, Dave (Dee) Reger of Sugar Grove, Ill., and John (Eillen) Reger of Elburn, Ill., and two sisters, Cathy (Rick) Anderson of Sycamore, Ill., and Libby (Dan) Faivre of DeKalb, Ill.

A celebration of Mike Reger’s life will be held from 4:30-7:30 p.m. April 21 at the Performing Arts Center on the SDSU campus.

Contact John Kubal at jkubal@brookingsregister.com.