BROOKINGS – The South Dakota Humanities Council board of directors announced Friday that Executive Director Sherry DeBoer will retire in December 2018. 

Chairwoman Judith Meierhenry said the board will begin the search for DeBoer’s replacement this summer and hopes to have a new chief executive in place by end of the year.  

Founded in 1972 in response to an act of Congress, the South Dakota Humanities Council is the only cultural organization in the state whose sole mission is to deliver humanities programming to the people of South Dakota. 

With support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, a federal agency, and organizations and individuals from throughout the state, the Brookings-based organization “celebrates literature, promotes civil conversation, and tells the stories that define the people of South Dakota.”

A passionate reader and champion for the humanities, DeBoer grew up on a South Dakota farm and as a child used to “check out sacks of books from the old Carnegie Library in Brookings.” 

She graduated from South Dakota State University and began her career at the South Dakota Humanities Council in 1987 as a part-time data entry assistant. 

In 2003, she became director of SDHC’s Center for the Book and deputy director of SDHC. In this role she launched the annual South Dakota Festival of Books, which the National Endowment for the Humanities recently described as “the jewel in the state’s crown” of achievements in the humanities.

Given her success in building partnerships across the state for the Festival, DeBoer was the board’s natural choice for executive director in 2007. Over the last 11 years, she has played a major role in promoting collaborative efforts to promote reading and literature including the Festival of Books, the Young Readers Initiative, and the annual One Book South Dakota project.

The council has also supported readers and writers by encouraging local book clubs and promoting the Veterans Writing Prize. With support from the Mellon Foundation and the Pulitzer Prize Committee, SDHC has also brought Pulitzer-winning authors to the state to celebrate excellence in the literary arts. 

An accomplished fundraiser, DeBoer has helped the organization move to greater financial stability by increasing the endowments that benefit the council from just under $1 million in 2009 to more than $2.5 million by the end of the second quarter of 2018. During her tenure with the council, she helped raise funds to earn nearly $1 million in challenge grants offered by the NEH. In 2017, annual support for SDHC topped $322,000. 

“Sherry’s dedication and enthusiasm over the course of a 31-year career have helped make the South Dakota Humanities Council one of the best in the country,” Meierhenry said. DeBoer has also represented the state as a member of the Federation of State Humanities Councils, helping to shape federal policy for the humanities.

With a staff of four full-time employees, the South Dakota Humanities Council supports local humanities initiatives throughout the state. The council’s Speakers Bureau helps communities host fascinating and informative humanities events. Last year, the council awarded more than $151,000 in grants, including One-Stop programs, to support local humanities programs. 

On an annual basis, the council also facilitates and encourages civil conversations on tough, but important topics ranging from racial reconciliation to the crisis in trust in journalism. 

For more information on the South Dakota Humanities Council, visit www.sdhumanities.org.