Governor Appoints New SD Science And Technology Authority Board Member

PIERRE, S.D. ? Gov. Dennis Daugaard announced today that he will appoint Ron Wheeler of Deadwood to the Board of Directors of the South Dakota Science and Technology Authority. The Authority owns and operates the Sanford Underground Research Facility at the old Homestake Mine in Lead.

?Ron Wheeler has been crucial to the success of the underground lab over the past five years,? said Gov. Daugaard. ?He is uniquely qualified to help guide this important project, and I thank him for his continued service.?

Wheeler recently stepped down as the Authority?s executive director, after five years in that post. Prior to that, he worked in private business for 28 years in Watertown and Huron. Wheeler spent seven years in the Janklow Administration as Secretary of Transportation and Commissioner of Economic Development.

Wheeler?s appointment is effective immediately. He will fill the vacancy that was caused last fall by the death of President Robert Wharton of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.