The DeVlieg Foundation: 26 Years of Visionary Support
Generosity supports students
While living in Michigan, Janet DeVlieg Pope, president and board member of the DeVlieg Foundation, thought of wilderness as an adjective. But after moving to Idaho in 1988, “I discovered it was a noun.”
That discovery was due at least in part to the Taylor Wilderness Research Station, which she first visited with her future husband, Jim Pope Sr., in the early 1990s. Jim, also a DeVlieg Foundation board member, had been flying helicopter missions in and out of Taylor since 1975.
The DeVlieg family is active in preservation of natural areas, as well as education. Nestled in the rugged and remote Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness in central Idaho, Taylor offered a unique opportunity for the foundation to support both conservation and transformational student experiences.
“The beauty of the Taylor experience is that it changes people. It changes lives,” Janet said.
For over 26 years, the DeVlieg Foundation has been a loyal donor to U of I’s College of Natural Resources' work at Taylor, including its Semester in the Wild program and the DeVlieg Research Scholar program for outstanding College of Natural Resources undergraduates.
“The more exposure to the outdoors and research and projects that students can take on above and beyond their expected coursework, the better served they will be in life,” Janet said. “Students couldn’t do this without outside support.”
In 2011, U of I awarded Janet an honorary doctorate in natural resources for her public service and contributions to natural resource management and engineering in Idaho and beyond.
“Janet’s selfless contributions and vision for undergraduate and graduate programs that support wilderness science is valuable not only to Idaho but to the inland Northwest and across the United States,” said Kurt Pregitzer, dean of the College of Natural Resources.
Article by Erin Rishling, University Advancement.
Published in the spring 2018 issue of Here We Have Idaho.
