Duane Acker of Atlantic and former president of Kansas State University and assistant secretary, USDA, died on Friday, December 13, 2024, at Heritage House in Atlantic, IA. He was 93 years of age.
Born on the family farm northeast of Atlantic, to Wm. Clayton and Ruth Kimball Acker, he learned early the satisfaction of physical work and that both animals and people respond to personal attention and care. After he graduated from Wiota Consolidated School, a scholarship earned by way of a competitive examination gave him the opportunity and his 4-H experience inspired him to study animal science at Iowa State University.
Acker had met his future wife, Shirley Hansen, at the Cass County fair. They married in March of 1952, and moved into a Quonset on the edge of the Iowa State campus where he pursued a Master’s degree in animal nutrition for a career in the animal feed industry.
The Ackers then moved to Oklahoma State University, where a full-time teaching position allowed him to work toward a Ph.D., still intent on the feed industry. However, the satisfactions of working with students prompted him to accept a teaching position back at Iowa State in 1955. He completed the doctorate at Oklahoma State in 1957.
While at Iowa State, Acker wrote Animal Science and Industry, a text for the introductory course and that would serve students on many campuses for fifty years and through seven editions. He also taught junior level animal nutrition courses, was adviser to hundreds of students, was named the College of Agriculture “professor of the year,” and became head of a Farm Operation Curriculum.
Curriculum work and student advising led Acker to successive administrative positions, first in 1962 to Kansas State University as associate dean of agriculture for instruction and in 1966 to South Dakota State University as dean, including responsibility for the agricultural experiment station and extension service. It was in these multiple roles that he would develop strong relationships with industry groups and state legislators.
In 1974 Acker was recruited to the neighboring University of Nebraska, to become that university’s first vice chancellor for agriculture and natural resources. From there he returned, in 1975, to Kansas State as president.
During his university years Acker also served as a director of Norwest banks (now Wells Fargo) in Brookings and Sioux Falls, SD, and Omaha, NE, and as a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kanas City.
After eleven years in the Kansas State presidency, Acker served in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, heading food and agriculture for the U.S. Agency for International Development and then to USDA, as administrator of Foreign Agricultural Service and assistant secretary for science and education.
At the end of the Bush administration, the Ackers returned to their Cass County farm, purchased a line of mostly used equipment and operated their farm for several years. He became a part of a County Rural Development Action Committee, and helped organize and chaired the Southwest Iowa Egg Cooperative and the Iowa Agricultural Finance Corporation.
Acker continued to work with universities and wrote for the American Council on Education a book, Can State Universities be Managed? A Primer for Presidents and Management Teams. He also published three memoirs, the first, Two at a Time, revelations and reflections from his Kansas State presidency. He followed with From Troublesome Creek and Back to Troublesome Creek, sharing anecdotes and encounters before and after his presidency.
Acker would often express appreciation for having thirty plus years back in Iowa and on their farm where they could enjoy their classmates, friends, and family; watch former Iowa State students, and be an integral part of their home community.
Acker is survived by his daughters, Diane Nygaard and husband Terry and their son, Eric of Overland Park, KS; LuAnn Acker and husband Bill Tout of Ft. Myers, FL; brother-in-law John Rasmussen of Temecula, CA; sister-in-law Jeannie Jones of Shell Knob, MO, and many cousins, nieces, and nephews. Preceding him in death were his wife Shirley, parents, sister Virginia Lorraine Rasmussen, grandson Clayton Nygaard, and sister-in-law Marilyn Jones.
The memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 18, 2024, at the Schmidt Family Funeral Home in Atlantic, IA. A light luncheon will follow the service in the reception room of the Schmidt Family Funeral Home.
In honor of Duane, memorials may be directed to the Heritage House, First Presbyterian Church of Atlantic, or the YMCA Atlantic. Memorials may also be mailed to the Schmidt Family Funeral Home, P.O. Box 523, Atlantic, IA 50022.
The staff of Schmidt Family Funeral Home in Atlantic is handling the services for the Acker Family.
