About G. Willard Jenkins

BSME 1959, MSM
MBA 1968, University of Iowa

Willard is an engineer who got into politics. He has retired twice -- first from a 35-year career with Deere & Co. and secondly after 10 years in the Iowa House of Representatives. A farm boy from Rosendale, Mo., he attended St. Joseph Jr College (now Univ. of Mo. Western), became a Miner in 1956 and was president of his KA fraternity. In 1958, Willard started with Deere & Co. in their student-engineering program and continued with them after graduation in Moline, Ill. While at Deere, Willard and his family lived in Europe, returned to Moline, then to Waterloo, Iowa where he retired in 1993. He was a Financial Planning consultant for a couple of years before getting elected to the Iowa Legislature for 5 terms. He was one of two engineers in the Iowa Legislature, chaired several committees and floor managed many bills - all with a strong relationship to engineering. He received the Engineering Award from the Equipment Manufacturing Institute in 1990 and was Iowa Engineer of the Year in 1997. Willard is a Presbyterian, and a member of Rotary, ASABE and SAE.