Biography of Lieutenant Governor Jack Dalrymple
Jack Dalrymple is North Dakota’s 35th lieutenant governor, elected in November 2000 and re-elected in November 2004 and November 2008. He brings an outstanding record of farming, business and legislative leadership to the lieutenant governor’s office.
Born October 16, 1948, Dalrymple grew up in Casselton on the family farm, established in 1875 as North Dakota’s first large-scale wheat farm. He graduated with honors from Yale University in 1970 with a bachelor’s degree in American Studies and then returned to North Dakota to manage the farming operations. He and Betsy Wood were married in 1971 and they have four daughters.
Dalrymple became active in the community serving on the Casselton Jobs Development Commission and helping establish Share House, Inc., a Fargo residential treatment program for recovering alcoholics and drug dependents. Dalrymple came to the North Dakota Legislature in 1985, representing a rural Cass County House district. He served eight terms, including six years as chairman of the influential House Appropriations Committee. He currently presides over the North Dakota Senate and is responsible for legislative relations, the state budget and agri-business development. Currently, he serves as chairman of the North Dakota Commission on Education Improvement. In 2008, the Commission received the Frank Newman Award from the Education Commission of the States, recognizing its members for their work on school funding reform.
Dalrymple is a nationally recognized leader in value-added agriculture. He chairs the board of directors of Carrington-based Dakota Growers Pasta Company, the third-largest manufacturer and marketer of dry pasta products in North America. The company is owned primarily by grain farmers and mills about 12 million bushels of its own durum wheat each year. His work in helping to found the company earned him the 2007 Ernst and Young Midwest “Master Entrepreneur of the Year” Award. Dalrymple serves as chairman of the North Dakota Trade Office and is past chairman of the National Lieutenant Governors Association.
