Wesley Charles Jacobs Jr.

Wesley Charles Jacobs Jr. (also known as Wesley Chuck Jacobs) is an American rural planner, who, as an Oglala Lakota, works in South Dakota for the First Nation's Financial Project.[1][2]

He graduated from University of Massachusetts Amherst with a Master's in Rural Planning, in 1984.[3][4]

In 1987, Jacobs received the MacArthur Fellows Program award with grant[3][2] for his work as

"a rural planner involved in efforts to improve the living conditions and economy of tribal areas with high unemployment and poverty. ... His research on the extent and impact of reservation trade on surrounding border towns and his investigation of the mutually dependent relationship of that trade, have opened up new areas of analysis. His work inaugurated a significant shift away from federal government grants to private funding aimed at making the Sioux more self-sufficient. His findings have brought hope and new economic development to one of the poorest areas of the nation." —MacArthur Foundation[4]

From 2008 to 2010, Jacobs represented the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the board of directors of the Intertribal Bison Cooperative.[5]

References

1. Teltsch, Kathleen (June 16, 1987). "MACARTHUR AWARDS OF $150,000 TO $375,000 GO TO 'OUTSTANDINGLY TALENTED' 32". B. The New York Times. p. 8. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved February 23, 2017 – via The New York Times Archives.
2. Flynn, Anne-Gerard (September 27, 2019). "University of Massachusetts professor Ocean Vuong to receive $625K grant as MacArthur fellow". The Republican. Archived from the original on October 1, 2019. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
3. "Alumni Points of Pride 2002-03" (PDF). May 13, 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 12, 2013.
4. "Wesley Charles Jacobs Jr. - MacArthur Fellows Program". MacArthur Foundation. July 1, 1987. Archived from the original on December 19, 2019. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
5. "Board of Directors". Intertribal Bison Cooperative. Archived from the original on April 13, 2010.