T. Denny Sanford, the billionaire owner of First PREMIER Bank and PREMIER Bankcard, and the most prolific philanthropist in South Dakota history, died this morning, aged 90.
The news of Sanford’s passing was announced this morning by Sanford Health, the Sioux Falls-based health system that bears his name. Tributes to Sanford have poured in, including from Governor Larry Rhoden and U.S. Senator Mike Rounds. His official obituary can be read here.
With philanthropy in South Dakota totaling an estimated $3 billion, Denny Sanford has secured a singular place in South Dakota history. Over the past quarter-century, he became one of the state’s most consequential private citizens, as his extraordinary philanthropy became intertwined with many of the major accomplishments of successive South Dakota governors and institutions.
Sanford’s first high-profile charitable donation came in April 1999, in support of Children’s Home Society of South Dakota. It grew out of a lunch meeting among Sanford, Children’s Home Society development director Dennis Daugaard, and former First Lady Linda Mickelson, a Children’s Home board member. Daugaard and Mickelson asked Sanford for a $1 million challenge grant to launch fundraising for a new endowment.
After considering the request, Sanford told them he would not donate $1 million.
He would donate $2 million.
Sanford’s initial gift to the Children’s Home Society kicked off a successful $7 million fundraising campaign, and Sanford himself ultimately donated more than $70 million to Children’s Home Society, making him the non-profit’s largest private donor. More significantly, though, this gift initiated Sanford’s high-profile philanthropy in South Dakota, based on a common pattern: a large donation, given to strong and motivated leaders, and requiring an aggressive match.
In 2006, Governor Mike Rounds announced a $70 million donation from Sanford to help transform the former Homestake Gold Mine into an underground laboratory for scientific research. Combined with $40 million in state funding, Sanford’s donation led to the creation of the Sanford Underground Research Facility and ultimately helped attract billions of dollars in federal and private investment to this unique South Dakota asset.
Sanford’s growing philanthropy also brought him together with Kelby Krabbenhoft, the entrepreneurial CEO of Sioux Valley Hospitals and Health Systems. In early 2007, Sanford announced a landmark $400 million gift to the health system, which was renamed Sanford Health in his honor. Over the next two decades, Sanford’s support of Sanford Health would reach nearly $2 billion. As Krabbenhoft was succeeded by CEO Bill Gassen, Sanford’s support continued to help the organization expand dramatically in geographic reach and in its ambitions as a health care, research, and educational enterprise.
Sanford also made major investments in education.
In 2014, at the urging of Governor Dennis Daugaard and former Governor Mike Rounds, Sanford donated $25 million to establish the Build Dakota Scholarship Program, matched by $25 million from the state. The innovative program provides full-ride scholarships to students in high-need programs at South Dakota’s technical colleges in exchange for a commitment to work in South Dakota for three years after graduation.
In the years that followed, Sanford made additional gifts to continue Build Dakota, with matching state support under Governors Kristi Noem and Larry Rhoden. Numerous South Dakota employers also joined the effort, greatly expanding the program’s reach.
In 2021, Sanford announced the PREMIER Scholarship, a need-based scholarship for students attending South Dakota institutions of higher education, backed by a $100 million endowment. Governor Kristi Noem subsequently secured legislative approval for another $50 million for the endowment, branding the state’s contribution the “Freedom Scholarship.” Sanford responded by matching the state’s contribution with another $50 million.
Sanford also made numerous donations to South Dakota state universities, often in partnership with his senior leadership team. These include donations in support of:
- Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium at South Dakota State University,
- At Dakota State University: the Beacom Institute of Technology, the Madison Cyber Labs, the Sioux Falls Applied Research Lab, and sports facilities, and
- At the University of South Dakota: the Sanford School of Medicine, the Beacom School of Business, the Knudson School of Law at the University of South Dakota, the Gassen Family Fieldhouse at USD, and the National Music Museum.
The last major public announcement involving Sanford came in February 2027, when he joined Governor Larry Rhoden and Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken to announce Smithfield Foods’ plan to build a new $1.3 billion pork-processing plant in northwest Sioux Falls, allowing its current 120-acre site near Falls Park to be redeveloped. Sanford donated $50 million to the Sioux Falls Development Foundation to help make the project possible. The redevelopment of the old Smithfield site will be known as the Sanford District in his honor.
The scale of Denny Sanford’s philanthropy is difficult to overstate. But his impact cannot be measured simply by adding up the dollars he gave away. Again and again, Sanford provided the catalytic investment that allowed South Dakotans to think bigger – to transform an abandoned gold mine into one of the world’s leading underground science laboratories; to build and expand universities and research institutions; to educate thousands of students; to care for children and families; and to undertake projects that otherwise might never have been possible. And, his example contributed to a remarkable spirit of philanthropy in the Sioux Falls community and through South Dakota.
On a personal note, this blogger had several opportunities over the years to help facilitate and implement a number of these donations. It was an honor to know Denny Sanford, and it was a privilege to work to bring his vision to reality, always in close cooperation with his leadership team: Dave Knudson, Dana Dykhouse, and Miles Beacom.
Thank you, Denny.
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