Donald Hoff Velva, ND | 7-12, Science, 1985

Donald Hoff taught science courses for 45 years prior to retiring in 2014. At the time of his receipt of the Presidential Award, Donald was teaching Chemistry, Physics, Physical Science, and Earth Science at Velva Public School. He also taught high school sciences in Kwajalein, Marshall Islands and at an American Indian school, Mandaree Public School. The last 12 years of his teaching were at Valley City State University where he earned the rank of full Professor teaching Chemistry, Geology, teacher education, and supervising student teachers. A desire to incorporate real world experiences into his teaching encouraged Donald to travel to all 50 states and over 40 countries to study, conduct research, gather material, and take photographs. Recent research was through Earth Expeditions in Namibia, Borneo, Mongolia, Baja California, and the Amazon. Donald received numerous honors including: Teacher in Space national finalist, Fulbright teaching scholar, Tandy Technology scholar, and twice Teacher of the Year at his university. Donald served as an officer in professional organizations at the local, state, and national levels and was State Coordinator for the North Dakota Presidential Award program for several years. Donald has a B.S. in chemistry from Dickinson State University, an M.S. in earth science and education from North Dakota State University, and more than one hundred semester hours of graduate work in science and education.

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