Rock On

You could say that the Russell “Russ” W. Jentgen Geological Sciences endowment legacy began with an ultimatum. 

Russ’s wife Dinah Jentgen, formerly Paul, ’71, and daughter, Alanna ’05 ’09 ’13, established two endowments in Russ Jentgen’s name after he passed away in 2002 at age 55. These endowments honor the extraordinary work ethic and firm belief in higher education held by Russ Jentgen ’70 and his parents, Walter ’38 and Lillian Jentgen ’37. 

But first – the ultimatum.

Walter Jentgen worked long hours at a pharmacy in Carlsbad, New Mexico, for two years to earn tuition money before starting college, and then at the campus dairy at New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, now known as NMSU, while a student. He graduated six years later with a bachelor’s degree in agriculture and subsequently attended Ohio State University for a master’s degree. Walter Jentgen even considered staying there for a Ph.D. But his NMSU sweetheart, Lillian Nicholson, gave him an ultimatum: return to Las Cruces and get married or they break up. 

Lillian Nicholson grew up outside of Elida, New Mexico, and followed her brother, Ernest Nicholson ’35, to New Mexico A&M. The siblings shared a small apartment, and she kept house in exchange for room and board. She, too, worked long hours to pay tuition, serving as a companion for an elderly woman. After graduation, she worked as a Cooperative Extension Service home demonstration agent for Doña Ana County.

Saying yes to the ultimatum, Walter Jentgen returned to Las Cruces, and he and Lillian wed in 1940; however, soon after, World War II broke out. Having served in ROTC, Walter Jentgen entered the U.S. Army as an officer and was later awarded the Silver Star Medal, the Bronze Star Medal, three Purple Heart medals and the Combat Infantry Badge. After the war, the family welcomed three children, all of whom attended NMSU: Sandra Jentgen ’65, Russ Jentgen and Larry Jentgen ’73 ’77.

Russ Jentgen started out as a physics major, but, according to his wife, “stumbled into geology and found it pressed all his buttons.” Like his parents, Russ Jentgen worked long hours to pay for college, first through an NMSU Department of Physics cooperative education program, cleaning lab equipment at Holloman Air Force Base, then at a landscaping company and later at a laundromat. As with his father, this caused him to graduate two years behind his original cohort. 

Dinah Paul, too, was a cost-conscious student. She attended NMSU because her parents couldn’t afford room and board anywhere else, and she finished her bachelor’s degree in three years to save money. 

With the strong work ethic of her husband and his parents in mind, Dinah Jentgen established one of the Jentgen endowments to help geology students whom faculty have recognized as capable, yet who could do much better if they had more time to devote to their studies, like Walter and Russ Jentgen. 

“Dinah promoted social mobility long before it became a criterion by which the success of a university is measured,” says NMSU Geological Sciences Department Head Nancy McMillan ’79. “Oftentimes scholarships are based on performance; however, the Jentgen scholarship supports potential.”

The other Jentgen endowment funds student attendance at professional conferences that would otherwise be financially out of reach. Conferences build on the mentorship that students receive from their research advisers by giving them the chance to present their research and, as McMillan says, “puts them into the greater context of the scientific field and helps them envision themselves as geologists instead of geology students.” 

Dinah and Alanna Jentgen’s love built the Russell Jentgen scholarship legacy at NMSU, but the foundation was laid long ago with the love between Walter and Lillian Jentgen. 

And an ultimatum.