joconnell@journalnet.com

POCATELLO - Idaho State University students hear it said often that they represent the future of the country. They see the evidence on Homecoming weekend, when former students return to campus and share stories of lives filled with achievement.

Three of the most accomplished alumni to return to campus this weekend, Joseph Jensen, Amos Jordan and Carl Davis, agree the university has come a long way since their days of studying in Pocatello. They offered some advice for students, as well as a vision of where the university needs to head.

They all agree it would be in the best interests of both the state and the university for ISU to launch a medical school in the future.

Joseph Jensen recalls standing with his wife, Cheryl, in the empty shell of the expansive room that would become the grand concert hall of the Stephen's Performing Arts Center.

Originally, the Jensen's planned to support one of the theaters in the facility, but at that moment, they were inspired to throw their resources behind the concert hall. Cheryl Jensen passed away about a year and a half ago. Jensen is grateful that she had the opportunity to see the performing arts center.

"We stood in it, and we said, 'We really want to be part of this,'" said Jensen, the namesake of the concert hall. "For both of us, one of highlights of our lives was to see the concert hall."

Jensen now believes the community has derived as much benefit from the facility as the university.

"I don't think we ever could have imagined the scale or impact it's had on the school and the community," said Jensen, a lover of music and a great supporter of the arts. "It's been one of the great thrills of my life to be able to do that and to be able to see the impact it's had on the school and the community."

Jensen has served on the ISU Foundation Board for the past nine years and is the current chairman. He grew up in Pocatello and graduated from ISU in 1966. He later earned an master of business administration degree from Dartmouth College.

He worked a 34-year career with Pfizer, where he served as a manager in the pharmaceutical giant. For 28 years of his career, he worked in foreign countries including France, Portugal, Belgium and India. In 2002, he retired as president of Pfizer's Animal Health Group Europe, Canada and Africa Region. He's spending his retirement in New York City.

"This visit, I've been particularly impressed with how nice the campus looked. It really is a pretty campus," Jensen said.

In his mind, the next logical step for ISU to take is to start a medical school.

"I think it's interesting because we already have 90 percent of a medical school. What we don't have is the accreditation for an MD degree," Jensen said. "I think people think it's a much bigger step than it is. I think it's a very logical step for Idaho State University and the state of Idaho."

Amos Jordan was a standout boxer at West Point, and as an Oxford University track athlete, he used to pace Roger Bannister, the first man to break the 4-minute mile, on the first quarter-mile lap.

As accomplished as he was as an athlete, he's led an even more distinguished career. He was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, and he retired from military service in 1972 as a brigadier general to become director of the Aspen Institute. Two years later, he was back in government as principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs. In 1976, he became deputy undersecretary and acting undersecretary of state. He left government in 1977 to join the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Jordan, born in Twin Falls and raised in Burley and Heyburn, enrolled in the Southern Branch of the University of Idaho in Pocatello in the 1940s. Pocatello is near to his heart as he married a Pocatello woman. His proudest accomplishment is his family, which includes six children, 24 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

He now lives in Bountiful, Utah. He's pleased with the progress he's seen at his alma mater.

"I'm absolutely amazed and delighted at how this university has flourished since my days as an undergraduate both in quantity and quality," Jordan said. "It's now an outstanding institution. The institution has moved so far beyond what it was that it's hard to compare it with the place I left in 1942."

Jordan, too, was quick to tout the virtues of establishing an in-state medical school based at ISU.

"I'd say there's an overwhelming case for putting Idaho's first medical school at ISU," Jordan said. "I hope that dream will be realized."

His advice for students: "You're attending a great institution, and make the most of it. It's fine to have fun, and these are fun years, but remember you're investing for a lifetime. Stay in touch with the friends you make here because they will be people who will enrich your life for the next 50 to 60 years."

Carl Davis recalls signing up for classes with a punch card in a bustling room.

"You'd hear over the loudspeaker, 'English 103 is closed,' and it would destroy you're whole schedule," Davis recalled, laughing at the memory.

While in town for Homecoming, Davis heard from an ISU professor that the incoming class of freshmen have never lived without the Internet. It made him reflect on how much technology has evolved and how much more advanced classwork has become. ISU, too, has evolved into a high-tech university, Davis noted.

"The work they're doing now with INL, putting students in laboratories, there was nothing like that when I went to school. It's something that's just amazing," Davis said.

Davis, secretary of the ISU Foundation Board, retired from Columbia Sportswear Co. in 2005, where he served as vice president and general counsel and secretary for the corporation. In that capacity, he was in charge of all legal activities for Columbia worldwide. Prior to taking that job, he worked for Nike, Inc.

Davis, who now lives in Bend, Ore., received a bachelor of arts degree from Idaho State University in 1970 and a J.D. from the University of Utah in 1973. He's impressed by the university's growth throughout the years.

"They've got the highest enrollment they've ever had, closing in on 15,000," Davis said.

He's also impressed by the university's growth in the Treasure Valley, where 20 pharmacy students are enrolled in an ISU program in Meridian this year, and 40 students are expected to be enrolled next year. He was also happy to learn that ISU ranks fifth in the nation for veterans' education.

In his mind, the national debate about reforming health care fits well into the university's plans to establish an in-state medical education.

"ISU is just on the edge of having (a medical degree). If we could get a little push there and take the programs we have and get a degree, it's the kind of degree that's needed. Ours would be family doctors as opposed to specialty, which is really what we need under this new medical (reform effort)," Davis said.