Philanthropist Sheila Challey is scheduled to receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree during the 10 a.m. NDSU spring commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 13 at the Fargodome.
Longtime NDSU donor and passionate supporter of young people, Sheila Challey, will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree at the 10 a.m. commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 13, at the Fargodome.
A first generation American, Sheila was born in Seattle, Washington, before living in Montana, and eventually the San Francisco area, where she graduated from high school.
She entered the banking industry and rose through the ranks, serving as a personal banker, loan officer and branch manager. In 1989, Sheila and her husband, Bob, were married in Walnut Creek, California, thus beginning her long relationship with NDSU with many trips back to Fargo. Together, the Challeys have had a successful real estate development career.
Sheila’s interest in supporting NDSU has been focused on providing scholarship aid to young people aspiring to earn a college degree. Not having the family support and financial wherewithal to pursue her own college degree was a major motivating factor. One area of focus has been the Division of Performing Arts, where Sheila and her family have supported numerous students pursuing music degrees. In 2014, the program was renamed the Robert and Sheila Challey School of Music to recognize their philanthropic impact.
Sheila and Bob were cochairs of the NDSU Foundation’s “In Our Hands: The Campaign for North Dakota State University,” which raised a record-setting $586.7 million from 2016 to 2021. The Challeys provided leadership gift support to the campaign, including the establishment of the Sheila and Robert Challey Institute for Global Innovation and Growth in the College of Business.
In addition to her passion for NDSU, Sheila is a major volunteer and supporter at Children’s Hospital in Oakland, serving pediatric patients from all over the Bay Area and around the country. She also was appointed by Gov. Doug Burgum to serve as North Dakota’s representative on the Kennedy Center National Committee for the Performing Arts.
One of Sheila’s greatest pleasures is the opportunity to meet with the young people who have benefited from her scholarship support, and she greatly enjoys meeting parents of students who tell her that their children never would have been able to attend NDSU and obtain degrees without financial help.
Sheila and Bob have three children and three grandchildren.
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