Dwight Darwin Opperman (June 26, 1923''Iowa, World War II Bonus Case Files, 1947-1954'' – June 13, 2013) was an American businessman and lawyer. He was chairman of Key Investments, a privately held

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to start-up company, startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth poten ...

firm focusing on high-tech ventures. Previously, Opperman was the CEO of West Publishing Company (now known as

Thomson Reuters Thomson Reuters Corporation ( ) is a Canadian multinational media conglomerate. The company was founded in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where it is headquartered at the Bay Adelaide Centre. Thomson Reuters was created by the Thomson Corpora ...

) in

St. Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

and while he was CEO the company moved into technology products with the creation of the

Westlaw Westlaw is an online legal research service and proprietary database for lawyers and legal professionals available in over 60 countries. Information resources on Westlaw include more than 40,000 databases of case law, state and federal statu ...

legal database. Opperman was born in

Perry, Iowa Perry is a city in Dallas County, Iowa, United States, along the North Raccoon River. The population was 7,836 at the time of the 2020 Census. It is part of the Des Moines– West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area. Formerly a major r ...

, and "grew up poor". He received his law degree from

Drake University Law School Drake University Law School is a professional graduate law school of Drake University, located in Des Moines, Iowa. The school has over 330 full-time students. The school is led by Dean Jerry Anderson. Founded in 1865, Drake Law School is one of t ...

in Des Moines, Iowa. He has since served on the Board of Trustees of Drake University and

endowed A financial endowment is a legal structure for managing, and in many cases indefinitely perpetuating, a pool of financial, real estate, or other investments for a specific purpose according to the will of its founders and donors. Endowments are of ...

the Opperman Scholars program which provides

scholarships A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

to 5 incoming 1Ls each year. These are full-tuition scholarships along with a cash stipend (most recently, $10,000 per year) for living expenses. They are renewable provided the student remains in the upper third of his or her class. Opperman also endowed the Dwight D. Opperman Constitutional Law Lecture at Drake, a lecture given annually by the nation's foremost scholars in the field of constitutional law - most often, U.S. Supreme Court justices. Past lecturers include: Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., Justice Stephen Breyer, Justice Antonin Scalia, Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, Justice Lewis F. Powell, and Justice Harry A. Blackmun. Justice Thomas thought so much of the experience that he returned in 2000, 2002 and 2006 to teach a special one-week seminar on the Supreme Court. Drake's main law building and law library were named in Opperman's honor and in 1994, a campus plaza was dedicated in memory of his wife, Jeanice Opperman, who died in 1993. He has also donated to the

New York University School of Law New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in N ...

and Hamline University School of Law. In 2002,

Forbes 400 The ''Forbes'' 400 or 400 Richest Americans is a list published by ''Forbes'' magazine of the wealthiest 400 American citizens who own assets in the U.S., ranked by net worth. The 400 was started by Malcolm Forbes in 1982 and the list is pub ...

ranked Opperman as the 239th richest person in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

; in 2004, his rank was 315th; in 2006, 374th. His first wife Jeanice died in 1993 and he married Julie Chrystyn in 2008. Opperman died after a short illness on June 13, 2013, at home in

Bel Air, Los Angeles Bel Air (or Bel-Air) is a residential neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles, California, in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains. Founded in 1923, it is the home of the Hannah Carter Japanese Garden and the American Jewish Univers ...

previously having lived in the apple orchard portion of White Bear Lake, Minnesota

References

External links

Dwight Opperman ranked #374 on the 2006 Forbes 400

Opperman Scholarship
at

Drake Law School Drake University Law School is a professional graduate law school of Drake University, located in Des Moines, Iowa. The school has over 330 full-time students. The school is led by Dean Jerry Anderson. Founded in 1865, Drake Law School is one of ...

; see als
Constitutional Law Center
*

, established by Opperman at

West Publishing West (also known by its original name, West Publishing) is a business owned by Thomson Reuters that publishes legal, business, and regulatory information in print, and on electronic services such as Westlaw. Since the late 19th century, West h ...

;Other obituary sources * 2013-06-13 upd 10:49pm ''Star Tribune'

* 2013-06-20 LOC Law Library blo

* 2013-06-24 Drake U Law Schoo

{{DEFAULTSORT:Opperman, Dwight D. 1923 births 2013 deaths American publishers (people) Hamline University alumni People from Perry, Iowa Drake University Law School alumni