About


Harvey C. Jewett IV

Harvey received his bachelor degree from University of South Dakota in 1970 and then received his law degree from the University of South Dakota in 1973 where he was the Editor-in-Chief of the South Dakota Law Review.  After graduation, Harvey served as a law clerk for the United States District Court for South Dakota, Western Division.  He has been a partner with the Aberdeen, South Dakota, law firm of Siegel, Barnett & Schutz since 1974.

Harvey served as general counsel for Super 8 Motels, Inc., and its subsidiary companies from 1975 to 1993.  Prior to the sale of the Super 8 Motels franchise company to HFS (now Wyndham Hotel Group) in 1993, Harvey was also the President and Chief Operating Officer of Super 8 Enterprises, Inc., the parent company of Super 8 Motels, Inc. Harvey is currently the President of The Rivett Group, L.L.C., of Aberdeen, South Dakota.

Based on his service to the State, Harvey was inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame in 2005.  Harvey served on the South Dakota Board of Regents from 1997 through 2017.  He was first appointed by Gov. Bill Janklow in 1997 and was elected the board’s secretary shortly thereafter.  He became vice president of the board in 1998, and was elected president in 1999.  He stepped down as president in 2009 after serving an unprecedented 10 years in that position, longer than any prior board president.  He also serves, or has served, on many boards and committees including the chair of the Governor’s Commission on K-12 Education in South Dakota, Great Plains Education Foundation, Inc., Dakota Corps Scholarship Program, Education Assistance Corporation, Student Loan Finance Corporation, University of South Dakota Foundation, University of South Dakota Law School Foundation, Hatterscheidt Foundation, Super 8 Franchisee Advisory Board, Catholic Foundation of Eastern South Dakota, Norwest Bank South Dakota, and Children’s Home Society among others.  He was a Trustee of the College of St. Benedict and a member of the Joint Governance and Audit Committees for St. John’s University and the College of St. Benedict.

Harvey and his wife, Cynthia, have four adult children and several grandchildren.