Jakob Popple

Jakob graduated this spring of 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems.

As a student, Jakob received numerous honors including multiple Dean’s and President’s Honor Roll recognitions. Most recently, he teamed up with fellow student Sean Skipton and the duo earned a national championship in Application Development at the first annual U.S. Information Technology Collegiate Conference (USITCC). With 31 colleges and universities in attendance and 35 teams in the Application Development event, this was no small feat.

Instructor and Programming Team Advisor Kim Tuttle commented, “It was always a pleasure to have Popple in class and on the Programming Team. He is quick on his feet and always ready to tackle any challenges handed to him. He also continuously pushes his classmates to think outside of the box.”

In addition to his classroom achievements, Jakob was a key player on the football field for the Aggies as an Offensive Lineman. In 2016, he was an All-Conference Offensive Lineman in the Lone Star Conference. He was selected First-Team Offense on the 2017 Central States Football League (CSFL) All-League Team. Also, Jakob was named to the 2017 CSFL All-Academic Team and was recognized by the NAIA as a Scholar Athlete.

Russell Gaskamp, Head Football Coach, said, “As a coach you hope all of your recruits use the opportunity to be a student-athlete at OPSU like Jakob did. Not only was he an outstanding football player but he is walking out with a great degree in four years. I know he will be immediately employable and will be a great asset to any company he works for. Jakob exemplifies everything you wish for in a student-athlete. I am very proud of him.”

Aside from his time spent in the classroom and on the football field, Jakob was very active on campus as a Resident Assistant (RA) for campus housing and a member of the Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP) as well as Chi Alpha Sigma.

He said, “My favorite thing as OPSU is that the school is small and makes you feel welcome. It feels like a home atmosphere.”

Future plans include moving back around home and pursuing a career in computer programming.