James Edward Geringer (born April 24, 1944) is an American politician who was the 30th governor of Wyoming, serving from 1995 to 2003.

Early life and education

Geringer was born and raised on a farm in

Wheatland, Wyoming Wheatland is a town in and the county seat of Platte County in southeastern Wyoming, United States. The population was 3,588 at the 2020 census. History Before the late 19th century, the area around the future site of Wheatland was a flat, ari ...

. His father, Gottlieb Geringer, was a

Volga German The Volga Germans (, ; ) are ethnic Germans who settled and historically lived along the Volga River in the region of southeastern European Russia around Saratov and close to Ukraine nearer to the south. Recruited as immigrants to Russia in th ...

from Lauwe (now

Yablonovka, Saratov Oblast Yablonovka () is a rural locality (a '' selo'') in Rovensky District of Saratov Oblast, Russia, located about south of the city of Engels on the left bank of the Volga River. It was founded by Volga Germans in 1767 and until 1941 was known as ...

) in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, and his mother, Edla Malin (née Johnson), was of Swedish descent. He attended

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...

and was a member of

Triangle Fraternity Triangle Fraternity is an American collegiate Fraternities and Sororities, fraternity for male students majoring in engineering, architecture, and the physical, mathematical, biological, and computer sciences. Triangle Fraternity organized at th ...

, earning a degree in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

. He served for ten years in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

before retiring. He briefly worked at a power generating station in Wheatland before purchasing a farm.

Politics

In 1982, Geringer successfully ran as a Republican for a seat in the

Wyoming House of Representatives The Wyoming House of Representatives is the lower house of the Wyoming Legislature, Wyoming State Legislature. There are 62 Representatives in the House, representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts across the Wyoming, st ...

. After serving there for six years, he won the Platte County seat in the

Wyoming Senate The Wyoming Senate is the upper house of the Wyoming Legislature, Wyoming State Legislature. There are 31 Senators in the Senate, representing an equal number of constituencies across Wyoming, each with a population of at least 17,000. The Senat ...

in 1988. After the state legislature switched from a county-based apportionment system to a district based apportionment system, in 1992, Geringer was elected to represent the 3rd senate district. In 1994, Geringer was elected as Wyoming's governor. Geringer was generally a conservative throughout his political career. As governor, he helped pass laws that regulated class action lawsuits, reformed

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

laws, toughened crime laws, legalized charter schools, and lowered taxes. However, he broke with the Republican Party in supporting environmental rulings and the

Equal Rights Amendment The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was a proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States, United States Constitution that would explicitly prohibit sex discrimination. It is not currently a part of the Constitution, though its Ratifi ...

. In 1997, Governor Geringer called for a boycott of

America Online AOL (formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City, and a brand marketed by Yahoo! Inc. (2017–present), Yahoo! Inc. The service tra ...

after

Sondra London Sondra London (born 1947 in Florida) is a controversial American true crime author. A onetime girlfriend of convicted murderer and suspected serial killer Gerard John Schaefer and the fiancée of convicted serial killer Danny Rolling (later e ...

posted a series of murder confessions sent to her from "Happy Face Killer" Keith Jesperson, protesting that he found the items to be offensive. Although London voluntarily removed the pages in question, AOL banned her from the AOL domain, which in turn prompted an outpouring of support from all over the

World Wide Web The World Wide Web (WWW or simply the Web) is an information system that enables Content (media), content sharing over the Internet through user-friendly ways meant to appeal to users beyond Information technology, IT specialists and hobbyis ...

, including multiple offers of free server space. After serving as governor, he joined

Redlands, California Redlands ( ) is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 73,168, up from 68,747 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The city is located a ...

based ESRI as director of policy and public sector strategies. Geringer is one of the founding governors of

Western Governors University Western Governors University (WGU) is a private online university based in Millcreek, Utah, United States. The university uses an online competency-based learning model, providing advanced education for working professionals. Degrees awarded b ...

(WGU) and is currently chairman of the WGU Board of Trustees.Board of Trustees

References

External links

Wyoming State Archives
* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Geringer, Jim 1944 births 21st-century Wyoming politicians American Lutherans American people of German-Russian descent American people of Swedish descent Farmers from Wyoming Republican Party governors of Wyoming Kansas State University alumni Living people Republican Party members of the Wyoming House of Representatives People from Wheatland, Wyoming United States Air Force officers Western Governors University people Republican Party Wyoming state senators 20th-century members of the Wyoming Legislature