Jamieson, a native of Nairn, Scotland, who adopted Peoria as his home, was president of Illinois Association of School Boards from November 1968 to November 1969. He contributed hundreds of volunteer hours to help IASB, as well as myriad regional, state and national organizations, including National School Boards Association, the American Lung Association and Salvation Army.

Former IASB executive director Harold "Hal" Seamon remembers sitting next to former Illinois governor Dan Walker at an IASB Board of Directors breakfast meeting at the governor's mansion during the time the first State Board of Education was being created. After Jamieson stood and "made quite a statement," Seamon said, the governor turned to him and asked, "Who is that guy?"

A few weeks later, Walker appointed Jamieson to the first state board.

"His personality and persuasiveness were just such that he stood out in a crowd," Seamon said.

Executive director Michael Johnson said the stories he has heard at gatherings of past presidents will always remind him of how much Jamieson contributed to IASB's oral history, something he hopes can continue to be passed to future generations.

Jamieson's dedication to the Salvation Army's cause was fostered early in life, according to George Wirth, who succeeded him as IASB president in 1969. Wirth said Jamieson's father had immigrated to Granite City and worked in the steel mills. But in 1929, with his father out of work, the Salvation Army provided Thanksgiving dinner for the family. It was a kindness that Jamieson, a high school student at the time, spent his entire life repaying, serving on a Salvation Army advisory board for 54 years.

He is the only American to earn the Salvation Army's three highest honors: the Distinguished Auxiliary Service Medal, the William Booth Award and the Others Award.

"He touched so many lives," Wirth said. "I don't know of anyone who was more admired on the lay side of education than Bob Jamieson."

A graduate of Knox College in Galesburg (1932), Jamieson received a master's degree from the University of Illinois in 1939 and an honorary doctor of law degree from Bradley University in Peoria in 1981. In addition to serving on the State Board of Education, Jamieson served on the Peoria District 150 Board of Education (1954-1970), including six years as president (1958-1963, 1960). He served as a teacher at Sparta Township High School (1933-35); superintendent of Mid-County High School (1935-1941); and was an educational consultant for the U.S. government (1941-43), charged with establishing training programs for national defense. He was the founding dean of Bradley's College of Business Administration, and also served as president and then chairman emeritus of Security Savings & Loan Association.

A Peoria school for children with special needs where he frequently volunteered is now named the "Robert A. Jamieson School."

Even though he lived in a nursing home during his later years, Jamieson remained active in his community, Wirth said. As recent as a year and a half ago, he spearheaded a campaign to raise $10,000 for playground equipment at the school bearing his name.

In 1971, during a speech to honor Earl Beling of Moline, an earlier IASB president (1946-47), Jamieson posed the following measure of a man's worth:

"If you have given yourself away in service; if your legacy to your family and friends and community has permanently ennobled their lives; if you have tried your best to repay your debt to your community; and if you possess clean hands and a pure heart, your value is beyond computation. Add it all up. Your worth is what you have to share."

Illinois School Board Journal
September/October 2002