Gary Nodler


Gary Nodler is a Missouri politician who served as a Republican in the Missouri State Senate, where he chaired the Senate Appropriations Committee. He is a resident of Joplin, Missouri, married to the former Joncee Edwards with one son, Justin and one granddaughter Rachel.

Biography

He was born in Champaign, Illinois raised in Neosho, Missouri, and attended Crowder College and Missouri Southern State University, where he received his B.A. degree in political science. He has served in the United States Army and in the Missouri National Guard. He is a member of the First United Methodist Church, the American Legion, the National Rifle Association. In 1985, he was selected as one of the Outstanding Young Men in America.
He served as Congressman Gene Taylor's district staff director from 1973 to 1988. He became a regional administrator of the Small Business Administration in 1989, serving through 1992. He was also a member of the Rural Economic Policy Working Group of the White House Economic Policy Council from 1991 to 1992. He served as staff for the Missouri Congressional delegation from 1997 through 2000. He was first elected to the Missouri State Senate in 2002. Nodler wrote Senate Bill 55 elevating Missouri Southern State College to university status and renaming it Missouri Southern State University. He also authored Senate Bill 389 which included the Lewis & Clark Discovery Initiative, providing capital improvements to Missouri higher education institutions, including $20 million to Missouri Southern State University for the school's new Health Sciences Building. He served as Assistant Majority Floor Leader and on the following committees:
Appropriations-Chairman,
Education-Chairman,
Pensions/ Veterans' Affairs and General Laws,
Joint Committee on Capital Improvements and Leases Oversight,
Joint Committee on Education,
Joint Committee on Government Accountability,
Joint Committee on Legislative Research and Oversight-Chairman,
Joint Committee on the Life Sciences.
After leaving the Senate Nodler served 3 years on the Board of the Joplin Sports Authority and also served a member of the Joplin School Board. In August of 2018 he was appointed by Governor Mike Parson to the Missouri Coordinating Board for Higher Education.

Awards

Awards Presented to Senator Nodler: