The Spring 2020 issue of Northern Today, the alumni and friends publication of Northern State University, Aberdeen, South Dakota, USA, named J.R. Klein, principal of J.R. Global, as a Distinguished Alumni. He was one of five alumni to be honoured with the 2020 Distinguished Alumni award.

Northern State University is a premier residential, regional, liberal arts institution characterized by outstanding instruction, extraordinary community relations and unparalleled co-curricular opportunities. In August 2019 it was named by U.S. News and World Report as one of the best regional undergraduate schools in the Midwest.
Mr Klein received an undergraduate degree in History and Social Science from NSU in 1969.