Independent insurance broker Donna Ruff (Bus’84) specializes in life, disability, long-term care insurance and retirement and estate planning needs.This is her 19th year qualifying as a member of the Million Dollar Round Table, an honor given to the top 6 percent of insurance professionals worldwide. Donna lives in Louisville, Colo.
Posted Dec. 1, 2011
Kathryn Willoughby’s (MBA’85) first solo exhibition, “In The Garden,” was hosted at Gallery 9 in Los Altos, California this summer. This exhibition featured more than 30 lush landscape paintings, including 12 of Bay Area gardens. In addition, she has published a companion book, , available on Amazon and at Gallery 9. View Kathryn’s work at .
Posted Nov. 7, 2022
Robin Wurtzel (Law’85) is chief counsel at the Hawai’i Civil Rights Commission. She writes that she “feels good about rounding out over 35 years of public interest law at a great government agency.” She lives in Honolulu.
Posted Nov. 7, 2022
°ľ±łľ˛ú±đ°ů±ô˛âĚý°ä´Ç±ô±đłľ˛ą˛ÔĚýµţłÜ°ů˛Ô˛ő (Jour’85) won the National Indie Excellence Award for Regional Fiction, the Western Fictioneers Peacemakers Award for Best First Western and a gold medal from the Independent Publishers Awards for her Victorian-era novel, . Her husband, Robert Burns (Fin’86), is a senior vice president of Pacific Investment Management Company.
Posted Nov. 7, 2022
In May, the Environmental Law Institute selected Mark Laska (DistSt’85) as the business leadership winner of the National Wetlands Award. This award recognizes individuals who strive to protect wetland resources in the face of developmental and climate-related challenges. Mark — founder, president and CEO of the ecological consulting group Great Ecology —was recognized for his work as an ecological restoration practitioner.
Posted Nov. 7, 2022
On Jan. 8, Chris Fowler (Jour’85) and Kirk Herbstreit announced their second NFL game ever when the Chiefs took on the Broncos. Chris works as a television sportscaster for ESPN and generally announces college football. This season, Chris announced the college football playoff championship game on Jan.10. He lives in Miami Beach, Florida.
Posted Mar. 11, 2022
On March 10, Colorado Law will award Kathleen B. Nalty (Law’85) the Sonny Flowers Award for her commitment to inclusion, diversity and equity in practicing law. Kathleen worked as a federal civil rights prosecutor, co-chaired the diversity committee for the Colorado Bar Association and wrote a book called Going “All-In” on Diversity and Inclusion: The Law Firm Leader’s Playbook, among many other responsibilities throughout her career. This award will be presented at the 41st annual alumni awards banquet, which will take place at the Denver Center.
Posted Mar. 11, 2022
Teresa Schmitt Pierce (PolSci’85) is in her fourth term in the Maine House of Representatives. She is house chair of the joint standing committee on appropriations and financial affairs and chair of the marijuana advisory committee. Teresa and her husband, Sam, have two children and live in Falmouth, Maine.
Posted Mar. 11, 2022
Clinical supervisor and board-certified behavior analyst at the Center for Autism and Related Disorders Ann Leventen Derentz (Hist) works with children and adults who have developmental disabilities, brain injuries, and social and behavioral issues by creating treatment plans and overseeing programs for her clients in the San Francisco Bay Area. She misses Boulder and plans to visit in the near future.Â
Posted Nov. 5, 2021
Sports marketing enthusiast Jenny Anderson (PE) has worked for the PGA TOUR, U.S. Tennis Association, U.S. Pro Ski Tour and World Cup Soccer 1994. She is now the ride manager for the Buffalo Bicycle Classic, a job she writes is perfect and combines everything she loves. The bicycle ride supports Colorado high school graduates with four-year need- and merit-based ˛ĘĂń±¦µä scholarships. This year’s race is Sept. 12. Register at .
Posted Jul. 2, 2021
In 2019 Teresa Gergen (Math) became the first person to climb all 846 peaks over 13,000 feet in the 48 contiguous states, plus Hawaii. She also has climbed all 2,311 Colorado peaks above 10,000 feet. Teresa, now retired, was a library technician at CU. She has spent her retirement summers traveling around the country and unsurprisingly, climbing mountains.Â
Posted Feb. 1, 2020
EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler appointed Lori McFarling (Jour) to a four-year position on the board of directors for the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation, a nonprofit created to raise national awareness of environmental issues. She also was named president of global corporate partnerships for Discovery Education, an ed-tech firm based out of Washington, D.C., where Lori lives with her husband and three kids.Â
Posted Feb. 1, 2020
Bradford Geiger (Phil;Law’88) of Highlands Ranch, Colo., was confirmed by the Colorado Senate to serve as a citizen member of the state’s Juvenile Parole Board. Originally appointed by Governor Hickenlooper in 2017, Bradford was reappointed by Governor Polis in 2019 and will serve a four-year term.
Posted Oct. 1, 2019
Durango, Colo., resident Tim Thomas (Jpn) teaches wilderness medicine and serves as a senior polar tourism guide in Antarctica. Last fall he worked for the U.S. Antarctic Program, helping with safety issues along the highway connecting McMurdo and Amundsen-Scott South Pole Stations. He considers himself semi-retired.
Posted Oct. 1, 2019
In May, Chris Lehnertz (EPOBio) became president and CEO of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. In her prior career with the National Park Service, she served as superintendent of both Grand Canyon National Park and Golden Gate National Recreation Area, as well as deputy superintendent at Yellowstone National Park. Chris was the subject of a Coloradan cover story in December 2016.
Posted Jun. 3, 2019
Sam Ventola (PolSci; Law’88) was awarded the 2019 Outstanding Community Servant Award by Sisters in Service, which provides scholarships and book stipends to Colorado residents ages 17 to 23. Sam is the founder of Denver-based law firm Ventola Law, which specializes in business formation, litigation and mediation, as well as employment law.
Posted Jun. 3, 2019
Elizabeth W. Bisgar (EPOBio; MD’93) was appointed medical director of occupational medicine for the southern region of the University of Colorado Health. She is an assistant clinical professor in the physical medicine and rehabilitation department at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. She resides in Parker, Colo., with her two daughters. When she’s not working or teaching, she can be found figure skating at the ice rink.Â
Posted Nov. 30, 2018
Cyndi Boman Thompson (Mktg) writes that she is now vice president at Cinder, a business journal in Portland, Ore. Cyndi, who is a licensed financial planner, joined Cinder in 2015. She currently serves on the board of directors for the Financial Planning Association of Oregon and Washington.
Posted Sep. 1, 2018
Sofinnova, a biotech investment firm, has added Alan Colowick (MCDBio) to its partnership. Previously Alan worked as executive vice president for Celgene Corporation, a biotech company that topped Business Insider’s “Best Employer in America” list in 2013 and 2014. He and wife Casey have two children.
Posted Sep. 1, 2017
Derek Thompson (CompSci, ElEngr) was recognized by Intel Corporation with a promotion to principal engineer. Before joining Intel in 1997, Derek worked as a design engineer for NCR Corporation.
Posted Sep. 1, 2017
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