Have you recently celebrated a wedding, baby, new job, promotion, or honor? Been published, moved into a new home, or welcomed a grandchild? Share your news with the CSU alumni family by submitting a class note. Approved class notes will be published here and in Colorado State University Magazine.
1960s
Joe Martinez (B.A., ’62; CERT, ’63) will be inducted into the CSU Pueblo Athletics Hall of Fame in Fall 2021, and he was honored with an advance celebration at CSU’s Canvas Stadium in Fort Collins in June. Martinez was a standout athlete at Lamar High School in southeastern Colorado, where he helped the school win its first state football titles, in 1954 and 1955. He then played at Pueblo Junior College, now CSU Pueblo, and was the school’s first All-American football player in 1957; he was the team’s leading rusher and top defensive back at a time when players competed on both sides of the line. Martinez then came to Colorado A&M in Fort Collins and played football while earning a commercial art degree and teaching certificate. He graduated as a first-generation college student. For about 30 years, he taught elementary art, physical education, and Spanish in the Poudre School District, while coaching a variety of sports; he was honored as the district’s 1989 teacher of the year. Meantime, Martinez became highly successful as a pitcher in amateur fast-pitch softball and was awarded in Colorado and nationally. He and his wife, Sandy Martinez (B.M., ’82), have made their home in Fort Collins and raised four daughters; she was a longtime school librarian and worked for years to complete her degree in music education, ultimately graduating along with daughters Beth Martinez Humenik (B.S., ’82; M.S., ’01) and JoLynn Martinez Troudt (B.S., ’82). The Martinezes are longtime supporters of CSU and northern Colorado human service organizations.
Lillian Greene-Chamberlain (B.S., ’63; CERT, ’63), a pioneer in women’s track and field, is featured in a national initiative called “Lift Every Voice,” led by Hearst media and promoted by Oprah Winfrey. The project pairs young Black journalists with about 50 older Black Americans, who have shared their inspiring stories so that audiences may learn from and celebrate their experiences. Greene-Chamberlain’s story was published by Runner’s World in June. She was a standout student-athlete who grew up in New York City and came to CSU in Fall 1960 to help start the University’s first intercollegiate women’s track team. She was lured, in part, because she wanted to learn to ski and ride horses while studying physical education. Greene-Chamberlain set records and became the first U.S. national champion in the 440-yard run indoors, as well as the first African American woman to represent the United States internationally in 400-meter and 800-meter races. She was the first African American female athlete at CSU and earned the first women’s athletic scholarship, known as the Lillian Greene Scholarship. After graduating from CSU, she earned master’s and doctoral degrees at Fordham University. Greene-Chamberlain became the first director of the Physical Education and Sports Program for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization in Paris, France; in the UNESCO role, which she held for a decade, she developed physical education curricula for more than 160 nations around the world. She later ran part of the 2002 Winter Olympics torch relay. Now 81 and living in Maryland, she has been active in leadership roles in the sphere of education and athletics. In an interview with CSU Athletics in 2012, she said: “Participating in sports gave me confidence, self-esteem, and a sense of empowerment that I could be successful in anything that I attempted, through strategic thinking, realistic goal-setting, hard work, persistence, and courage. It prepared me for the serious competition of life.” She told “Lift Every Voice” that she has viewed stumbling blocks as steppingstones. Among other honors, Greene-Chamberlain was inducted into the CSU Athletics Hall of Fame and accepted the 1994 William E. Morgan Alumni Achievement Award, the Alumni Association’s highest honor, for alumni who have excelled nationally and internationally.
Janice Condon (B.S., ’64) recently published my second children’s book on healthy/unhealthy food choices- a graphic novel Lulu How Do You? (How Do You What? Be Good to Your Gut!) I targeted 8+yr olds. It’s beautifully illustrated and rhymed inside Lulu’s dream. The first book is for 3+yr olds: Ewww! Lulu Meets the King of Poo, introducing the universe of gut microbes inside each of them with colorful characters, wonderful illustrations again rhyming.
Janmaxcon.com is my website. $9.95 Amazon and other booksellers.
1970s
Dr. Patricia Mulcahy-Ernt (M.Ed. ’77) has been inducted into the the Council of Learning Assistance and Developmental Education Associations’s (CLADEA) is prestigious Fellows program. Selection as a Fellow represents the highest honor conferred upon professionals in learning assistance, tutoring, and developmental education.
Glenn Haas (Ph.D., ’79), right, wears multiple hats as a retired CSU professor turned pizza purveyor – and is patriarch of a family with six University degrees. Haas earned his doctorate, then became a CSU faculty member and, later, head of the Department of Natural Resource Recreation and Tourism. While working at CSU for more than 25 years, he also served as director of the Environmental Learning Center. Since retiring in 2005, Haas and his wife, Marcella Wells (Ph.D., ’95) have actively consulted in their shared field. He specializes in advising Caribbean island nations, including Belize, that seek to generate revenue from tourism for use in supporting, managing, and protecting important natural and cultural resources. With his son Nate Haas (B.S., ’05), the elder Haas shares ownership and helps manage Krazy Karl’s Pizza of Fort Collins. The two launched the restaurant near campus in 2010 with the late Karl Mobley. Krazy Karl’s since has grown with additional locations in Fort Collins and Loveland; it is also a vendor at CSU Athletics venues and the Budweiser Events Center near Loveland. The family of Rams fans includes three other alumni: Claudia Farfan-Lorono (B.A., ’05)and Ashley (B.S., ’04) and Gary (B.S., ’04) Haas.
1980s
Glenn Fay (M.Ed., ’81) recently published a book about life during the American Revolution in New England. Vermont’s Ebenezer Allen: Patriot, Commando and Emancipator, from Arcadia/ The History Press, chronicles the polarized climate in the colonies between Loyalists, Natives, and Patriots, and the hardships of settling in unceded wilderness. Colonel Ebenezer Allen was one of the founders of the 14th state, Vermont. Allen is certainly the envy of modern military heroes social justice heroes.
David Peters (B.S., ’83) is enjoying the tail end of a 40 career in federal service with the USDA Forest Service, as a Ranger in the Little Belt Mountains on the Lewis and Clark National Forest in Montana.
David “Colt” Simmons (B.S., ’84) is a retired USAF Lt. Col. supporting efforts to keep the U.S. Space Force in Colorado. He was elected Teller County assessor to fix and repair a public office in serious need of leadership, management, and stewardship. He also led efforts to pass CO House Bill 21-1292 Sports Betting Legislation to correct serious anomalies in Colorado casino appraisal.
1992s
Craig Huffhines (M.S., ’92) has worked for years as an influential leader in the equine and beef-cattle industries and will return to CSU in August to fill a faculty position that harnesses all his professional experience. He will serve as director of CSU Equine Sciences and Elite Bovine and Equine Genetics and will hold the Wagonhound Land and Livestock Chair in Equine Sciences. In his role, Huffhines will lead CSU’s well-known equine sciences undergraduate program in the Department of Animal Sciences. He also will be involved in education and research in leading-edge horse and cattle genetics – and will advise student clubs and University outreach programs in the College of Agricultural Sciences. Huffhines recently served as executive vice president of the American Quarter Horse Association and earlier was executive vice president of the American Hereford Association, where he advocated for innovative management programs based on genetics and performance data. For his work, Huffhines has been honored by the CSU Alumni Association.
Dawn DiPrince (B.A., ’95; M.A., ’12) will step into the role of executive director of History Colorado in September. The Denver-based nonprofit is a division of the Colorado Department of Higher Education and a Smithsonian Affiliate. It promotes statewide history, culture, community vitality, and human connections through programming at its Denver center and at museums and historic attractions across the state. DiPrince has worked for History Colorado since 2012, recently as chief operating officer and earlier as chief community museum officer and director of El Pueblo History Museum in Pueblo, Colorado. Of her new role, DiPrince said: “We will continue to grow History Colorado’s service to communities across the state and expand how we think about the role of history in our lives and who it includes. Every Coloradan should see themselves in our collections and stories.” Photo: Adrienne Thomas courtesy History Colorado
Michael Woodbridge (B.A., ’99) recently became District Ranger for the Hahns Peak/Bears Ears Ranger District, on the Routt National Forest in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. He recently returned to Colorado from the Tahoe National Forest in California. He has been with the U.S. Forest Service since 2014.
2000s
April Pergl-Lanotte (M.A., ’01) has recently started a new position with NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate as the STEM Integration Lead. First an Education Fellow with them in 2011, then a part-time contractor until 2021, she now works with internal and external partners finding ways to bring aeronautics-based content to students in the U.S. and internationally.
Lauren Braden (B.A., ’05) published Of Mettle & Magic, the fifth book in the award-winning Magicsmith urban fantasy series (Bell Bridge Books, 2021). When the Unified Church in Rome is destroyed by rogue sorcerers, tensions explode. Alex Blackwood will do whatever it takes to prevent a war between the humans, fae, and Earth paranaturals—even turn herself over to the PTF. But when a man she thought long dead walks back into her life at the head of a sorcerer army, surrender is no longer an option. With all the world watching, and half hoping she fails, Alex and her friends scramble to find a peace that won’t cost them everything.
Ben Griffiths (B.S., ’07) captured a snowy scene of curious sheep at the Littleton Historical Museum (photo above) and his image won second place in the Colorado Department of Agriculture’s 2020 Best in Show Photography Contest. It was also featured in a calendar produced by the city of Littleton. When he isn’t taking photos, Griffiths works at Lockheed Martin as a survivability and systems engineer. His job responsibilities range from reviewing satellite designs for effects of space radiation to testing electrical parts at cyclotrons to see how they respond to heavy ion and proton bombardment. As a systems engineer, he is also involved in new program development.
2010s
Chef Jenica Sounart (B.S., ’17) is a 25-year-old with a lifelong love of cooking. When she was just a toddler, she was caught making pancakes on the stove. By 19, she was crafting cupcakes for weddings. She spent eight months in Italian culinary school in Florence through a CSU study abroad program and came back to a job as a dishwasher at the Fort Collins Restaurant 415, started by the founders of Snooze. Within two years, she was sous chef, making her own dishes and helping run the kitchen. In 2019, she left FoCo for LA where she took a cooking gig at Warner Brothers and then began working as a personal chef in the kitchens of LA elite. The pandemic closed her LA dreams and brought her home. Rather than give up and just take a restaurant job as everyone urged her, she decided to launch her own personal chef business here in Denver, Chef Jenica.
