By Ann Gill (M.A., ’76)

Michael and Dianne Doddridge are active life members of the CSU Alumni Association. He graduated in construction management and opened his own company in Fort Collins. She had a Jazzercize studio and interviewed Michael when she needed a builder for a new center. They were married two years later.

Michael grew up in Dayton, Ohio, and Dianne in Hacienda Heights, California. He started college at Ohio State, then wanted a change of scenery. His brother was pursuing a master’s degree at CSU and told him about the construction management program.

While at CSU, Michael was active in club sports, shooting trap and skeet, and following graduation, he twice won a state championship. He also was active in student organizations related to the construction industry and attended a student competition in Las Vegas for the National Association of Home Builders. He helped with the wonderful Homecoming Parade floats built each year by construction management students. He also helped construct a far more permanent campus feature, the Vietnam Era Memorial Bridge over Arthur Ditch, which includes bricks salvaged from the fire that destroyed Old Main.

After graduation, Michael worked for a homebuilding firm in Denver, and later, one in Fort Collins. In 1995, he opened Doddridge Custom Homes; in 2001, the name was modified to Doddridge Construction to reflect the remodeling work they do in addition to building custom homes. The company has received two significant awards from the Home Builders Association of Northern Colorado: Remodeler of the Year in 2007 and Builder of the Year in 2012.

While in California, Dianne received a degree in nursing. When she came to Colorado for a job interview, she fell in love with the Front Range after seeing a rainbow over the Flatirons. She is “fitness obsessed,” but after Michael’s company started to grow, she retired from fitness instruction in order to help him.

The pair became life members of the Alumni Association because they both “bleed green and gold” and because they “love Kristi and Haley,” the CSU Alumni Association executive director and director of membership. Michael and Dianne are extremely enthusiastic when describing the great times they’ve had at Alumni tailgates before home and away games. These two football season ticket holders also have been part of ceremonies when the Bronze Boot comes back to Fort Collins and many more CSU functions, including welcoming the Old Main Bell back to campus. They have helped paint the A, as well.

They are not the only Rams fans in the family, however. Michael is one of four boys, all of whom graduated from different universities. So, which of those university’s teams does his mother cheer for? Mom is a Rams fan! She lives in Chicago but makes it to several CSU home games as well as one away game each year. She also has a brick at Canvas Stadium.

The Doddridges each proclaim they are “proud to be a CSU Ram!” We are truly grateful for their enthusiastic engagement with CSU and the Alumni Association.