May

Kudos

Grant for AES building, MLK Peace Breakfast designers receive recognition and many other Roadrunner distinctions.

By Olga Sago

May 8, 2018

Metropolitan State University of Denver received a $100,000 grant from the Boettcher Foundation. The grant is designated for capital expenses as part of the construction of the AES building, where the Professional Training Room on the fourth floor will be named the Boettcher Foundation Professional Training Room.

The College of Business was recognized by the Colorado Avalanche with the 2017-18 Top Student Development Organization award for the college’s ongoing ticket-sales program. Students from marketing /sales classes have been selling tickets to select Colorado Avalanche/Denver Nuggets games for more than a decade, with a percentage of the sales proceeds coming back to MSU Denver to support the College of Business and student scholarships. Darrin Duber-Smith accepted the award on behalf of the University.

David Weiden, associate professor of political science and Native American studies, has been awarded a fellowship at the MacDowell Colony for summer. Established for more than 100 years, the organization is the nation’s oldest arts colony, with past participants including Willa Cather, Thornton Wilder, Leonard Bernstein, Jonathan Franzen, Michael Chabon, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker and Louise Erdrich. Weiden has also been selected to take part in the prestigious Tin House Writing Workshop this summer.

Kishore G. Kulkarni, professor of economics, recently completed his term as the president of the Southwestern Society of Economists, which is a part of the Federation of Business Disciplines. Kulkarni was elected to serve as the program chair of the FBD meeting in San Antonio in March 2020 and will then serve as the president of the Federation of Business Disciplines meeting in Galveston, Texas, in 2021. The FBD is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization that includes 10 professional associations that focus on the promotion and improvement of research and educational activities of schools and colleges of businesses. 

Tom Cech, co-director of the One World One Water Center, will receive the Diane Hoppe Leadership Award on May 11 at the annual Water Education Colorado President’s Reception for his work with the OWOW Center. Water Education Colorado was established in 2002, aiming to establish a sustainable water future for the state by promoting and providing information about Colorado’s water resources.

Additionally, Cech has a new (fourth) edition of “Principles of Water Resources: History, Development, Management and Policy,” out now, published by John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, New Jersey.

Joan Foster (dean of CLAS) won the Destination Imagination Spirit Award from her work with Eureka!, part of Girls Inc. Denver. Eureka! is an intensive, five-year STEM-based program that builds girls’ confidence and skills through hands-on opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math.

Management professors Lynn Hoffman and Nina Radojevich-Kelley were judges in the Denver Business Journal Small Business Awards, designed to honor companies with 100 or fewer employees. There are 25 finalists, and the winners will be announced at a cocktail reception May 24.

Nancy Moke is retiring as an associate professor from the Human Services depatrment at the end of the semester. Moke has been with MSU Denver since the 1970s and affected the lives of thousands of students; we thank her for her service to the University and wish her the best in retirement. 

The MLK Peace Breakfast Planning Committee and Estevan Ruiz’s design won first place at the College Media Biz and Advertising Managers awards for Best Print Ad Campaign. The Metropolitan’s staff members also won several awards. The Creative Team won second place for Best College Media Design Program, Jade Gallegos won second place for Best Display Ad Black & White, Alex Zezza won second place for Best Self-Promotion Print Ad Campaign, and he also received an honorable mention for Best Designer.

Three MSU Denver students – Michael May (Sustainable Systems Engineering, 2018), Adam Garnhart (Sustainable Systems Engineering, 2018) and Joshua Kenning (Mechanical Engineering Technology, 2018) – were recognized as part of the inaugural class of Colorado Science and Engineering Policy Fellows. Fellows will have the opportunity to contribute to wide-ranging issues while simultaneously learning how science and engineering can inform the policymaking process.

The MSU Denver Aerobatics and Glider Club recently made the cover of Sport Aerobatics magazine. The feature article also includes a contribution from Dagmar Kress, faculty member and team coach, who details the establishment of the aerobatics program at MSU Denver.

MSU Denver was ranked No. 85 for Best Regional Universities – West for 2018 by College Consensus, as well as being ranked four years straight by Sales Education Foundation as one of the Top Sales Education Programs. In addition, MSU Denver was ranked 22nd in the country for Best Bachelor’s in Public Relations by College Choice.