Two individuals with outstanding ties to Colorado and the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs will be honored as part of the 33rd UCCS Commencement Ceremonies.<\/p>\n
The individuals will be recognized by the CU Board of Regents during formal commencement ceremonies scheduled for 9:30 a.m. (undergraduate) and 1:30 p.m. (graduate) Friday at the Colorado Springs World Arena. Additionally, they are scheduled to be honored Thursday night at a dinner on the UCCS campus.<\/p>\n
Approximately 1,700 December and May graduates are eligible to attend annual commencement exercises, the largest in UCCS history. More than 1,000 are expected to participate with friends and family filling the World Arena.<\/p>\n
Those who will be honored are Howell M. Estes III, Colorado Springs, Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, and David Palenchar, Distinguished Service Award.<\/p>\n
The award winners and a brief summary of their contributions follow.<\/p>\n
David Palenchar, Distinguished Service Award.<\/p>\n
David Palenchar, senior vice president of operations and trustee, El Pomar Foundation, is also president of the Colorado Springs World Arena and Pikes Peak Center, chair of the board for the Colorado Springs Sports Corporation, and vice president of the Air Force Academy Foundation. He is a member of the Wells Fargo Bank community board, and the Central City Opera, Pikes Peak Hospice and Palliative Care, and Colorado Springs Economic Development boards of directors. <\/p>\n
A U.S. Air Force Academy graduate, Palenchar is known for his strong leadership skills and dedication to the success of the many organizations with which he is involved. <\/p>\n
At El Pomar Foundation, Palenchar directs the foundation\u2019s grant-making and community stewardship programs. In his volunteer efforts, he\u2019s been heavily involved with developing youth sports events and was instrumental in leading Colorado Springs selection as a USOC Community Partner City, working for the development and training of elite Olympic and Paralympic athletes. His leadership at the World Arena assured its longevity and success, building one of the most successful venues of its size in the nation. <\/p>\n
General Howell Estes III, Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters.<\/p>\n
As a retired four-star general and Vietnam veteran, Howell Estes led a distinguished 33-year career in the United States Air Force, retiring in 1998. <\/p>\n
Estes lead a review of tenure at the University of Colorado and serves on the National Board of Advisers for the National Institute of Science, Space and Security Centers at UCCS. In that role, Estes helped negotiate an agreement between UCCS and Air Force Space Command to develop future generations of space professionals.<\/p>\n
A graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy,\tbegan his Air Force career in 1965. He served as commander in chief of North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Space Command and commander of Air Force Space Command headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base. In this position, he was responsible for the air sovereignty of the United States and Canada along with providing tactical warning and attack assessment. Estes also directed the unified command responsible for directing space control and support operations including theater missile defense.<\/p>\n
He continues to serve as a consultant in the aerospace industry and as a member of corporate boards of directors. His experience and distinguished perspective are instrumental in promoting space capabilities and associated technologies for the betterment of mankind. <\/p>\n
UCCS, located on Austin Bluffs Parkway in northeast Colorado Springs, is the fastest growing university in Colorado and one of the fastest growing universities in the nation. The university offers 29 bachelor\u2019s degrees, 18 master\u2019s and four doctoral degrees. The campus enrolls about 7,600 students annually. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Two individuals with outstanding ties to Colorado and the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs will be honored as part of the 33rd UCCS Commencement Ceremonies. The individuals will be recognized by the CU Board (Full Press Release)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pressreleases"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}