Colorado State University’s Warner College of Natural Resources recently announced the establishment of an endowment to create the Charles C. Gates Boone and Crockett Chair for Wildlife Conservation, funded by an initial $3 million gift from the Boone and Crockett Club whose members promote land and wildlife conservation.

The chair will enhance the opportunities for research in the Warner College of Natural Resources’ Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology and encourage the creation of collaborations to solve state, national and international issues facing wildlife populations.

CSU will raise private support to match the $3 million gift from Boone and Crocket to endow the chair completely.

Colorado State’s Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology is one of the oldest and most prestigious in the country and has consistently ranked as one of the top programs in terms of scholarly productivity.

“The Boone and Crockett Chair is a unique opportunity to help solve a number of pressing wildlife issues such as chronic wasting disease and impacts of oil and gas development that are affecting Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region,” said Ken Wilson, head of the Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology.  

The Charles C. Gates Boone and Crockett Chair will create a tenure-track faculty position that will allow the department to continue and expand its research into wildlife and big game conservation.

The department has a long and distinguished history in education and research of wildlife populations and in cooperation with federal and state agencies such as the Colorado Division of Wildlife. Such research has provided shared learning and training of future wildlife professionals to ensure the management and conservation of wildlife.

The Boone and Crockett Club is a non-profit organization founded in 1887 by Theodore Roosevelt. The organization is a coalition of conservationists and sportsmen who provide the leadership needed to address the issues that affect hunting, wildlife and wild habitat.

The Colorado State University Foundation permanently invests funds that are given to establish endowed chairs, and the interest generated is used to support the chair. The principal is never used, so endowments allow continuous funding to supplement the chairholder’s salary, graduate student work, and research and activities tied to the chairholder’s program.

Former assistant state engineer, longtime faculty member and Colorado State University alumnus Bob Longenbaugh and his wife Eulalia have named Colorado State’s College of Engineering the beneficiary of a $1 million estate gift.

Planned gift supports engineering students

The planned gift will supplement the Longenbaugh Endowed Scholarship in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The scholarship supports undergraduate civil and environmental engineering students who have an interest in water resources and who demonstrate significant financial need.

“Bob Longenbaugh has always been generous to Colorado State University,” said Sandra Woods, dean of the College of Engineering. “We will always be grateful for his support, advocacy for and dedication to the university. This gift will enable the civil engineering department to attract qualified students and enables our mission to engineer global solutions.”

Longtime Colorado State connections

Bob Longenbaugh, a two-time alumnus of the university’s agricultural engineering program, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1957 and master’s degree in 1962. His parents, the late Harry and Frances Longenbaugh, graduated from Colorado State University, then Colorado A&M, in 1927.

Bob Longenbaugh spent 19 years on the civil engineering faculty at CSU before being named assistant state engineer, a position he held for 11 years before retiring.

“The Longenbaugh gift will transform the lives of students through scholarship support, additional funding for water resource research and state-of-the art equipment, In addition, the gift will allow us to renovate and update some of our water resource laboratories,” said Luis Garcia, chair of the civil and environmental engineering department.

Groundwater research legacy

Longenbaugh’s groundwater research is a principal component of the Groundwater Data Collection in the CSU Water Resources Archive in the Morgan Library, which is a joint effort of the University Libraries and the Colorado Water Resources Research Institute. Longenbaugh conducted research across the state of Colorado, concentrating mainly on the eastern Plains and the South Platte Valley.

The Longenbaughs live in Colorado. Bob Longenbaugh continues to volunteer and organize groundwater education programs for Colorado residents, and he visits campus regularly to help maintain CSU’s strong water program.

 

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Contact: Emily Wilmsen
Email: Emily.Wilmsen@colostate.edu
Phone Number: (970) 491-2336

Colorado State University has announced a $3.1 million gift from the Monfort Family Foundation to extend its renowned Monfort Excellence Fund. The fund, which began in 1999 and will continue until 2014, provides money for Monfort Scholars, Monfort Professors, Monfort Professors-in-Residence and the Monfort Lecture Series.

The Monfort Excellence Fund has had a tremendous impact on Colorado State University students, faculty and the Northern Colorado community through its scholarships for exceptional students, its support of outstanding faculty and its public lectures delivered by international leaders.

Extraordinary legacy

“Members of the Monfort family have built an extraordinary legacy in Colorado through their business successes and through their decades of service to the state and its people,” said President Larry Edward Penley. “They have been strong advocates for higher education, and their pride in Colorado State University is reflected in their longstanding support of the Morgan Library, the University Center for the Arts, the prestigious Monfort Scholarships and many other initiatives. This generous gift to continue the Monfort Excellence Fund is the latest testament to their belief in the importance of education - and their willingness to invest in future generations of Colorado leaders and professionals. We are grateful to the entire Monfort family for their continued support.”

“The Monfort Family has been supporting Colorado State University students for a number of years,” said Dick Monfort, trustee and treasurer of the Monfort Family Foundation. “We want to support bright kids who would not have been able to take advantage of a college education without these scholarships. It’s all about giving kids an education.

“The rest of the Monfort Excellence Fund, the Monfort Professors, Monfort Professors-in-Residence and the Monfort Lecture Series broadens and deepens their educational experience by providing the best professors, leaders in industry and national and international figures to speak on world events.”

Commitment to improving quality of life for many Coloradans

Joyce Berry, vice president for Advancement and Strategic Initiatives at Colorado State, said the gift demonstrates the Monforts’ commitment to improving the quality of life for many Coloradans. “The Monfort Family Foundation and members of the Monfort family have again shown their remarkable dedication to Colorado State University and the entire Northern Colorado community with this very special gift,” Berry said. “The increase in scholarship gifts, in particular, demonstrates the Monforts’ commitment to Colorado students and their academic and lifelong successes.”

Monfort Scholars

The Monfort Scholars program, established by the late Kenny Monfort and his wife, Myra, in 1999, was created to offer annual full scholarships to Colorado’s top students. Monfort Scholars are some of Colorado State’s pre-eminent scholarship recipients, and 20 students per year benefit from these prestigious scholarships and awards. Scholarship graduates have put their skills to work and are counted among leaders in the local, national and global communities. Scholarship recipients receive full tuition and fees, a room-and-board stipend and a book allowance for four years. Selection of scholars is based on superior scholastic ability, leadership, service to community and school and outstanding character.

Monfort Professors

The gift also provides funding to the Monfort Professors program, one of the university’s top honors, established through an original gift from the Monfort Family Foundation in 2002 to help recruit and retain top-quality faculty. Selection of the Monfort Professors comes from an in-depth selection process that includes nominations from all eight colleges at Colorado State. Monfort Professors include:

- Randy Bartels, Department of Electrical Engineering;

- David Thompson, Department of Atmospheric Science;

- N. LeRoy Poff, Department of Biology;

- Tomislav Rovis, Department of Chemistry;

- Karolin Luger, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology;

- Ranil Wickramasinghe, Department of Chemical Engineering;

- John Belisle, Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology;

- Kathleen Pickering, Department of Anthropology;

- A. Scott Denning, Department of Atmospheric Science; and

- Yian Shi, Department of Chemistry.

Monfort-Professor-in-Residence

The Monfort-Professor-in-Residence program brings accomplished leaders from business, government and the arts to campus to interact with students and enrich their learning experiences. Some of the leaders who have visited the Colorado State campus as part of the program include:

- Barbara Barrett, business and aviation attorney, owner and president of Triple Creek Guest Ranch, and member of several corporate and public policy boards;

- Sylvia Earle, marine biologist and explorer-in-residence at the National Geographic Society; Carl Williams, civil rights attorney;

- Robert Fornaro, president, AirTran Airways; and

- Kent Rominger, former NASA space shuttle commander and vice president of Advanced Programs, ATK Launch Systems.

Monfort Lecture Series

The gift also will provide funding for the Monfort Lecture Series for three years. The series provides students, faculty and community members the opportunity to learn from some of the world’s most powerful, engaging and influential leaders. Previous speakers brought to Colorado State by the Monfort Lecture Series include:

- United Nations Messenger of Peace, Jane Goodall;

- Ernesto Zedillo, president of Mexico from 1994 to 2000;

- Mikhail Gorbachev, former Soviet leader;

- Madeleine Albright, first female United States secretary of state;

- Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu; and

- Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf.

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Learn more at http://monfort.colostate.edu.

 

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Contact: Jennifer Dimas
Email: Jennifer.Dimas@colostate.edu
Phone Number: (970) 491-1543