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It was eye-opening, and the first situation in my life where I experienced being very different from everyone else. It instilled in me the idea that none of us has 'the right way' of doing things, and we shouldn't judge those who are different as better, worse or wrong.
–Dorothy Horrell on her experience in Taiwan [2]
After high school graduation in 1969, [2] she earned all of her academic degrees – a Bachelor's of Science in home economics and a Master of Education and PhD in education administration – from Colorado State University. [1]
In 1973, she was one of two students from the state selected to participate in a six-month International Farm Youth Exchange program in Taiwan arranged by 4-H. [2] [3] She left a week after earning her undergraduate degree. The different families who hosted her across Taiwan generally spoke some English. Her visit coincided with a typhoon, and she witnessed the resiliency and coping mechanisms of people in that situation. She later credited the experience for developing her views on leadership and community. [2]
Horrell began her career as a high school teacher in Adams County, Colorado. She then assumed administrative positions with the State Board for Community Colleges and Occupational Education, which governs the Colorado Community College System. She was the first woman director of the Occupational Educational division, and the inaugural vice president of Educational Services. [1]
Horrell served as the first woman president of Red Rocks Community College, from 1989 to 1998. [4] [5] She then became the first woman president of the Colorado Community College System in 1998. [1] [4] However, she unexpectedly resigned from the latter post in 2000, stating that she wished to spend more time with her family. [6] The following year, she accepted the position of president and CEO of the Bonfils–Stanton Foundation, serving in this capacity from 2001 to 2013. [4] During her tenure, she founded the Livingston Fellowship Program and saw the arts and leadership foundation named Colorado's Foundation of the Year in 2007. [1]
In 2009, Governor John Hickenlooper appointed Horrell to the Colorado State University Board of Governors. [4] She was reappointed by the governor in 2012. [7] She served as chairman of the board from 2013 to 2015. [4]
After a brief retirement, Horrell re-entered academia in 2016 to become Chancellor of University of Colorado Denver. [1] She retired from this post in June 2020. [8]
Horrell has been an active board member of many community organizations. These include: the First National Bank Colorado, the Young Americans Bank, the West Chamber of Commerce Serving Jefferson County, the Jefferson Economic Council, and the Exempla Healthcare System. She was a founding member of the board of Arrupe Jesuit High School (2003-2011) and Clyfford Still Museum (2005-2013), chair of the Board of the Colorado Association of Funders (2009), and co-chair of the Commission on the Reform of Denver's High Schools (2004–05). She has also been a member of the Governor's P-20 Education Council (2007-2011) and the Denver Commission to End Homelessness (2004-2012). In 2017 she joined the board of directors of the Coalition of Urban Serving Universities. [9]
The Colorado Women's Chamber of Commerce named Horrell one of the Top 25 Most Powerful Women and bestowed on her its ATHENA Award in 2016. [1] [10] She has been inducted into the Colorado 4-H Hall of Fame and, in 2018, into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame. [1] [11]
She and her husband Ted Horrell have one daughter. [1] They reside in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. [12]
John Wright Hickenlooper, Jr. is an American politician, geologist, and businessman serving as the junior United States senator from Colorado since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 42nd governor of Colorado from 2011 to 2019 and as the 43rd mayor of Denver from 2003 to 2011.
Rachel Bassette Noel was an American educator, politician and civil rights leader in Denver, Colorado. She is known for the "Noel Resolution", a 1968 plan to integrate the Denver city school district, and her work to implement that plan, as well as other work on civil rights. When elected to the Denver Public Schools Board of Education in 1965, Noel was the first African-American woman elected to public office in Colorado. In 1996, Noel was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame.
Kristina M. Johnson is an American professorial electrical engineer, business executive and academic administrator. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering.
Elizabeth Morley Cowles Gale Ballantine, known as Morley Cowles Ballantine, was an American newspaper publisher, editor, philanthropist, and women's rights activist. Scion of an Iowan newspaper publishing family, she and her second husband, Arthur A. Ballantine, purchased two Durango, Colorado newspapers in 1952, which they merged into The Durango Herald by 1960. The couple also started the Ballantine Family Fund, which supported arts and education in Southwest Colorado. After her husband's death in 1975, Ballantine took over the chairmanship of the family-owned publishing company, continuing to produce a weekly column and editorials. She received many journalism awards and several honorary degrees. She was inducted into the Colorado Business Hall of Fame in 2002 and was posthumously inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2014.
Heidi Ganahl is an American businesswoman, entrepreneur, author, and formerly an elected member of the University of Colorado Board of Regents. She is the founder and former CEO of Camp Bow Wow, an international pet care franchise. In November 2016, she was elected Regent of the University of Colorado. As of 2024, she is the most recent Republican to hold statewide office in Colorado.
Joseph A. Garcia is an American lawyer and politician. He served as the 48th Lieutenant Governor of Colorado from January 2011 to May 2016. He is currently the chancellor of the Colorado Community College System.
The Colorado Women's Hall of Fame is a non-profit, volunteer organization that recognizes women who have contributed to the history of the U.S. state of Colorado. As of 2024, 205 women have been inducted.
Canvas Stadium, officially Sonny Lubick Field at Canvas Stadium, is an outdoor college football stadium in the western United States, located on the campus of Colorado State University (CSU) in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Donna Lynne is the chief executive officer of Denver Health. She was the senior vice president and chief operating officer of Columbia University Irving Medical Center before joining Denver Health in September 2022. Lynne is a member of the Democratic Party who served as the 49th Lieutenant Governor of Colorado, from 2016 to 2019. She also served in a dual capacity as the chief operating officer of the State of Colorado. She was appointed to the position by Colorado governor John Hickenlooper on March 23, 2016, and was confirmed by the Colorado House of Representatives and the state Senate on May 4, 2016. Lynne replaced the outgoing lieutenant governor, Joseph A. Garcia. Prior to her appointment, Lynne was an executive with Kaiser Permanente.
A general election was held in the U.S. state of Colorado on November 6, 2018. All of Colorado's executive offices and all seven of its seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election. Democrats swept the statewide offices up for election, leaving the at-large seat on the University of Colorado Board of Regents and the Class 2 U.S. Senate seat as the last statewide offices held by Republicans.
Helen Gilmer Bonfils was an American heiress, actress, theatrical producer, newspaper executive, and philanthropist. She acted in local theatre in Denver, Colorado, and on Broadway, and also co-produced plays in Denver, New York City, and London. She succeeded her father, Frederick Gilmer Bonfils, as manager of The Denver Post in 1933, and eventually became president of the company. Lacking heirs, she invested her fortune into providing for the city of Denver and the state of Colorado, supporting the Belle Bonfils Blood Bank, the Bonfils Memorial Theatre, the University of Denver, the Denver Zoo, the Dumb Friends League, churches, and synagogues. Her estate endowed the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. She was posthumously inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1985 and the Colorado Performing Arts Hall of Fame in 1999.
Josie Ward Heath is an American politician, community activist and educator who currently serves as a member of the Colorado State Land Board. She studied at East Oregon State College and graduated in 1959 with a degree in education, followed by a Master of Science in 1960 from the University of Wisconsin. She married Rollie Heath, and they lived in West Germany for 4 years while her husband worked for the military. Upon return to the U.S. the family moved to Boulder, where Josie began her involvement in community organizations and politics.
Wanda L. James is the first African American woman to own a marijuana dispensary in the United States.
Mary Madeline "May" Bonfils Stanton was an American heiress and philanthropist. She and her younger sister, Helen Bonfils, succeeded their father, Frederick Gilmer Bonfils, as principal owners of The Denver Post. However, May's elopement at age 21 with a non-Catholic salesman had forged a rift in her relationship with her parents and sister that worsened when Helen inherited the majority of their parents' estates. Following a three-year legal battle over the inheritance, the sisters cut off all communication with each other. May married twice but did not have children. Living a reclusive life, she invested her fortune into building and furnishing her 750-acre (300 ha) estate in Lakewood, Colorado – which included a mansion that was an exact replica of Marie Antoinette's Petit Trianon château in Versailles – and into many philanthropic endeavors in the state of Colorado. The Bonfils–Stanton Foundation, established by her second husband after her death in 1962, continues to support the arts in Colorado. She was posthumously inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1985.
Merle Catherine Chambers is an American lawyer, business executive, and philanthropist. She founded and served as CEO of Axem Resources, a private oil and gas exploration and production company, from 1980 to 1997, and since 1997 is the president and CEO of Leith Ventures, a private investment firm. She chairs the Merle Chambers Fund, which supports equity, democracy and women's economic security. She is also an active political contributor in Colorado, focusing on Democratic and women candidates. The recipient of numerous awards and honors, she was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2004, the Rocky Mountain Oil & Gas Hall of Fame in 2009, and the Colorado Business Hall of Fame in 2010.
Dorothy Louise Vennard Lamm is an American feminist, women's rights activist, educator, author, and speaker. She was First Lady of Colorado during her husband Richard Lamm's three terms as Governor of Colorado (1975–1987), and unsuccessfully ran for the United States Senate as the Colorado Democratic candidate in 1998. She wrote a weekly column for The Denver Post from 1979 to 1996 and later published three books. She was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1985.
Arlene Hirschfeld is an American community activist. Since the 1980s, she has served on the board of trustees of numerous Denver and Colorado state organizations, working in advisory, leadership, and fundraising capacities. The recipient of numerous awards, she was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2006.
Carol Callan is an American basketball executive. She is the first female President of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Americas and director of the United States women's national basketball team. Under her guidance, she has helped lead the United States to six consecutive Olympic gold medals from 1996 until 2012 and four World Championships. In 2020, Callan was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor. Callan is a current member of the FIBA Central Board, FIBA's highest executive body.
Anna Jo Garcia Haynes is a former educator in Colorado who specialized in early childhood education. She was instrumental in early childhood education development in Colorado, where she founded the Mile High Montessori Early Learning Centers in Denver, founded the Mile High Montessori Early Learning Centers, co-founded Colorado Children's Campaign, and has been recognized by many organizations in Colorado including the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame.
Susanne E. Jalbert is an activist for economic development, women's rights, and gender equity. Her work includes being a global leader, senior advisor, and mentor, including her work with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) around the world. She received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Colorado State University in 2011 and was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2022.