CSU 051114

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@ColoradoStateU / coloradoan.com/colostateu

U e t a t S o d a r o l o C @

May 2014, Volume 1, Issue 8

May 2014

Special Advertising Section created by Coloradoan Media Group Custom Publishing

Graduating CSU seniors complete unique journey at 2014 Commencement By the time 13 graduation ceremonies have been completed and tens of thousands of photos have been snapped, more than 4,200 Colorado State University students will have received their diplomas. Each will have completed a unique journey to their goal. Some of the paths have been smooth, others filled with potholes. Some students graduated in four years or less. Others take 30 years or longer to arrive. With the help of professors from every college, we are featuring the stories of nine members of the CSU Class of 2014. All of them faced unique challenges – hurdles that would have stopped most ordinary people in their tracks. They come from all walks of life, from places near and far – even a foreign country. They all have something in common: No challenge was too great for them to overcome in their pursuit of a CSU education. They found their passion, stayed the course and – in many cases – overcame long odds to earn a diploma. There are stories of young women who came from big

cities to study topics usually favored by students from rural areas; a veteran who used CSU’s many militaryfriendly services to earn a degree, land a job and start a family; an Honors Program student in biochemistry who dreams of being a circus performer; and a young woman from inner-city Denver who has learned the complicated nuances of supply chain management to earn a job with Amazon after graduation. You’ll read the story of a man who started college in 1985, flunked out and rediscovered his academic calling some 30 years later; applaud the perseverance of a local woman who ignored a learning disability and a traumatic brain injury to redefine herself; learn how a kid from India ignored cultural pressure and followed his dream of becoming a fashion designer; and smile at the story of a woman who found a way to live with an autoimmune disorder to become a Ram student-athlete and candidate for medical school. These are just a few of the stories that define the Class of 2014. Feel free to marvel right along with us.

Krueger earned his degree through military-friendly programs at CSU BY KORTNY ROLSTON

Scott Krueger has advice for fellow military veterans who want to earn a college degree: consider Colorado State University. The former Navy nuclear technician graduates this month with a degree in mechanical engineering, something he said was made easier by CSU. “It’s very, very veteran friendly,” Krueger said. Krueger began looking at colleges after spending six years in the Navy working on aircraft carriers that generated their own power and desalinated ocean water using nuclear reactors. The Illinois native knew he wanted to earn a degree in mechanical engineering so he could continue working in the nuclear field. He narrowed his choices to CSU, University of Illinois and University of California-Santa Barbara. He visited Fort Collins and loved it. The fact that Colorado State offered him in-state tuition because he was a veteran cemented his decision. It wasn’t until he started taking in the College of Engineering that he realized how well CSU treats veterans. “From the day I walked into the student veteran CSU MOVES UP IN PEACE CORPS RANKINGS CSU once again has demonstrated its strong relationship with the Peace Corps, moving up to 11th in the 2014 national rankings of large schools producing undergraduate Peace Corps volunteers. CSU was 13th in 2012 and 12th last year. Since 1961, 1,577 CSU alumni have served in the Peace Corps, ranking 15th on the all-time list. More than 8,000 Peace Corps volunteers are working in 76 host countries on projects related to agriculture, education, community economic development, environment, health and youth development. The University’s Peace Corps roots date to its earliest days, when CSU researchers Pauline Birky-Kreutzer and Maury Albertson, answering President John F. Kennedy’s famous call to service, in 1961 published one of the original feasibility studies that led to the creation of the organization.

‘A GREAT FACULTY MAKES A GREAT UNIVERSITY’

office (Adult Learner and Veteran Services), everyone has been helpful and supportive,” Krueger said. “That was my first group of friends here.” That support has come in handy. During the second semester of his freshman year, Krueger broke his back while learning to snowboard. He hit a jump and landed wrong. The injury kept him at home for a month. He said the university worked with him and he finished nearly all of his classes that semester. “There was a month where I couldn’t go to class but I was able to get through it because I had the support,” Krueger said. As graduation nears, he finds himself relying on his network again, including two friends who got out of the military about the same time he did and also are graduating with mechanical engineering degrees. He starts a job at a nuclear power plant in Illinois just a few days after he graduates. He and his wife are expecting their first baby in June. “I am graduating, starting a job and having a new baby within the space of a month,” he said.

Recently, two of CSU’s best and brightest faculty members were elected to prestigious academic organizations. Veterinarian Dr. Edward Hoover is CSU’s sixth professor elected to the National Academy of Sciences and University Distinguished Professor Diana Wall was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, becoming the first woman from the University to be included in the prestigious organization of global thinkers. So now the rest of the world knows what the campus has long recognized: CSU is home to an amazing faculty doing life-changing research and teaching. CSU is home to nine national academy members. Barry Beaty, professor of microbiology, immunology, and pathology; Marshall Fixman, professor emeritus of chemistry; Albert Meyers, professor of chemistry (deceased); George Seidel Jr., professor emeritus of biomedical sciences; and A.R. “Ravi” Ravishankara, professor of chemistry and atmospheric science, join Hoover in the National Academy of Science. Bruce Ellingwood, professor of engineering; Larry Roesner, professor emeritus of civil and environmental engineering; and Thomas Vonder Haar, professor of atmospheric science, are members of the National Academy of Engineering.

GATES FOUNDATION FUNDS BREATH TEST FOR DIAGNOSING TUBERCULOSIS Tuberculosis researchers at CSU have landed a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a diagnostic breath test with potential to revolutionize TB testing and to better control the globally devastating infectious disease. A breath test represents a critical advancement over existing diagnostics, which are invasive, slow, and sometimes inaccurate in diagnosing TB. The infectious disease causes an estimated 1.5 million deaths worldwide each year, making it one of the world’s leading causes of death.


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