In memory

IN MEMORY

Faculty & Staff

GENE SAXE, Ph.D., former MSU Denver faculty member and trustee, passed away July 12, 2019. Early in his career, he taught high school speech and English classes in Indiana and Colorado. Saxe became an MSU Denver faculty member in 1966 and served the University in various roles, including as president of the Faculty Senate and on the Board of Trustees Student Affairs and Academic Affairs committees. During his tenure, he was the recipient of the University’s Distinguished Service Award (1989-90), the Golden Key Excellence for Teaching Award (2000-01) and the 40-Year Service Award in 2008, in addition to many other honors. Saxe had the pleasure of teaching thousands of students and was the epitome of an educator.

Alumni & Students

The Metropolitan State University of Denver community lost a champion for its students in May.

DONN AGGELER, a Colorado native, MSU Denver alumna (B.S. accounting, ’93) and foundation board member, passed away unexpectedly in her sleep May 29. She was 55.

“She loved investing in (student) success because she believed in their potential,” said Christine Márquez-Hudson, vice president of University Advancement and executive director of the MSU Denver Foundation. “We will miss her bright smile, her can-do attitude and her CPA expertise.”

As a proud Roadrunner, Aggeler had served on the foundation board since 2015, most recently as treasurer. She worked for more than 24 years at Causey, Demgen & Moore P.C., where she focused on audit services, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and private company reporting, mergers and acquisitions.

Aggeler’s final days were filled with joy after the birth in April of granddaughter Coralyn and in anticipation of the birth of a second grandchild. She is survived by her husband, Brian, and their daughters, Erin (David) Lesser and Megan (C.J.) Jurgan.

MSU Denver mourns the passing of influential faculty member Professor Wilton Flemon, Ph.D.

Professor Emeritus Wilton Flemon, Ph.D., who dedicated his career to transforming education, died May 31.

Throughout his 50-year career at Metropolitan State University of Denver, Flemon was consistently an advocate for students, diversity and the University mission. He was recruited in 1969 to launch what is now MSU Denver’s Africana Studies Department, where he served as founding chair from 1969-72. During his time as a Roadrunner, Flemon also taught thousands of students as a professor of chemistry, helped advance online education and was chief staff assistant to the vice president of Academic Affairs from 1976-80. His passion for expanding equity and diversity at all levels drove him to help found the Rachel B. Noel Distinguished Visiting Professorship and the Colorado-Wyoming Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation program for underrepresented populations in STEM fields.

His significant commitments to the University and to advancing justice were recognized with a President’s Distinguished Service Award in 2012 and the MLK Peace Award in 2019.

He was also honored with the establishment of the Wilton Flemon Diversity Postdoctoral Teaching Fellowship program, which aims to increase racial and ethnic minority diversity at the faculty level at MSU Denver.

ALYSON MCCLARAN ISABELLA THALLAS, an MSU Denver finance major, died June 10. She was 21. Her mother describes her as a beautiful soul with a pure heart who lit up a room simply by walking into it. “I know she touched every one of your lives in one way or another, and she was such a beautiful innocent,” Thallas’ mother, Ana Thallas, told friends and family who gathered for a candlelight vigil in Denver on June 11.