Since 2012, UCCS has honored Golden Graduates – alumni who graduated 50 years ago – and Silver Graduates – alumni who graduated 25 years ago – during Commencement ceremonies in May and December, respectively.
This year, UCCS will recognize twelve Golden Graduates, each of whom graduated from UCCS in 1976.
Read stories from each of the Golden Grads below.
Jose R. “Bob” Abeyta | B.A., Sociology
During his time at UCCS, Bob was a member of La Gente Chicana Student Club for all four years and acted as the organization’s president for one of those four.
“I gained leadership skills during that time that assisted me when training salespeople in business as a manager. We were a strong organization of mostly non-traditional students. The Black Student Union was very strong also and we worked together on several events and issues.”
Following graduation, Bob and his family moved to Grand Junction, Colorado, for four years. While in Grand Junction, Bob worked for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and then National Write Your Congress. They returned to Colorado Springs where he acted as Director of the Veterans Outreach Program through the American GI Forum before starting his own business, JR Marketing, where he remained for thirty-three years in sales.
“My family consists of my wife, Carmen Abeyta and we have a daughter, Joette, and son, Mark. We are now proud grandparents of four grandsons, great-grandparents of two great-granddaughters and three great-grandsons, plus another great-grandson who will be arriving in August of 2026. My education at UCCS was extremely meaningful as I was one of the first in my family of five siblings to attend college. My brother, Jose Horacio Abeyta, started attending UCCS before I did and convinced me to attend also. We both graduated together in 1976. We built great memories in the classroom, as well as outside the classroom.”
Lawrence Brown | B.S., Marketing
Lawrence enrolled at UCCS and earned his Business Administration degree after serving four years in the United States Air Force medical corps, and became a sales rep for a major pharmaceutical manufacturing company for 18 years after graduation. He went on to found and run an allergy clinic in Fort Collins.
“My senior year at UCCS, I was named Marketing Student of the Year and was the President of the Business Club. While a sales rep, I was promoted to the position of trainer and trained several new sales rep across the Western United States. My responsibilities at the physicians’ office in Fort Collins included developing and start up of the allergy program. I was the manager of this department for 20 years. After COVID, I retired and moved to Oklahoma. I considered my business and personal training at UCCS paramount in these successes.”
Lawrence has been happily married for 57 years and has two sons and six grandchildren. His family have moved through the U.S. and have lived in Fairbanks, Alaska, Colorado Springs and Fort Collins, Colorado and Haileyville, Oklahoma.
Michalina D. DeRosier | B.S., Business Marketing
Along with raising her children, Michalina held leadership positions for several successful political campaigns. She also led Adventures in Attitudes classes, traveled extensively, volunteered at McAllister House, Ronald McDonald house and was privileged to participate in a WW2 veterans honor flight to Washington, D.C.
“Earning my degree at UCCS instilled confidence to face new challenges without fear. I met incredible people and outstanding professors. I enjoyed organizing fundraisers for the College of Business. Curiosity Unlimited exposed me to new ways to experience life, and my life has been a great adventure so far!”
Suanne Dell | B.S., Education
“UCCS provided me the opportunity to get an excellent quality education that I could afford to pay for myself.”
After graduating, Suanne taught Elementary school for nine years in Colorado Springs District 11 before continuing her education at University of Colorado School of Law in Boulder. She graduated in 1988 (with a membership in Law Review and Order of the Coif, and as Vice President of the Class) and practiced litigation in Denver as a partner at Weller Freidrich, and then at a woman-owned law firm, Wells, Anderson & Race, LLC, and then retired from the practice of law in 2019 after 30 years.
“I enjoy spending my time volunteering, socializing with friends, taking classes and traveling.”
Joanne Dell Fisher | B.A., Psychology
Joanne had a dynamic career in retail at May D&F and Foleys across Colorado and in 28 states for their outlet stores, before pivoting to working for nonprofits and volunteering for years.
“I happily married later in life, traveled a lot, and had a great life. Because it was a small school in the 70’s with many veteran students, the focus was on learning. Small class sizes helped. I used my degree in psychology running a large business with many employees.”
Lee Ingalls Noble | B.A., Sociology
“I loved my career serving students. I was blessed with a terrific staff, some great supervisors, faculty and mentors.”
Lee served 31 years in the UCCS Financial Aid/Student Employment Office, with 25 of those years as Director. She now has the pleasure of serving as Advisory Board Chair of the UCCS Karen Possehl Wayfinders Endowment (KPWE).
“I started working in Student Government as an undergraduate, and served one year as Student Body President. I was also a lobbyist for the Colorado Student Coalition. Both experiences were helpful in later work and life.”
William Martinez | B.A., Sociology
William married his wife, Lala Garcia, in 1957, the year after he graduated from high school, and was drafted in 1961. He spent his two years of service on various bases and enrolled at UCCS later on, graduating as part of the first class to have the graduate ceremony at the Broadmoor. The couple have four children, and William is a colon cancer survivor.
He started working at the Air Force Academy as a counselor in the admissions office, which brought the new class of cadets every year, and his role included bringing the international students to the Academy from six to nine students per year. He also coached wrestling at the Boys Club and Corpus Christi Catholic School, then started officiating at the high school level with the goal to officiate the regional and state tournaments. He also volunteered at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Colorado Springs and even sang with the choir.
“Graduating from UCCS had a tremendous impact on my life. I am grateful to have received my masters degree and meeting so many beautiful people. I am still in contact with a few of my graduating class and cherish the memories. Thank you, UCCS alumni and staff.”
Donald C. Moon | B.A., History
Donald started his bachelor’s in 1965 before pausing his education to enter the Army and serve in Vietnam. He returned to school and earned his history degree from UCCS, then worked as an electric field engineer for the city. He changed paths later on to become an actor and mystery writer, drawing on his history degree for these roles and for his work as co-owner of Red Herring Productions, where he also became a living history performer in the character of Theodore Roosevelt.
“UCCS helped me complete what I started ten years before graduation: the ability to research and form proper reports that resulted from the discipline achieved at the university and which translated to success. I learned that a degree, no matter what it is, could be leveraged in other areas.”
Virginia Ramos | B.A., Mathematics
Virginia explored several occupations after graduating, including dressmaker, costumer for International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) and part-time instructor for various grade levels at many schools (including UCCS!). She also returned to UCCS as a student and earned her master’s in applied mathematics.
“My education gave me many options and enhanced my understanding of the things that have caught my imagination. Watching the innovations and advancement of technology has been with both awe and eagerness. It even gave me the opportunity to teach here at my alma mater.”
Timothy G. Saponas | B.A., Chemistry
“I started at UCCS with a Presidents Scholarship. I worked my way through school serving as the sole developer of software for the Admissions and Records Office. In my senior year, I met my future wife, Louise Becker, in a computer science class, which was by far the most significant aspect of my life at UCCS. We married six months after graduation and are currently in our 50th year of marriage.”
Timothy and Louise spent five years in Atlanta after graduation, where he completed a master’s and Ph.D. in computer science at Georgia Tech. He also spent four years as an assistant professor of computer science at Colorado State University before accepting a software engineering position at Intel Corporation in Hillsboro, Oregon. At Intel, he held a variety of management positions including General Manager of the Shanghai R&D Center, Director of Corporate Contributions, and President of the Intel Foundation.
“After retirement, I learned to fly, earning a private pilot certificate with instrument rating. Following the purchase of a Cessna 172, my wife and I flew up and down the west coast. When our youngest son and his wife moved to Fort Worth, Texas, they asked us to follow them and we now reside there.”
Duane S. Thompson | B.A., Distributed Studies
Duane was in the Army before attending UCCS, where he earned the Combat Medic Badge and was awarded a Bronze Star Medal. Following this, he passed the board exams as a Registered Nurse and went on to do clinical work in critical care nursing as an RN and set up/operated hemodialysis system as a Holistic Nurse Practitioner in California. From there, Duane switched to hospital operations management, earned his MBA from University of California in 1986 and transitioned into hospital/healthcare administration. He also obtained his CHE (Certified Hospital Executive) from ACHE (American College of Healthcare Executives) and is a LFACHE (Life Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives).
“I deployed with FEMA on temporary assignments to numerous Presidential declared disaster relief events in the U.S. as well as to the (former) Pacific Trust Territories. I am now retired, and enjoy Amateur (HAM) Radio, competitive shooting, flying drones, and cleaning up after myself (which, of course, I don’t enjoy so much). My time at UCCS gave me the preparation for subsequent life events such as research analytics and my graduate degree studies.”
Kenneth Wood | B.A., Mathematics
Kenneth’s education at UCCS began in 1968 while serving in the Air Force at Ent Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, and continued while he was working Civil Service after his four years in active duty. He went on to earn a master’s degree in 1985 and had a job involving computer support for NORAD in Cheyenne Mountain while also teaching computer science classes at UCCS part time until 1999.
“As a part-time student, my primary focus was on education. The math and computer science classes served me well in providing the computer support for NORAD space and missile defense mission. My wife and I raised a family of two kids, five grandkids and two great-grandkids. Since retiring I have traveled the world, visiting all seven continents and most of the states in the USA.”
About the UCCS Spring 2026 Commencement Ceremony
The UCCS Spring 2026 Commencement ceremonies will celebrate degrees conferred to more than 500 graduates. Over 1,200 will attend the ceremony at the Broadmoor World Arena on May 15, 2026, with family and friends. See the full Commencement program online.