University of Colorado at Boulder, 1970 & 1973
Hometown: Boulder, Colorado
Inducted November 2010
Mr. Glenn Porzak was a Distinguished Military Graduate from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1970 with a Bachelor of Arts. He subsequently obtained a Juris Doctorate from the University of Colorado in 1973. Mr. Porzak’s tenure as an Army ROTC Cadet occurred during the turbulent years of the Vietnam War, 1966 to 1970, wherein picketing by radical campus groups was a common occurrence during Leadership Lab. As a senior Cadet, he was also the Senior Class President and member of the Student Senate. Assigned to serve as the Cadet S5, one of his duties was to debate protestors, many of whom were fellow members of the Student Senate, so that the Cadet Corps had the ability to execute planned training. The Colorado Daily memorialized one of these occasions with pictures of a uniformed Cadet Porzak, surrounded by angry protestors. Upon commissioning as a Second Lieutenant and achieving the rank of First Lieutenant, Mr. Porzak served as a Military Intelligence Officer at Ft. Huachuca, AZ.
Following military service, Mr. Porzak emerged as a renowned Western Water and Natural Resources lawyer. A former partner of Holme Roberts & Owen, Mr. Porzak is now a Managing Partner of Porzak Browning & Bushong LLP, whom the Heritage Center designated as a 1990 University of Colorado Distinguished Alum; the University of Colorado Law School designated as a 2006 Distinguished Alum, and 5280: Denver’s Mile High Magazine designated as a Colorado Super Lawyer. Mr. Porzak is the author of “Recreation Water Rights: The Inside Story;” “Innovative Transfer and Exchange Plans;” and “Tradition, Innovation, and Conflict: Perspectives on Colorado Water Law.” He is a former member of the Center of the American West Board of Advisors.
Mr. Porzak contributes significantly to the community as both a leader and volunteer, formerly serving as a member of the University of Colorado at Boulder Museum Advisory Board; the Board of Advisors of the University of Colorado Natural Resources Law Center; and the 2006 University of Colorado Presidential Search Committee. In addition, he was a past President and Board Chair of the American Alpine Club, Colorado Mountain Club, and Colorado Outward Bound; and a former Chairman of the Board of the University of Colorado Foundation.
In addition to professional achievement, Mr. Porzak distinguished himself as one of the first persons to have climbed the “Seven Summits,” the highest peak on each of the world’s seven continents, and carried the University of Colorado flag to the summit of Mt. Everest. He led seven Himalayan expeditions that reached the summit of five, 8,000 meter peaks, climbed the highest peak in Afghanistan, and made first ascents in the Hindu Kush of Pakistan. Mr. Porzak personally reached the summit of four, 8,000 meter peaks, including Shisha Pangma (1983), Makalu (1987), Mt. Everest (1990), and Cho Oyu (2004); he was the first person to climb the 100 highest peaks in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Mr. Glenn Porzak is married to the former Judy McGinnis of Houston, Texas with whom he has two children.