Notes from the Class of 1968

Senior consultant Jacqueline “Beau” Sweney Rezendes (Psych’68, MEdu’69, PhD’76) is a board member of the Grillo Health Information Center in Boulder. She has experience in corporate, academic and public sector work and was a founding member and director of education and training for the National Hospice Organization. Beau lives in Boulder.

Nashville Music Guide was founded by Dan Wunsch (Math’68) in 1995. Each month, the magazine sponsors an acoustic performance night to give exposure to up-and-coming singer/songwriters. In addition to live music events,Nashville Music Guide appears as a print magazine, online at www.nashvillemusicguide.com and via its own unique Internet station, NMG radio, which can be heard  at nmgradio.com. Dan lives in Nashville, Tenn.

Two major milestones were passed by Pete Reynolds (MMechEngr’68): he completed more than 13,000 hours of flying time and more than 10,000 hours of flight testing. Upon leaving CU, he joined the U.S. Air Force, doing a combat tour before joining Learjet in 1973 where he completed the first flights and test programs on six new aircraft. He retired in 2003 and formed a flight test consulting company. Pete has won several aviation awards and lives in Goddard, Kan.

Last spring Larry Ambrose (Mktg’68) was elected president of Denver’s Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation (INC). INC’s mission is to advocate for Denver citizens by bringing together, informing and empowering neighborhood organizations to actively engage in addressing city issues. He and his wife founded the One Sky One World International Kite Fly for Peace, which inspires people from all around the world to fly kites for peace and the environment the second Sunday of October.

Max Wycisk (MEngl’68, PhD’72) has been with Colorado Public Radio’s flagship station KCFS since 1974. He has worked as an announcer, program director and, since 1978, president. Max has served on the board of National Public Radio and of the Station Resource Group. In 1996 Max received the William H. Kling Award for Innovation and Entrepreneurship from Public Radio International. He lives in Littleton, Colo.

In December, President Obama named James Rizzuto (Fin) a federal representative of the Arkansas River Compact Administration. James has served as president of Otero Junior College, in La Junta, Colo., since 2001. He served in the Colorado Senate from 1983 to 1998 and was a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He lives in Swink, Colo.

After 36 years as a geography teacher at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio, David Hickcox (Geog) retired. While there, he founded and chaired the environmental studies department and wrote several books. He writes that his CU geography professors had a life-changing and lasting impact on his personal and professional life. He also was a ROTC graduate and spent three years on active duty overseas, including a tour in Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division. He was awarded a Bronze Star and other decorations.

Robert Keller (Soc) retired from Colorado State University-Pueblo as professor emeritus of sociology after 30 years of service at the graduate and undergraduate levels. Robert co-authored the textbook Prison Crisis. He also has taught at the University of Wisconsin and Southern Missouri State University. He and wife Sally have one son, Patrick, who recently completed a doctorate at the University of New Mexico. Robert and Sally live in a cabin in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in Pueblo West, Colo.

After CU, Ron Scott (Mktg) spent 14 years in the private sector, including a stint as general manager of Hotel Boulderado. He returned to CU in the ’80s and served as the Buff Club’s development director and as assistant athletic director, helping to raise $14 million for the Dal Ward Athletic Center. Ron received the Alumni Association’s 2017 Alumni Recognition Award over Homecoming Weekend. The award recognizes alumni who connect, contribute and celebrate their CU pride through their extraordinary service to the university.

Colorado Springs awarded John Conway (Zool; PhDBio’75) a $30,000 grant to update and replicate part of his CU Boulder Ph.D. thesis, completed under Robert Gregg, on the biology of the honey ant, Myrmecocystus mexicanus. John will compare the location and density of ant nests in the Garden of the Gods from June to September 2018 with what he found in 1975 to see if the abundance of this ant species has increased or decreased and how to best manage the park for this unusual ant in the future. John retired from the University of Scranton in August 2016 and plans to return to Colorado and live in Durango.  

At 82 years old, Bruce Bartleson (PhDGeol) is still chasing “wild” ice. Bruce was featured on Colorado Public Radio in January for his adventures as a “hardcore ice skater” trekking into the wilderness to find untouched ice in some of the coldest parts of Colorado. He is an emeritus professor of geology at Western State Colorado University in Gunnison, where he taught for 33 years. Read more about Bruce. 

After graduating from CU, William “Bill” Wardwell (Econ’68) was a pilot in the U.S. Air Force for 23 years, serving in the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm. He writes that he flew the Lockheed C-141 Starlifter jet all over the world from the Travis Air Force Base in California. One mission involved flying scientists and others to the U.S. McMurdo Research Station in Antarctica. He retired in 1991 as a lieutenant colonel. He and wife Kathleen Perrin Wardwell (Engl’68) recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. They live in San Mateo, Calif. 

Sandra Nance (Jour) received the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award by Marquis Who’s Who, a national publisher of biographical profiles. Sandra began her career as a reporter for United Press International in Cheyenne, Wy., before working as a statehouse correspondent for the Casper Star-Tribune. She later taught journalism and media courses at Denver’s Regis University and Metropolitan State College. During her career, she was an active member of the Colorado Press Women, an affiliate of the National Federation of Press Women, and a longtime member of the Society of Professional Journalists. She lives in Wheat Ridge, Colo.

This June, Sandy Michel Nance (Jour) of Wheat Ridge, Colorado, was awarded the 2020 Communicator of Achievement award from the National Federation of Press Women for her career in journalism and public relations. After graduating from CU, Sandy began as one of few women reporters working for United Press International, and spent three years at the Star-Tribune in Casper, Wyoming, where she was part of a team nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. She then worked in public relations, and co-founded an employee resource group dedicated to advancing women. Her last position before retiring in 2011 was as managing editor for the American Water Works Association in Denver. Currently, she is president of Colorado Press Women. 

At the 41st annual Colorado Law alumni awards banquet on March 10, Gail H. Klapper (Law’68) will be presented with the William Lee Knous Award. This award is given to an individual who has shown dedication and continues to provide service to Colorado Law. Gail worked as a White House fellow under the administration of former President Gerald Fordand was later a member of the Colorado governor’s cabinet. Gail resides in Elbert, Colorado, and has four daughters and seven grandchildren.

When Frank Webb (PolSci’68) was drafted to the Vietnam War in 1968, he was unable to attend his commencement ceremony. More than 50 years later, he was recognized during the Spring 2022 commencement, receiving a standing ovation from the crowd of more than 25,000 in Folsom Field. During the war, Frank worked as editor of a military newspaper in Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam. Once he left the army, Frank worked in System Engineering at GTE and later AT&T Mobility. “Many brilliant people and great instructors at CU gave profound meaning to my experience of a college education,” said Webb. “And I was always deeply involved in the fine thinking — and debate — of my peers. I never missed a single CU football home game at Folsom Stadium,” he said. He lives near Snohomish, Washington.

Zephyros in My Garden, an original clarinet choir composition by John Gibson (MusEdu’68; MMus’69) had its premiere performance in July at the International ClarinetFest in Reno, Nevada. With more than 950 small ensemble arrangements and compositions to his credit, John is the composer and arranger in residence for the Zephyr Clarinet Choir at Portland State University. He lives in Vancouver, Washington, with his wife, Barbara Gibson (MusEd’70).