Emily Chan

Emily joined CC’s Psychology Department in 2004 and now serves as Dean of the Faculty. She has taught courses in Asian and Asian American studies, social psychology, prejudice and stereotyping, and research design. Professor Chan has instructed, advised, mentored, and researched with countless students, many of whom still rely on her guidance and friendship as alumni. From 2014–2018, she served as associate dean of academic programs and strategic initiatives. In that role, she oversaw strategy, operations, and implementation of international study, field study, summer session, and ADEI initiatives for students and faculty. She also worked collaboratively with the college community to shape and implement the pre-college summer program, student grants program, mentored student research program, study abroad enrollment and financial aid management, and the evolution of a new faculty multi-dimensional mentoring program and chair leadership program. She transformed CC’s Bridge Scholars, a program for academic success and holistic thriving for BIPOC and first-generation students. Under her leadership as director, the Bridge Scholars program received a Models of Excellence Award from University Business. Professor Chan also previously served as director of the Race, Ethnicity & Migration Studies program. We honor Professor Chan for her tireless and ongoing commitment to the welfare of CC students and faculty through her teaching, mentorship, and leadership on ADEI initiatives.

Brian Young (In Memoriam)

Brian served as CC’s Vice President for Information Technology & Chief Technology Officer from 2013 until his death in 2021. During this time, he led the college’s COVID-19 response including serving as a liaison to El Paso County Public Health, in addition to serving as interim vice president for Advancement.

CC Board of Trustees Chair Jeff Keller ’91, P’23 said, “Brian was a strong and compassionate leader who dedicated himself to students, staff, faculty, and the success of Colorado College. He was devoted to human-centered problem solving, going above and beyond while always caring for those around him. He set an amazing example for us all.” In 2021, Brian and other members of CC’s COVID-19 leadership team received the Glenn Brooks Award for Courage & Innovation. A new President’s Leadership Award, the Brian Young Community Service Award, was introduced in 2022. It recognizes campus community members who “demonstrate a continued pattern of voluntary service to the college exceeding their job duties,” as Brian did.

Magdalena "Maggie" Santos '86

The 2021 Riley Award recipient is Magdalena “Maggie” Santos ’86, director of Campus Safety and Emergency Management at the college since 2015. She earned a B.A. in Spanish Education at CC, graduated from the Colorado Springs Police Department Training Academy, completed credits for a M.A. in education at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, and furthered her education through the Center for Creative Leadership and the Rocky Mountain Command College.

Before becoming director of Campus Safety, she served the Colorado Springs Police Department for nearly 25 years following a five-year teaching career in Falcon School District. Using the motto “professional, ethical, responsive, and kind,” she has worked in concert with the Colorado Springs police and fire departments to improve relationships, communications, and response for students, neighbors, and community partners — a blended model that has received national recognition for the college. Santos also played an active role in COVID response efforts on campus and helped coordinate donations to Penrose Hospital. She believes that policing is not above the community; rather, it is from the community, and she has exemplified that belief through her work.

Susan Grace

Associate chair, artist-in-residence, and senior lecturer in music Susan Grace is the recipient of the Gresham Riley Award. A Grammy-nominated pianist and Steinway Artist, Grace has performed solo and chamber recitals, and has appeared as soloist with orchestras in the United States, Europe, the former Soviet Union, Korea, India, and China. She has also performed in numerous festivals around the world. Grace is a member of Quattro Mani, an internationally acclaimed two-piano ensemble with New York pianist Steven Beck.

Grace has recorded for Bridge Records, the Belgium National Radio, WFMT in Chicago, the Society of Composers, Wilson Audio, Klavier International, and Klavier Music Productions. Her recording on the Bridge label of Stefan Wolpe's violin and piano music was listed in the London Sunday Times as one of the top 10 contemporary recordings of 2015 and was also included on the Fanfare "Critics Want List 2016." Bridge Records recently released four new CDs by Quattro Mani featuring American and European composers, all to critical acclaim both nationally and internationally.

She was also awarded the Christine S. Johnson Professorship of Music from 2014-16. In June 2014, Mayor Steve Bach and the city of Colorado Springs presented Grace with the Spirit of the Springs award for her work as music director with the Colorado College Summer Music Festival, now in its 36th season.

Victor Nelson-Cisneros

Victor Nelson-Cisneros, retired associate dean of Colorado College, is the recipient of the Gresham Riley Award. Nelson-Cisneros joined Colorado College in 1981 to serve as the assistant dean of the college. Known for his candid, compassionate, and direct style, Nelson-Cisneros arrived at CC following graduate study in history at both the University of Texas and the University of California. He also spent time on the board of the National Rural Center, working on a government-funded grant to explore job growth and equal employment in the non-metro area of the Sun Belt.

During his 31 years of service, he was instrumental in developing inclusion and visibility across the college, and establishing the Riley Scholars Program, which brought over 65 minority faculty scholars to campus. He also played an integral role in founding the Associated Colleges of the Midwest Minority Concerns Committee as well as the ACM Minority Scholars Program itself.

His role at the college primarily focused on faculty development and student experience, with particular emphasis on inclusion, representation, and opportunity expansion. CC's renowned and celebrated Venture Grants Program grew under his leadership, and he initiated mentoring options for non-tenured faculty, as well as serving as an interim dean of the college for the 2004-05 academic year.

John Simons

John is a recipient of the Gresham Riley Award. He joined the Department of English at Colorado College in 1971, where he taught modern American literature and film studies. In the 1980s, he launched a popular course on James Joyce’s “Ulysses.” Simultaneously, he began teaching more courses on film, focusing on genre courses in Westerns and American crime movies.

He served on several noteworthy selection committees at the college, including the selection committee for the hiring of President Jill Tiefenthaler P’21, P’24, the Edith Kinney Gaylord Cornerstone Arts Center design and architectural selection committee, and the design/architect selection committee for the Charles L. Tutt Library. He wrote the original proposal for CC’s film and media studies program.

He co-authored “Peckinpah’s Tragic Westerns: A Critical Study” (2011) with Robert Merrill and the two are collaborating on “Marlowe’s Cat: Robert Altman and the Making of ‘The Long Goodbye’” (2020). Simons has written nearly 20 essays on literature and film and has presented papers at numerous literary and film conferences.

Brenda Soto

Brenda Soto P’19 P'28 is a recipient of the Gresham Riley Award. She has been a CC employee for 33 years and has served in the following areas: Finance and Administration, Academic Departments and Programs, Student Life, and Advancement. Soto has been the director of college events for the last five years. During her tenure at Colorado College, she has hosted more than 25 exchange students and has been active in Big Brothers Big Sisters as a mentor for high school students.

She has served on numerous campus committees, as Staff Council chair for four years, on several Block Projects, and on the search committee for former CC President Kathryn Mohrman. She has been recognized with numerous awards, including an Institutional Achievement Award from the Association of Collegiate Conference and Events Directors-International in 2013 for her exceptional work on the Waldo Canyon Fire evacuee placement; Committee Member of the Year award in 2010 from the National Association of College Auxiliary Services, where she was appointed the Annual Conference chair in 2004 and 2008; and she has been recognized with the Mentor of the Year Award from Colorado College students every year since 2006.

David C. Hendrickson '76

David is a professor of political science at Colorado College, where he has taught since 1983. He chaired the Political Science Department from 2000-03 and 2017-18. He teaches courses in American foreign policy and international relations and has directed the journalism thematic minor for more than 15 years.

He has authored eight books, including most recently “Republic in Peril: American Empire and the Liberal Tradition” (Oxford University Press, 2018) and “Union, Nation, or Empire: The American Debate over International Relations, 1789-1941” (University Press of Kansas, 2009). Hendrickson also has published numerous book chapters, essays, and reviews.

He has been the Harriet Parker Campbell Professor of American Constitutional History since 2009. Among his many honors, he received the Ruth Barton Award in 2009 and was Robert J. Fox Distinguished Service Professor from 2004 to 2009. He has received fellowships from the Lehrman Institute, the Olin Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

He is a member of the Society of Historians of American Foreign Relations, International Studies Association, American Political Science Association, and others.

He earned a bachelor of arts degree from CC in 1976, and from Johns Hopkins University, a master of arts in 1981 and doctor of philosophy in 1982.

Jeff Livesay

Professor Emeritus Jeff Livesay began his career at Colorado College in 1978 in the Department of Sociology and retired in 2015. During his career he focused on institutionally building the college by championing the Alternative Perspectives: B requirement of the curriculum; facilitating the CPF/NPR-affiliation of KRCC; leading the redesign of the college’s committee structure, and the creation of the Faculty Executive Committee, as chair of the Committee on Committees; moving to a six-block teaching load; and expanding the Sociology Department while he was its chair. He also encouraged students to actively improve the college and our wider society by working with three generations of CC student activists, serving as the faculty adviser to the college’s ACM Urban Studies Program, and by teaching courses that encouraged students to think critically about the social world. Livesay’s guiding roles on fostering the college’s evolution and engaging students merged powerfully with his founding of and work with the Public Interest Fellowship Program. Established in 2003, the program has provided CC students and graduates with meaningful work in the nonprofit sector, thereby building the capacity of nonprofits while developing socially conscious nonprofit leaders.

Rochelle (Mason) Dickey '83 

Rochelle is the senior associate dean of students at Colorado College. Previously, she served as associate dean and director of minority student life and director of minority and international students. For more than 25 years, she has worked to improve the lives of students by creating constructive conversation and building bridges. She received the Victor Nelson-Cisneros Award for her commitment to diversity and inclusion for all members of the CC community, and an Urban League Service Award for commitment to the welfare of minority students. Mason received the Community Education Award and the Freedom Fund Award from the NAACP, and was recognized for enduring support of civil rights and social justice. Her involvement in community projects has focused on enhancing education and access for youth, so that they might have the kind of support she received as a first-generation college student. She earned her B.A. in drama from Colorado College and a master’s in education with a focus on intercultural counseling from the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs.

2016 
Richard Bradley 
Cecelia Gonzales 

2015 
Mario Montaño 

2014 
D. Daniel Crossey '74 
Marianne L. Stoller 
 
2013 
Marcia Dobson 
John Riker 
 
2012 
Ron Smith 
 
2011 
Mike L. Edmonds 
 
2010 
Owen Cramer 
Marshall Kean 
 
2009 
Tom Cronin 
Timothy Fuller 
 
2008 
Diane Brown Benninghoff '68 
Michael Grace '63 
 
2007 
Doug A. Fox 
Walter E. Hecox '64 
 
2006 
Horst and Helen Richardson 
Virginia Londry 
 
2005 
Dr. Judith Reynolds '71 
Professor Dennis Showalter 
 
2004 
Marlyn Burch 
Bruce Coriell 
Jim Enderson 
Neale Reinitz 
 
2003 
David D. Finley 
James Alan Johnson '56 
 
2002 
Susan A. Ashley 
Richard L. Hilt 
 
2001 
William A. Fischer 
Ray O. Werner 
 
2000 
William E. Barton '57 
The Reverend Kenneth W. Burton 
Lee Parks 
 
1999 
Dr. Richard G. Beidleman 
Donald P. Jenkins 
Dr. Robert D. Loevy 
 
1998 
Dr. Ruth Barton 
Dr. Joseph T. Gordon 
 
1997 
Dr. Glenn E. Brooks 
Richard E. Wood 
 
1996 
Dr. Martha Jane Cauvel 
Barbara Neeley Yalich '53 
 
1995 
Dr. William R. Hochman