The CU Board of Regents will present an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters to local business woman and philanthropist Lyda Hill at the Spring 2014 UCCS Commencement.
Ceremonies are scheduled for 11:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. May 23 at the Broadmoor World Arena (formerly the Colorado Springs World Arena), 3185 Venetucci Boulevard. It is the 40th UCCS Commencement Spring Commencement Ceremony. The ceremony was split into two last year to accommodate graduates and their supporters interested in attending. More than 1,100 spring and summer graduates are expected to participate in the festivities.
Graduates from the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences will participate in the 11:30 a.m. ceremony. Graduates of programs in the Beth-El College of Nursing and Health Sciences, College of Business, College of Education, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the School of Public Affairs will participate in the 3:30 p.m. ceremony.
The Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters is CU’s highest honor and is awarded in recognition of outstanding contributions to society.
“Lyda Hill’s combination of approach and philosophy is unique,” Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak said. “Her generosity will benefit our university, our state and our region now and far into the future.”
A self-described “philantrepeneur,” Hill has strong interests in the non-profit sector and brings a business approach to philanthropy. A resident of Colorado Springs and Dallas, she founded a successful travel agency before launching various other start-up businesses include a breast care center, the Garden of the Gods Visitor Center and numerous real estate enterprises in Colorado Springs and the Dallas Ft. Worth area. She is president of LH Holdings, Dallas.
A believer in the power of science to solve many world problems, Hill helped launch a program at UCCS designed to create more science and math teachers and to provide professional development for teachers already in the classroom. She also contributed to develop a Veteran’s Trauma Clinic as part of the UCCS Trauma, Health and Hazards Center, part of the UCCS HealthCircle clinics located in the Lane Center for Academic Health Sciences located on North Nevada Avenue. She has also made generous contributions to the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, and to the Hockaday School, Dallas.
Previously, she was awarded the University of Colorado Distinguished Service Award as well as the Dallas Junior League Lifetime Achievement Award, the President’s Volunteer Action Award, a Best of America Award, a Komen Foundation Betty Ford Award and an Outstanding Alumni Award from Hollins University, Roanoke, Va.
She also serves as a member of the Committee of 200, a group of the world’s most successful female corporate leaders and entrepreneurs, the International Women’s Forum and Charter 100, a business organization for the top 100 women in the U.S.
Recent previous recipients of the Honorary Doctorate include James L. Gallogly, Houston, a member of the class of 1974, who received the honor in 2012, and Don Birkeland, a member of the Department of Psychology faculty from 1971 to 1980, who received the honor in 2011.
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