Hall Of Excellence Opens Monday At CU Heritage Center

In celebration of the University of Colorado Heritage Center's notable alumni, the Heritage Center will open its newly renovated Hall of Excellence on Monday, Nov. 15, at 10 a.m.

Visitors to the Heritage Center, the university's history museum, will recognize famous alumni including actor Robert Redford, former Supreme Court Justice Byron White and golf champion Hale Irwin. They also will discover trailblazers like Theodore Maiman, who invented the ruby laser, and Ruth Cave Flowers, the second black female to graduate from CU who overcame racial hurdles to become a college professor.

"In many cases, visitors will be surprised to learn that these public figures have an association with CU," said Kay Oltmans, CU Heritage Center director.

The first installation of the new exhibit will feature 33 alumni, 16 of whom recently were selected to the Hall of Excellence. They include sports broadcaster Jim Gray, whose 1999 interview with Pete Rose made national headlines, and Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators and executive producers of Comedy Central's award-winning show "South Park."

Other new inductees are Carol Callan, USA Basketball sports administrator; Michael Gelman, executive producer of "Live with Regis and Kelly"; Tim Gill, founder and chief technology officer of Quark Inc.; Valorie Goodall, co-founder and producing director of the Rutgers Opera Company; and Barbara Grogan, founder and president of Western Industrial Contractors.

They also include Vicki Huddleston, U.S. ambassador; William Hybl, former president of the U.S. Olympic Committee; Ruth Keesling, mountain gorilla conservationist; R.C. Mercure, former president of Ball Brothers Research Corp.; Bill Mooney, professional actor; Ken Rutherford, landmine survivor and human rights activist; Spencer Silver, inventor of Post-It Notes adhesive; and Peter Teets, former president of Lockheed Martin Corp.

As funding permits, the Heritage Center will add more alumni, eventually featuring 120 people in the exhibit. The Hall of Excellence is a permanent part of the museum.

Located on the third floor of Old Main, the oldest building on the CU-Boulder campus, the Heritage Center is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. It is sponsored by the CU-Boulder Alumni Association and is free and open to the public. For more information, please call (30) 492-6329.