2007 Distinguished Alumni
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LeRoy Ashby
Associate of Arts
Mesa College, 1958
After graduating from Mesa College, LeRoy received a B.A. from Adams State College, an M.A. from the University of Wyoming, and a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland. He taught American history at the University of Bridgeport and Illinois State University before going to Washington State University (WSU) in 1972, where he is a Regents Professor and the Johnson Distinguished Professor of History.
LeRoy has published six books, including Fighting the Odds: The Life of Senator Frank Church (1994), which won the Evans Prize for the best biography of a Westerner, Endangered Children: Dependency, Neglect, and Abuse in American History (1997), a CHOICE Outstanding Academic Book, and With Amusement for All: A History of American Popular Culture since 1830 (2006).
His teaching recognition includes Washington State University’s Distinguished Teaching Award (1983) and the CASE Professor of the Year award for the state of Washington in 1990 and 1993. In 1993, he delivered WSU’s Distinguished Faculty Address, and in 1997 received the College of Liberal Arts’s Distinguished Faculty Award. Washington Governor Booth Gardner proclaimed March 29,1991 “LeRoy Ashby Recognition Day.”
LeRoy has been married to Mary Beth Gross, his high school sweetheart, for 50 years. Their son Steven owns a music store and, with his wife Kris, is a certified scuba diving instructor. Their other child, Eric, was killed in 1977 at age nine by a hit-and-run driver. According to Dr. Ashby, “such a tragedy invariably puts one’s ‘successes’ in perspective.”
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Donald Schoening
Associate of Arts
Mesa College, 1957
Donald is currently the president of Arizona Western College. He served four years as president of Independence Community College in Independence, Kansas. Donald worked in a wide range of administrative responsibilities at Wenatchee Valley College in Washington state as a Business Manager, Planning Officer, Budget Officer, Personnel Officer, and Athletic Director. His teaching career includes experience as a public school teacher along with college teaching at the community college, university, and doctoral levels.
Dr. Schoening earned a B.A. at Western State College of Colorado, a Masters Degree in Guidance and Counseling at the University of North Dakota, and a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership at Gonzaga University in Washington. Donald is nationally recognized as a visionary leader with a great deal of expertise in organizational vision, strategic management, and leadership. He is a rather remarkable educational leader, due to his variety of experiences in the private sector. He has been successful in community development, fruit production, sales, marketing, public speaking, and consulting. Dr. Schoening is author of Running a Juice Stand: the 6 E’s of Wise Management (2005). Additionally he has been invited to make presentations across the United States and in foreign countries about effective management of both private and public organizations.
Donald has served on the National Association of Community College Entrepreneurship Board of Advisors and as president of the Mountain States Association of Community Colleges. He received the Pacesetter of the Year Award from the National Council of Marketing and Public Relations. |
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Jack Scott
Attended
Mesa College, 1948-1950
After graduating from Fruitvale High School, Jack spent two years in the Armed Services and then attended Mesa College. He later went to Colorado Teacher’s College in Greeley where he received his Bachelor’s degree with a lifetime teaching certificate. He attended Denver University and received a degree in Guidance and Counseling.
Jack taught and coached at Hotchkiss High School for six years. In 1963, he returned to Grand Junction where, during his 23 years at Mesa College, he was Housing Director, Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach, Assistant Men’s Track Coach, Director of Admissions and Records, and Head Coach of Women’s Basketball. He was responsible for all student recruitments for Mesa College from 1965 to 1985.
As president of Grand Mesa Little League, he was instrumental in moving the field from the “alkali” field to its present location. In 2000, Jack was honored on the “All Century Basketball Team”, consisting of players from Fruitvale and Central High Schools. The following year he was elected to the Mesa State College Hall of Honor.
Jack served four years on the Grand Junction City Council and numerous city boards. He has been on the Mesa State College Alumni Association board on three different occasions. He was President of the Physical Education Division of Colorado Education Association, president of Colorado High School College Relations, and president of a three-state Admissions and Registrars Association. Since retirement, he has served on various scholarship committees for the Mesa State College Foundation. He and his wife Lena Mae delivered “Meals on Wheels” for 10 years. |
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Jamee Simons
Associate of Science in Nursing
Mesa College, 1976
Jamee has lived in Grand Junction since 1966 when her parents came to Grand Junction to join the family business, Enstrom Candies. She attended Broadway Elementary School, Orchard Mesa Junior High School and graduated from Fruita Monument High School.
After working as an RN at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Denver for three years, she and her husband, Doug, moved back to Grand Junction to join her parents in the business. In 1993, they purchased the company to become the third generation to own and operate Enstrom Candies.
The Enstrom-Simons family is well-known for their philanthropy, both locally and nationally. They have received many honors including Grand Junction Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year, Grand Junction Rotary’s Ethical Leadership Award and The National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Hope Award. Jamee has served on several boards including, Grand Junction Visitors and Convention Bureau, Saint Mary’s Hospital, and is currently serving on the Mesa County Community Advisory Board. In 1995, Jamee and her husband co-chaired Mesa State College’s successful $2 million capital campaign for campus expansion. A strong advocate of United Way, Jamee has served on allocation panels for three years, and she and her husband were co-chairs for record-breaking fund raising campaigns in 2005-06 and 2006-07.
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Gerry Wubben
Associate of Arts
Mesa College, 1979
Gerry graduated from Mesa College and went on to earn his B.F.A. in Printmaking in 1982 from Colorado State University and his M.F.A. in Printmaking in 1985 from Indiana University. In 1987, he was hired to teach art at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana, where he is currently Professor of Art. He is an award-winning artist and the recipient of several research grants. His prints, drawings, sculptures, and paintings have garnered numerous awards both regionally and nationally and are in numerous private and public collections such as The Kansas City Art Institute and the Southern Graphic Print Collection.
Over the past 25 years he has shown in more than 200 group exhibitions as well as 20 solo shows which include the Art Center of Western Colorado, the Contemporary Art Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, the Dishman Gallery at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, and at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. In addition, he has had work published in numerous catalogs as well as the Winter 2005 and Spring 2006 issues of American Artist Drawing magazine. In 2000, he was selected Lake Charles Artist of the Year.
He has twice represented McNeese State University on the Louisiana Division of the Arts Panel. For his exhibition record, teaching success, and university service he was awarded the 1999-2000 Distinguished Faculty Award by the McNeese Alumni Association. Married on the Colorado National Monument to Angela Richard, they have two children Liam and Avery. |
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