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2003 Distinguished Alumni
Each year, the Mesa State College Alumni Association recognizes
and honors five individuals whose outstanding contributions to their
communities, peers and fields of endeavor truly make them Distinguished
Alumni.
 J.C.
Tim Scates, Esquire
Attended 1961-1963
Tim Scates enjoys every aspect of the private practice
of law, as he has for over 30 years in Denver. His practice
areas are finance, real estate, general corporate, commercial,
and non-profit organizations. For over 20 years he has been
rated an “a-v” attorney, the highest nationally
recognized general rating. He also is a co-founder and executive
of a Denver-based search and recruiting business with operations
in Colorado and the Midwest.
Tim’s values and education were first instilled while
growing up in and around Grand Junction, a son of a church
planter and seminary president, the late Erskine E. Scates.
Tim attended Mesa Jr. College (1961-63), where he was a
faculty selection as an Outstanding Student. After
Mesa, Tim earned a BA degree at the University of Northern
Colorado, where he was elected student government president.
He was then hired as a legislative aide to the late Honorable
Wayne N. Aspinall, member of the US House of
Representatives. He then served in the US Army First Infantry
Division in South Vietnam near Cambodia along the Ho Chi
Minh trails. Some 400 days later, he was combat decorated
and returned to Congressman Aspinall’s staff. While
continuing as a legislative aide, he attended law school
where he was an American Jurisprudence Award scholar. Tim
earned a Juris Doctor degree from the American University,
Washington College of Law, in Washington, DC. After graduation,
Tim and his wife Lynne returned to Denver and commenced
a life in the private practice of law, both as a transactional
and litigation attorney. Tim and Lynne have two adult daughters,
Julie and Jll [sic]. He has served on bar, community, church,
and college committees and boards. Tim is an avid golfer
and has served as a youth golf mentor and middle school
golf coach. Since 1995, Tim is a survivor of Myasthenia
Gravis and, since 2002, pancreatic and liver cancer.
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 Rep. Matt Smith
Associate
of Arts, 1978; Bachelor of Arts, 1980
Matt serves as State Representative for Colorado House
District #54, located in western Mesa and Delta Counties.
He currently is active on the Judiciary and Local Government
Committees and the Joint Legal Services Committee. Matt
is also chairman of the Energy Committee for the National
Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) and chairman of the
Uranium Mill Tailings Oversight Committee. In addition,
he also represents Colorado on the Energy Council, a national
organization of state legislators from the ten largest energy
producing states, as well as the Center for Legislative
Environmental and Energy Research.
As a state representative, Matt has been chairman of the
Energy Council, vice-chairman of the National Resource Committee
for NCSL, chairman of the House Local Government Committee,
chairman of the Joint Legal Services Committee, and commissioner
for the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform
State Laws. In addition, he has been active in the Colorado
Local, State and Federal Forum, the Privacy Task Force,
and the Supreme Court’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Family
Courts. He has served on four interim study committees while
in the legislature, including water, term limits, oil and
gas, and as chairman of the Commuter Air Service Committee.
In the off-session, Matt works as an attorney in the firm
of Traylor, Tompkins, Black & Gaty, P.C., in Grand Junction.
He received his Juris Doctor degree from the University
of Wyoming College of Law in 1984.
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 Ruth
Y. Michels
Associate of Science, 1970
After graduating from Mesa State College in 1970, Ruth completed
her schooling and sat for the American Society of Clinical
Pathologist Board of Registry and the International Academy
of Cytology Registration. As a registered cytotechnologist,
her career in cell biology spanned over 27 years as a research
cytotechnologist, clinical cytotechnologist, supervisor for
a cytology laboratory, and clinical instructor of a cytotechnology
program for the University of Utah. In 1999, Ruth retired
as director of operations for the Saccamanno Research Institute
at St. Mary’s Hospital and Medical Center in Grand Junction.
A published author, Ruth serves as a presenter at both professional
and civic workshops and seminars and provides technical assistance
for text books, including teaching documentaries and films.
Ruth has served on both state and national professional committees
and has consulted for a number of biotechnology and pharmaceutical
companies. She has been active for over 32 years on the American
Cancer Society (ACS) Board of Directors for the local, state
and region units. She was the first chairperson of the Board
of Colorado Division from the Western Slope and currently
serves as a stakeholder reviewer on the Peer Review Grant
Application Committee—Cell Cycle and Growth Section—for
the National Home Office of the ACS. In her spare time, Ruth
enjoys spending time with her husband Bob, their two daughters
and families, traveling, exploring the great outdoors ,and
writing creative fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.
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 Tim
W. Schultz
Associate of Arts, 1969
Tim was born and raised in Grand Junction. After graduating
from Mesa State College in 1969, Tim completed his undergraduate
education at Colorado State University, graduating in 1972
with a BA in political science and business. Following college,
Tim married Sally Lou Johnson of Meeker and started his career
in Grand Junction at Mesa United Bank. Tim later moved to
Meeker where he served on the Rio Blanco County School District
RE1 board, and two terms as a Rio Blanco County Commissioner.
As a commissioner, Tim was active with Colorado Counties,
Inc. He was also appointed chairman of the National Association
of Counties Public Lands Steering Committee and was recognized
as Colorado County Commissioner of the Year.
In 1983 Tim joined the Governor’s cabinet as Commissioner
of Agriculture and later as executive director of the Colorado
Department of Local Affairs. Tim then spent three years as
a consultant for the law firm of Arnold & Porter, where
he worked closely with Colorado Open Lands, ultimately becoming
its president and chairman of the Board. Since 1996, Mr. Schultz
has been president and executive director of the Boettcher
Foundation, a Colorado not-for-profit, charitable foundation.
Tim also currently serves on the board of Compass Banks of
Colorado.
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 Laddie
L. Livingston
Associate of Arts, 1963
Laddie’s career in public education has spanned four
decades as teacher, coach, sponsor, principal, and for the
past 18 years, chief executive officer of Delta County Schools.
His lifelong commitment is rooted in the genuine belief that
the Republic in which we enjoy so many freedoms cannot survive,
much less prosper, without a strong system of public education
that offers all, regardless of race, creed, or economic status,
a legitimate opportunity to be well educated.
In addition to an associates degree from Mesa College, where
he was selected by the faculty as one of four outstanding
graduates, Laddie holds a B A from Western State College and
an M A from the University of Notre Dame, where he was one
of 20 graduate fellows chosen from thousands of applicants
from all over the US. He was later instrumental in the creation
of the Centers for Applied Learning, children’s museums,
a Vision school that supports real parent choice and a backpack
program for young children. These have received international
recognition and have brought over 9,000 visitors from all
over the world to Delta County. In 1993 he received the Governor’s
Award for Excellence in Education. Laddie has been married
to his childhood sweetheart Judy Abseck for 42 years; they
have three children and six grandchildren.
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