February 2015 Spotlight

Karen was honored to receive the 50 Year Club Career Achievement Award from the Colorado State University Alumni Association and the 50 Year Club in late 2014. The Career Achievement Award identifies and recognizes an alumnus/a who is recognized as outstanding in his or her occupation, field, or profession by peers in that industry, who has brought honor to Colorado State University, and to him or herself.

Despite being paralyzed by polio from the waist down at age 9, during her time at CSU, Karen was a Boettcher scholar and an active member in Beta Gamma Chapter and the Associated Women Students. She enjoyed a 40-year long career as a high school English teacher, and was inducted into the Ramona (Calif.) High School Hall of Fame in 2013 as an outstanding sports contributor for her continued support of student-athletes both on and off the field. Karen has received countless honors for her work as an educator, including the Riverside Teachers Award, Edna Baily Lockhart Award, Outstanding Secondary Educators of America, and Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers.

Karen is a member of Kappa Alpha Theta Foundation’s Tunnicliffe and Lambert Legacy giving societies, and is a 50-year Theta.