Duane Bussey, Chair
Retired President/CEO SLV Federal Bank
Alamosa, Colorado
Appointed December 31, 2022
Term expires December 31, 2025
Bachelor of Arts Adams State University
Duane Bussey, Class of 1982, worked at San Luis Valley Federal Bank for 39 years. He held a variety of positions in the Loan Department before becoming the Senior VP in 1999 and then served as President/CEO from 2004 until retiring in 2021.
Trustee Bussey has been involved with Adams State over the years. He served as president of the Alumni Association, the Grizzly Club Board, and the Adams State Foundation. He resigned from his position on the Foundation after 20+ years of service upon his appointment as a Trustee.
Trustee Bussey grew up in Colorado Springs and came to Adams State as a student-athlete in 1976. He felt fortunate to be a member of the Adams State basketball team for four years, learning so many life lessons from his time on the court. Trustee Bussey graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in business administration and psychology and continues to be thankful for small class sizes and outstanding professors who made themselves accessible.
Trustee Bussey has been involved in the San Luis Valley community and continues to serve on the Board of Directors of San Luis Valley Federal Bank, the San Luis Valley Health Foundation Board, and the San Luis Valley Trout Unlimited Board. He and his wife Lorey, Class of 1980, have three adult daughters, two of whom are Adams State alumni, and four grandchildren. He loves to follow Adams State athletics, enjoys fly fishing, and has been working to master golf and pickleball, with mixed results.
LeRoy Salazar, Vice Chair
Fifth-generation farmer
Appointed December 31, 2022
Term expires December 31, 2024
Bachelor of Science
Master of Science Colorado State University
Bachelor of Science Colorado State University
LeRoy Salazar currently manages the family farm which raises seed potatoes, barley, and other crops. This is Trustee Salazar’s third term on the Board of Trustees. He served from 2003 for three years and again from 2010 until 2016.
Trustee Salazar co-founded and served as president and CEO of Agro Engineering, Inc., from 1982 to 2000. He has served as a member of the Colorado Agricultural Commission, the United Fresh Potato Growers of Colorado, and as a director of Citizens for Colorado Water. Trustee Salazar served on the North Conejos School District Board of Education for 9 years with several years as its president.
He has been heavily involved in helping to develop strategies for creating a sustainable water supply system in the San Luis Valley. Trustee Salazar served on the State Engineer’s Advisory Committee as the Colorado State Engineer developed Ground Water Rules and Regulations for the San Luis Valley. He helped found the Confined Aquifer Sustainability Organization which is dedicated to the development of solutions to groundwater issues and provided input to the State Engineer on drafting the Rules and Regulations. Trustee Salazar currently serves as president of Subdistrict 3 of the Rio Grande Water Conservation District.
Trustee Salazar served as Director of the San Luis Valley Federal Bank Board for 25 years and retired as chairman.
He helped found the Hope for Children Foundation which supports orphans, abandoned, and severely impoverished children in Mexico. Trustee Salazar has been a member of Rotary clubs since 1995 and is a Paul Harris Fellow. In 2018 he received the Statewide Leadership and Service Award from the El Pomar Foundation.
Pam Bricker
Business Owner – Three Barrel Brewing Company
Del Norte, Colorado
Appointed December 04, 2020
Term expires December 31, 2024
M.A. Adams State University
B.S. University of Northern Colorado
Pam Bricker is a third-generation Colorado native and has lived in the San Luis Valley since 1975. Prior to being elected a Rio Grande County Commissioner, she had a gratifying career as an educator and school administrator. Trustee Bricker holds a bachelor’s degree in foreign languages (Spanish and Russian) with a secondary education endorsement from the University of Northern Colorado. She earned a master’s degree in Language, Literacy, and Culture, followed by educational leadership, both from Adams State. Trustee Bricker completed her career as the Byran Syring DELTA Center Principal and Adult Education Director in the Monte Vista School District.
Trustee Bricker’s present and past community, state, and professional involvement is diverse. It includes the following: Rio Grande Board of County Commissioners, Action 22 Executive Board , Upper Rio Grande Economic Development, Colorado Department of Criminal Justice and Safety Sex Offender Management Board, Rio Grande Planning and Zoning Commission, charter Board of Directors member of the Colorado Coalition of Alternative Education Campuses, Colorado Adult Education Professional Association, and Monte Vista City Council.
Trustee Bricker and her husband, John, own a thriving family business in Del Norte which has helped spur economic growth in the town. They have two adult children and four grandchildren. Her favorite pastime is being outdoors and enjoying time with her family, two dogs, and horses.
Thomas Kim
Founder and Managing Director of r2 advisors llc
Appointed December 31, 2022
Term expires December 31, 2026
J.D./M.B.A. Santa Clara University
Bachelor of Science University of Utah
Tom Kim is the founder and managing director of r2 advisors llc, a Denver-based business consulting firm. Trustee Kim has spent his career helping businesses improve their financial and operational performance. He and his colleagues develop and implement strategies for effecting change in urgent situations. These situations range from mild to severe and include services such as performance improvement, restructuring and turnarounds, mergers and acquisitions, and bankruptcy.
Trustee Kim understands the value of education. He is committed to ensuring that educational opportunities remain open and available for all Coloradans. In addition, Trustee Kim is passionate about closing the divide between urban and rural Colorado. He sees the value that these diverse communities bring to our State and the strength we derive by promoting all. Trustee Kim is a member of the Roundup Riders of the Rockies, a member of the Board of Directors for Denver Health and Hospital Authority and the Colorado State Fair. He was the President and then Chairman of the Turnaround Management Association beginning in 2013.
Trustee Kim has lived in the Denver metro area since 1996. He resides in Centennial with his wife, two of his three children, and their dogs, cats, and horses.
Jonathan N. Marquez
CPA – Senior Tax Manager – VMware
Denver, Colorado
Appointed December 10, 2021
Term expires December 31, 2025
Master of Taxation University of Denver Sturm College of Law, 2014
Bachelor of Science Adams State, 2013
After four years in public accounting, Trustee Marquez recently entered the industry as a senior tax analyst for VMware, a large Silicon Valley-based cloud computing and platform virtualization software company.
A San Luis Valley native, Trustee Marquez was a volunteer firefighter for the City of Alamosa and Alamosa County while attending Adams State. He served as president of the Future Business Leaders of America Phi Beta Lambda Adams State Chapter and represented the School of Business as a senator with the Associated Students and Faculty (student government). Trustee Marquez also was active in the free taxation service provided by Adams State accounting students and faculty supported through the Piton Foundation.
Trustee Marquez received the Future Business Leaders of America PBL National Award of Excellence in 2013; and the FBLA PBL Colorado State Honor Award in 2012 and 2013. He was also recognized with the IRS Outstanding Public Service Award in 2012.
Mark Martinez
Brewer/Co-owner – Spare Keg Brewerks
Alamosa, Colorado
Appointed December 31, 2021
Term expires December 31, 2025
B.S. Adams State University, 2013
Trustee Martinez appreciates the small class sizes at Adams State. He brewed beer at home and had enough early success and fun in the process that his interest carried on and stayed a passion. When his lifelong friend Derek Heersink had some extra barley from his farm, they decided to have it malted locally and use it to brew beer themselves.
Trustee Martinez and Heersink extensively renovated their location, one of the few privately-owned art deco style buildings in Colorado. They did the work themselves and used unusual but simple materials, such as wood from a historically significant cabin in La Veta, which had been used as a cache for 7th Cavalry members from Ft. Garland in the late 1800s. Spare Keg Brewerks opened at 625 Main St., near San Juan Ave., in June 2017.
Before becoming a small business owner, Trustee Martinez served as a GIS technician for the Bureau of Land Management, an indirect fire infantryman in the Colorado Army National Guard, and a teacher and substitute for Center and Alamosa School Districts.
Karen Middleton
President of Cobalt
Appointed December 31, 2022
Term expires December 31, 2026
Master of Arts University of Colorado at Denver
Bachelor of Arts Mount Holyoke College
Karen Middleton is a longtime advocate for education and has served as an administrator, faculty member, and policy leader. Previously, Trustee Middleton served as the president of Emerge America, a national organization that trains women to run for elected office. Trustee Middleton served in the Colorado State Legislature from February 2008 through 2010, where she was the majority caucus chair and a member of the Education and Business Affairs and Labor Committees. From November 2004 until February 2008, she served on Colorado’s elected State Board of Education representing the 7th Congressional District.
Trustee Middleton’s experience includes teaching political science at the Community College of Aurora and the Metro State University of Denver. She worked for the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), eCollege, and as assistant dean of the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver. While at WICHE, she established the North American Council for On-Line Learning, an international association of online K-12 schools.
As a Colorado state legislator, Trustee Middleton continued her work in education and sought ways to create a strong bridge from high school to college. Key bipartisan policy successes include the Colorado School Counselor Corps grant program, the Office of Dropout Prevention and Student Re-engagement, and the master plan for Colorado’s post-secondary education system as well as aligning common core courses. These are lasting efforts that are serving Colorado’s students and building on years of strong public policy and implementation. Throughout her career, she has taken time to mentor the next generation of public servants, regardless of age. Trustee Middleton lives in Aurora, Colorado with her fiancé, Christian, and her daughter, Zoe. Her stepdaughters, Molly and Katie, live in New York.
Arthur M. Ortegon
Law Firm Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP (WBK) Partner
Castle Rock, Colorado
Appointed December 04, 2020
Term Expires December 31, 2024
J.D. Washington College of Law at American University
B.A. University of Pennsylvania
With a decade of public sector experience, Trustee Ortegon received professional political appointments in the Mayor’s Office for the City of Denver, Colorado General Assembly, Colorado Governor’s Office, and the White House.
Trustee Ortegon’s experience includes government relations, legal, regulatory, political, community investment, and external affairs operations within telecommunications, transportation, and mass media sectors.
Early in his career, Trustee Ortegon was a judicial law clerk for Justice Nathan “Ben” Coats of the Colorado Supreme Court and served as a Congressional Relations Assistant in the General Services Administration under President George W. Bush.
Anne Trujillo
Retired KMGH News Anchor
Littleton, Colorado
Appointed January 1, 2024
Term expires December 31, 2027
Bachelor of Arts University of Colorado, Boulder
Trustee Anne Trujillo sees Adams State as a perfect place for providing opportunities, which compliments her belief in opening doors for all Coloradans, especially those for whom higher education has not been a consideration or an option.
As a Latina and longtime Coloradan, Trustee Trujillo appreciates Adams State’s distinction as a Hispanic Serving Institution. She has experience working with urban and rural students through her volunteer work with the Denver Scholarship Foundation, providing scholarships to first generation families; and the Nathan Yip Foundation, focused on providing assistance to teachers in rural districts.
Trustee Trujillo’s career as a news anchor with KMGH Denver 7 spanned over 40 years. She is a Latino Leadership Institute Legacy Award Recipient; and a 12-time National Association of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) Emmy winner for excellence in reporting, anchoring and breaking news coverage. She was inducted into the NATAS Silver Circle for service to journalism; and was named to the 2019 Denver Press Club Hall of Fame. Trujillo currently serves on multiple community boards; and served as co-chair of the E.W. Scripps Latino/Hispanic Employee Resource Group, and as a member of the Denver7 Diversity Committee. She is co-founder of the Colorado Chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
Rena Kirkland, Ph.D.
Faculty Trustee
rkirkland@adams.edu
Professor, Department of Psychology
Inclusive Excellence Liaison (IEL)
Elected by Adams State Faculty for term running 2024-2025
Rena Kirkland, Ph.D., professor of psychology, joined Adams State in 2017. Her dedication to Adams State’s mission of providing equitable access to education is rooted in her values and purpose as an educator. As a first-generation college student, she understands the challenges faced by students from underserved backgrounds and is dedicated to their support.
Dr. Kirkland attended Riverside Community College in California for two years before transferring to the University of California San Diego, where she earned her BA in psychology in 1997. Following a decade-long career in the health and fitness industry she returned to school. Balancing the pursuit of a doctoral degree while working long hours and raising two young children with her husband presented a formidable challenge. In 2013, she obtained a Ph.D. in educational psychology with a minor in applied statistics and research methods from the University of Northern Colorado.
With a commitment to supporting student success, Dr. Kirkland played a role in securing grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Title III HSI grant, and local foundations. Currently, Dr. Kirkland works as the researcher for an NSF grant focused on improving undergraduate STEM education and the El Centro Sierra Blanca Grant. In her research pursuits, Dr. Kirkland explores topics such as grit (passion and perseverance for long-term goals) and the effects of movement on mood and cognition. She co-presented a TEDx talk about grit and published a study examining the impact of movement-integrated learning activities in college classes. Her current research includes investigating the effects of yoga on depression and stress, as well as exploring how engagement in a grit-driven process influences academic achievement. She is grateful to the faculty for electing her to serve as faculty trustee and feels honored to represent them.
