Metropolitan State University of Denver

Top executives shared how they lead in fields defined by precision, ambition, and the drive to reach new heights.

We are proud to have welcomed Laura Hopkins, Vice President, Human Resources at Lockheed Martin, Dan Jablonsky, Chief Executive Officer of Sierra Space, Laura Jackson, Vice President of Air Service Development at Denver International Airport, and our moderator, Janine Davidson, President of Metropolitan State University of Denver.

Please share this episode with your colleagues, and we hope to see you at a future View from the Top event.

You can find all of our events at cobrt.com slash events.

Yeah.

So I got my undergraduate degree at Metropolitan State University of Denver, and I ended up getting my master's degree through Calvin University in Michigan.

Perfect.

Well, also, let's discuss, you know, more of how you're helping children in the Colorado area.

On this episode of the Rising Coaches podcast, we're joined by Mike Dunlap for part one of a two-part conversation.

Dunlap's career includes stops at Loyola Marymount, Iowa, USC, Arizona, Oregon, St. John's, the Denver Nuggets, and Milwaukee Bucks, along with head coaching roles at Cal Lutheran, Adelaide, Metro State, the Charlotte Bobcats, Loyola Marymount, and Colorado Mesa.

In this episode, we discuss how his definition of great coaching has evolved, the skills that took him from young assistant to NBA head coach, and what he would change if given another opportunity to lead a team in today's era.

Welcome back.

I didn't want to, I didn't mean to throw you out there like that, but I do want to say too, obviously on, on the side of things before you go take over with Charlotte and obviously, um, with your other times, other opportunities of being a head coach.

I mean, you coached championship teams.

You went 248 and 50 at Metro State, won two national championships, as we said.

So, like, there were successes.

She planned on law school, but instead earned a PhD in higher education public policy at UCLA.

From there, she was one of the first employees to help build the Daniels Fund from scratch, served in leadership at Metropolitan State University of Denver, and then spent nearly 11 years as president and CEO of Colorado Mountain College.

Along the way, she chaired the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission during wolf reintroduction planning, and she somehow found time to climb all of Colorado's 14ers, Mount Kilimanjaro, and hike to Everest Base Camp.

Carrie and I talked about growing up in Flagstaff, the lessons she learned from helping to build one of the largest foundations in the Rockies, and how she stays grounded in roles that come with real influence.

And it is a bubble.

There is no question.

I think that the opportunity to at least toggle to some degree, I mean, I went from that role to Metropolitan State University of Denver.

It was the most poorly funded, maybe still is, higher education institution in the state.

Are you into the WNBA finals? I know Lady Lobo Basketball played their exhibition last night.

They won over Metro State Denver, 93-59.

Opened up the season on Monday.

WNBA coming to an end.

When military veterans return to civilian life, there are a number of hurdles, including accessing the benefits that they were promised.

At MSU Denver, students who have served are getting help navigating the systems with help from the Denver Veterans Service Office.

Our Byron Reed has that.

Have you ever worked with a VSO before?

Chicano history is Colorado history, and as we close out Hispanic Heritage Month today, we're re-sharing a conversation I had with Professor Ramon De Castilla.

He's a retired professor of Chicano studies who taught for 35 years at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

I'm third generation Chicano Mexican American from, uh, Wichita, Kansas.

I been in Colorado since 1972.

We've been fighting this for over 40 years, and we finally got something passed that is now institutionalized.

The question that we have to always face is how long will it be there before other groups decide that they want to make other changes to it? But right now they have a voice.

Ramón De Castilla, a retired professor of Chicano studies, who taught for 35 years at Metropolitan State University of Denver, speaking with me in 2024.

We are re-sharing the conversation as part of Hispanic Heritage Month, which wraps up today.

That airs 6.30 p.m. on KTVD Channel 20.

We'll be live from the campus of MSU Denver.

That debate also streams anywhere you find 9 News.

One of the issues waiting for you on that hefty ballot this year is a measure that would require law enforcement to notify federal immigration agents when certain people are charged with crimes.

Wayne came to attend the University of Colorado from 1966 to 1969, where he would come to major in business.

However, he would later transfer to the Metropolitan State College in Denver, where he would graduate with a degree in aviation maintenance management.

A woman named Kathy Poole had grown up in Denver as well.

She lived with her twin sister, an older sister, her mother, and her father.