Colorado State University Historian Inducted as Honorary Member of Alumni Association

The Colorado State University Alumni Association will honor the university’s official historian with an Honorary Alumnus Award at the annual Distinguished Alumni Awards Program on April 26.

History Professor James E. Hansen II will be recognized for his dedication and commitment to Colorado State when he is inducted into the Alumni Association as an honorary alumnus.

Hansen received his bachelor’s from Middlebury College and his master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Denver. He came to Colorado State in 1966 as a history instructor and will retire this year. With his colleague, Liston Leyendecker, Hansen established a highly respected public history master’s degree program, the success of which is measured in a near-perfect professional placement rate for its graduates. He has been described by students as keen-witted and approachable.

As Colorado State’s historian, Hansen established the University Archives and the Colorado Agricultural Archives. He was author or assisted with more than a half-dozen publications about Colorado State, including his comprehensive history of the university, "Democracy’s College in the Centennial State." He is currently completing an updated edition to this book, which will chronicle the university’s history since the 1970s.