Honored Alumni

Bill Hammerich’s (B.S., agricultural economics, ’69) journey began on a ranching and farming operation in western Colorado. Following his high school graduation in Rifle, he pursued higher education at CSU, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in agriculture economics. His career in the cattle-feeding industry took off when he joined Monfort of Colorado in Greeley, working alongside industry luminaries such as W.D. Farr, Warren Monfort and Willard Sparks.

“As I look back, I have been most fortunate to work and be mentored by those who were real visionaries in the cattle feeding industry. I just feel so fortunate that they could see the future, if you will, and know that we had to do business in a different way — and that I was able to be a part of that,” Hammerich said.

In 2001, Hammerich took on the role of executive director at the Colorado Livestock Association, a position he held for two decades. Under his leadership, and with the support of association members, significant strides were made in developing regulations and legislation that enhanced air and water quality, raised animal protection standards and improved employee safety across the state’s animal-production community.

“Colorado agriculture has an unequal advocate in Bill Hammerich, both within the day-to-day livestock production and feeding operations and his commitment to efficient, safe, and sustainable agriculture, initiatives and legislation. He has a unique ability to coalesce membership from across the various agricultural commodity groups in support of initiatives benefitting and protecting Colorado’s agriculture,” said Ajay Menon, president and CEO of CSU Strata and former dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences.

Kristie Dixon and Jim Docheff Jr. met at CSU in 1980 and built their lives on two shared passions: family and agriculture. They both come from fourth-generation agricultural families: Jim Docheff grew up on a dairy farm in Broomfield, Colorado; Kristie Docheff on a feedlot in Parker, Colorado. After graduation, Jim Docheff worked as a research associate at the CSU Dairy Research Center before he and Kristie Docheff bought 35 dairy cows of their own, and a few years later, purchased an 80-acre dairy farm in Mead, Colorado. Over the past 33 years, their farm has grown to 650 cows. Two of their three children work at the dairy farm, and one is a rancher in Yuma, Colorado. The couple serve on numerous boards, councils, and committees within the industry and the University, including the CSU Beef Club. Their goal is to have a role in developing the next generation of great agriculturalists.

Mark Swanson earned his bachelor’s degree in agriculture business in 1986, followed by an executive M.B.A. He is a past president of the CSU Alumni Association Board of Directors, a member of the CSU CIS Advisory Board, and a past member of the CSU Institute for Entrepreneurship Board of Directors. In addition, he serves on the CSU College of Agricultural Sciences Dean’s Leadership Council. Since 2008, Swanson has served as the chief executive officer at Birko, a leader in food safety, and he is passionate about offering innovative chemistry and equipment solutions, supported by the best in technical expertise, to help companies save lives, reduce risks, and protect brands.

Born into an original family of Texas in 1938, Karl Hoppess began his love with agriculture as a 12 year old working summers and holidays on a ranch in Central Texas. He became a devoted Aggie at Colorado A&M in August 1956. His life in the professional and business world began when he earned his bachelor’s degree in soil science from CSU and expanded upon his receiving a Doctor of Jurisprudence from SMU and being hired in Houston in 1963 to work as a trial lawyer.

The mysteries and rewards of litigation, business, agriculture, and education have continually challenged Hoppess over 56 years of professional life. Even after some 200 jury trials involving questions of land, ownership of water, and the condemnation of farms and ranches, he remains intrigued by the science of agriculture and food production, and in particular the challenge of how that knowledge should be used to develop businesses and advance education.

Luckily, he had a wife and family of five children, and eventually eight grandchildren, who loved him enough to allow him to pursue these challenges and dreams. He was blessed with partners in law and in business who allowed him to participate in building businesses that grew nursery stock, constructed subdivisions, developed oil and gas production, marketed trucks and ranch implements, and to eventually realize his two most cherished dreams: to own and operate cattle ranches and to participate in research with Colorado State University. It is by this joint effort that CSU has developed the information to reduce contaminants in both our land and water, and more effectively improve the retention of carbon, thereby preserving our nation’s forests and prairies.

While Hoppess continues to prepare and litigate cases in 48 counties in Texas, he remains committed to work toward developing businesses and research that advance the use of biological sciences and physical sciences that increase production of food for human consumption.

Stuart Ross, Co-Founder of Horizon Organic Dairy & Alfalfa Markets, was born on December 25, 1959, in what was then Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Raised on a cotton, corn, and cattle farm, he attended government boarding schools through high school. In 1977, he entered the Rhodesian Air Force to fulfill national service, serving as an armored car commander providing security for forward airfields, and completed his service in 1979.

Following his military service, Ross began working on the family farm, focusing on growing seed corn, soybeans, and managing a 400-cow beef herd. In 1982, he moved to the United States to attend Colorado State University (CSU), where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Agronomy in 1985. From 1986 to 1988, Ross worked as a Research Associate at CSU, primarily on a dryland no-till project in eastern Colorado. He returned to CSU in 1988 to complete an MBA with an emphasis in Finance, which he earned in 1989.

From 1989 to 1992, Ross worked in various roles for a major health plan operating along Colorado’s front range. Between 1992 and 1995, he played a key role in the startup of a Physician Hospital Organization (now an Accountable Care Organization) in the Denver market. This company, Physician Health Partners (PHP), continues to operate today. In 1995 and 1996, he worked as a Health Care Consultant, assisting large health plans across the country with the formation of Medicare Advantage programs.

In 1996, Ross married Valerie and returned to PHP in Denver as Chief Operating Officer. In 2000, the couple moved to Puerto Rico to build a new Medicare Advantage plan, MMM Healthcare. Under their leadership, the company grew from four employees in August 2000 to 500 employees and annual revenues of $600 million by 2004, at which time the company was sold, and they returned to the mainland.

Since 2005, Ross and his wife have built and renovated several homes in locations such as Kiawah Island, SC, Kauai, Telluride, CO, and their ranch near Glenwood Springs, where they raise hay and support the local elk population. They also established a charitable foundation that provides scholarships to CSU students in Crops and Soils. In addition, they have invested in various ventures, including a healthcare software company in Longmont, CO, a gourmet food and wine store in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, and a wine import business. The couple has also enjoyed extensive sailing in the Caribbean and South Pacific.

Dr. Dale McCall has been involved in the agricultural industry for his entire life. McCall was active in the Future Farmers of America in high school in Yuma, Colo., where he received a number of awards and served as the chapter vice president and chapter president. Dr. McCall went on to Northeastern Junior College to pursue his lifelong dream of being an agriculture teacher. While at NJC, Dr. McCall was a varsity football player, Livestock Judge of the Year, and student body president. McCall transferred to Colorado State University, majored in agricultural education, and served as president of Alpha Tau Alpha. He has taught high school agriculture for a number of years and has also taught animal science at NJC.

Dr. McCall received his bachelor’s in 1968, master’s in 1972, and Ph.D. in 1982, all from CSU. During this time, he stayed involved in farming and ranching in the Yuma area. Dr. McCall is involved with CSU in a variety of ways. He and his wife, Judy, established a teaching assistantship in agriculture education at CSU. In 2014, he was inducted into the CSU Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics Hall of Fame. Dr. McCall recently completed a six-year term as president of the Colorado FFA Foundation and was instrumental in planning and fundraising for the new Co-Bank Agricultural Education Center that officially opened Sept. 26, 2015. McCall also serves on the CSU Extension Service Advisory Committee and the CSU Agricultural Education Advisory Committee.

Dr. McCall has served in numerous community leadership and service roles, including on the St. Vrain Valley School Board and the Weld County Fair Board, and as president of the United Power Round-up Foundation. He currently serves as vice president of the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union (a three-state organization – Colorado, Wyoming, and New Mexico) representing family farmers and ranchers. McCall has also been involved in education along with farming, serving as a teacher, principal, superintendent, and BOCES executive director for more than 40 years. Dr. McCall continues to serve today as the part-time executive director of the Colorado BOCES Association, which supports rural school districts throughout Colorado.

The McCalls have two children. Tim and his wife, Liz, along with grandson, Robert, and granddaughter, Mary Kate, operate the combination irrigated and dryland family farm near Yuma, Colo. The McCalls’ daughter, Karla, and her husband, Steve, and their two sons, Derek and Devon, live in Mead, Colo.

Dr. Clinton Pilcher has spent most of his career working to improve insect pest management options for farmers. Dr. Pilcher’s interest in entomology started when, as a young boy, he worked in corn and wheat fields with his father, an Extension entomologist. He has dedicated his professional career to developing insect control solutions created through agricultural biotechnology. His ultimate goal is to help farmers globally manage these valuable tools in a sustainable manner in order to meet future food production needs.

In 1994 he founded Terra Spase, a consulting service for vineyard owners and wineries, based on the idea that deciding what vines to plant, where to plant them, and how to manage them should be based on data and not guesswork. Terra Spase offers a variety of services related to soil and weather, including soil analysis and mapping, which allows viticulturists to farm in a precise way to optimize grape yields and the quality of fruit and wine they produce. In addition, Dr. Skinner currently holds four patents on high-tech, automated irrigation systems for vineyards and other horticultural crops.

As a viticultural consultant to the wine and grape growing industries, Dr. Skinner’s expertise has spread across the United States as well as into northern Mexico and China. Dr. Skinner enjoys fine-tuning the production of his Sequum wines, in which three of the grape varietals are grown on his own two-acre ranch, and continues to provide consultation to vineyards throughout California and internationally.

Dr. Skinner is a member of the American Society of Agronomy, Soil Science Society of America, American Society of Enology and Viticulture, Group of International Experts of Vitivinicultural Systems for CoOperation, Napa Valley Grape Growers, and Napa Valley Wine Technical Group.

He and his wife, Anita Davena, have three children, Jessica, Dominic, and Kristina, and live in the midst of their Kidd Ranch Vineyard in St. Helena, Calif.

In 1992, Cook left the ERL to join his wife, Jill (’90), in running Fossil Creek Equine Services and also established Royal Vista Equine, a breeding management company, which gained prominence on the national stage as a premier embryo transfer facility. In 2000, the Cooks founded another embryo transfer facility, Royal Vista Southwest, in Purcell, Oklahoma, which they have since sold, and a Quarter Horse racing breeding facility, Royal Vista Ranches, in Wayne, Oklahoma. Royal Vista Ranches’ stallion lineup has included such champions as Wave Carver and Ivory James. The Cooks have also raised and owned several Quarter Horse graded stakes-winning homebreds.

In addition to his successful business operations, Cook has been involved professionally in the horse industry at the state and national level. He is an American Quarter Horse Association national director for Colorado and has served on several national committees, including AQHA’s stud book and registration committee and the research committee. He is a Rocky Mountain Quarter Horse Association past president and a director with the Colorado Horseman’s Association.

Cook credits his success to hard work, a close association with CSU, and his wife. He is a proud father of his daughters, Brandi, Shannon, Bailey, and Jamie.

Since 2000, Black has served as executive director of The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation in Portland, Ore. He works to bring together scientists, farmers, wildlife managers, and landowners around the country and overseas, with the twin goals of economic and environmental viability. Under his leadership, the organization has grown in both staff and budget, with its research and advocacy work encompassing butterflies, moths, bees, beetles, crustaceans, dragonflies, worms, and other species. As a conservation leader, scientist, and activist, Black also gives lectures, workshops, and educational presentations on a wide array of invertebrate issues.

As a student, Black co-founded Wildlands Action Group/Rainforest Action Group to help students learn more about protecting forests around the world. A few years later, he served as public lands chair for the Poudre Canyon Sierra Club, where he worked on a county sales-tax initiative to fund open space purchases. He also co-founded Public Lands Watch of Northern Colorado and became its president. This all-volunteer organization significantly impacted ecologically and economically sustainable land-management policies in Colorado, which remain in place today.