Lt. Gov. Garcia to address campus conference

Lt. Gov. Joseph Garcia

Colorado Lt. Gov. Joseph A. Garcia will address aerospace professionals, educators and others interested in the future of the aerospace industry at an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics technical symposium scheduled for Oct. 25 on the campus.

Garcia will provide brief remarks following lunch at Berger Hall in the UCCS University Center and will participate in a panel discussion on the direction of the aerospace industry in Colorado. UCCS Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak will welcome conference attendees to campus.

“We are honored that Lt. Gov. Garcia – who is a huge advocate for space and science – has agreed to participate in this event,” said Taylor Lilly, assistant professor, College of Engineering and Applied Science.

Lilly serves as the technical symposium’s organizer and is vice-chair of the AIAA’s Rocky Mountain Section. He encouraged all who are interested in aerospace to consider attending the conference. Registration for the daylong technical symposium is $40 for professionals and $25 for students. For more information about the conference, visit http://www.aiaa-rm.org/ATS or contact Lilly, 255-3430 or tlilly@uccs.edu.

“There are many facets of the future of aerospace,” Lilly said. “We see this as an opportunity for science, business, engineering as well as other disciplines to come together to learn and to think about the future.”

Garcia serves as executive director of the Department of Higher Education in addition to his role as second-in-command to Gov. John Hickenlooper. He is co-chair of the Colorado Space Coalition and actively promotes science, technology, engineering, and math education to prepare Colorado’s next generation of aerospace workers.

Before being elected, Garcia was president of Colorado State University-Pueblo, served as co-chair of the Governor’s P-20 Education Task Force, and worked as one of three Colorado commissioners on the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education. He also was president of Pikes Peak Community College, a White House appointee for the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, and served on former Gov. Roy Romer’s Cabinet as the executive director of the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies. He earned a business degree from the University of Colorado and a juris doctorate from Harvard Law School.