At a meeting to review new CSU marketing materials, Bryan Krueger (’79) was wearing a button that said, “I love CSU.” As he talked about his college experiences, he found himself telling the others in the room, “I should have a button that says I found love at CSU!” His remark sparked the concept for this collection of stories, about just a few who met their matches during their time in the College of Business. Enjoy!
Mark and Kerri McCloskey were married in August 1983, a few months after they graduated from CSU. They met as juniors while taking a personnel class in the College of Business. They didn’t begin dating until their senior year, however, in October 1982.
The two were both involved in Greek life at CSU. After a co-ed pajama party between Sigma Phi Epsilon and Kappa Kappa Gamma, Mark drove Kerri home, and they soon began dating. They often picnicked together in Poudre Canyon, and went hiking at Horsetooth Reservoir.
“I think it was really lucky that we both went to CSU, because Mark grew up in Hawaii and I was from Colorado. It took a while for our paths to cross in a business class, but once they did, it was the beginning of an amazing life together,” says Kerri.
Following graduation and their wedding, Mark went on to grad school at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. For a time, the McCloskeys lived outside Washington, D.C., until Mark was able to transfer within his company to Boulder. They’ve remained in Colorado ever since.
Today, Mark works as financial director at Xcel Energy, while Kerri devotes herself largely to volunteer work. She’s actively involved in the Cooking Matters Colorado program, which is a division of Share Our Strength.
Throughout their marriage, the couple have continued their adventures, traveling overseas to destinations such as Italy, Spain, Croatia, Scotland, and Germany – and plans are underway for a trip to Ireland this summer. They still enjoy hiking and snowshoeing in the mountains of Colorado as well.
Their daughter, Morgan, recently began working in the department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at CSU.
Bryan and Julie Krueger were married in the summer of 1981. Bryan had graduated from CSU in 1979, with Julie finishing her studies the following year.
“If I hadn’t gone an extra semester, I never would have met her,” Bryan notes. The two met on Add/Drop Day at Horsetooth Reservoir through a mutual friend, and discovered they were both marketing majors. “She was the best add of my life!” he says.
A month or two later, they saw each other at a weekend party. “He invited me to go watch him play soccer,” says Julie, who later started playing soccer along with him on a co-ed team, and also joined the women’s club team in her last year.
The Kruegers have moved eight times during their years together, living in diverse cities such as Denver, St. Louis, Chicago, and Tokyo. Their two children spent four years attending an American school in Tokyo while Bryan worked for Baxter International. Julie is from Colorado, though, and they were ultimately drawn back.
Today, Bryan is the CEO of Bonfils Blood Center, and keeps in close contact, working with the College of Business on various initiatives. Julie spends much of her time taking care of their three grandchildren and investing in the stock market. They visit CSU a couple of times each year for football games, and still enjoy spending time at Horsetooth.
Traver and Laura Heckman were married in September 2013, four years after they both graduated from CSU. While they both studied in the College of Business, they had a different area of focus – with Laura studying marketing and Traver concentrating on management — and didn’t meet until their senior year.
They both spent time studying in the computer lab.
“I got his number from a mutual friend, and started texting him from across the lab, trying to get him to guess who was writing him,” Laura says “It turns out that he wanted to talk with me prior to that, but he was really shy. So it was good that I made that first move!”
The only class the two shared was a physical fitness and conditioning class. Laura fell in love with Traver because, she says, “he was a true gentleman. It was in the wintertime when we first started talking, and I remember he would hold out his arm to keep me from falling on the ice. He’d be late to his own classes in order to get me to mine.” And in the spring, she says, he always knew when she was coming up behind him, riding her brother’s squeaky old bike.
The two have had many opportunities to travel in their first few years together, to Thailand, France, Switzerland, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.
Traver works as a firefighter for the Loveland Fire Rescue Authority. Laura manages a summer teaching program for a nonprofit organization, ELIC, which is based in Fort Collins and sends teachers all over the world.
? Randy and Linda Zmrhal ?
Randy Zmrhal completed his undergraduate studies at CSU in 1970 before being drafted into the Army for two years. He then returned to CSU for a master’s degree, and met his future wife, Linda, just four months before completing it in 1974. The next year, Linda graduated from CSU and the pair were married in 1977.
“My best friend was working for a professor in the College of Business,” Linda says, “and Randy was a teaching assistant for him while he was in graduate school.” Linda herself worked in the College of Business for another professor. “My friend and Randy’s professor thought we should get together. But at that point in my life I wasn’t interested in dating; I just wanted to graduate. So the professor told me when Randy had office hours. I walked by and checked him out and thought, ‘OK.’ And they did the same thing with me – Randy walked by while I was working. So it was a blind date, but we knew what each other looked like.”
Their first date was a CSU vs. Wyoming basketball game at Moby Arena. Linda was immediately impressed by him, especially when she learned that while he was in Germany with the Army, he had managed to get a second job, buy a used car, and travel around Europe. “I was just blown away — I hadn’t been anywhere!” she says. Randy spent two years teaching in the College of Business, and also helped to develop some of the curriculum. When he completed his graduate studies, he began working in Chicago. Linda joined him after graduating, and they spent 10 years there together. They then relocated to Portland, Ore., where they’ve remained for the past 33 years.
Linda has spent much of their marriage dedicated to raising their children and performing a lot of volunteer work. Randy was a founding partner of Anderson Consulting in 1989, and also worked for Accenture for many years. He retired almost 15 years ago, after which, he did some private consulting.
“I was fortunate — not lucky,” he says, noting that few universities offered computer information systems degrees when he arrived at CSU. For a time, he worked with the cause of salmon habitat river bank restoration — and today, he devotes free time to honing his golf game.
The two have enjoyed many opportunities to travel together, noting Europe, China, and New Zealand among some of their best trips. They’ve also committed resources to supporting other up-and-coming CSU students through a scholarship endowment. To date, they’ve granted five scholarships.
They have two grown children and three grandchildren.
Bill and Lindsay Chapman were married in 1977 in Scottsdale, Ariz., a year after they both graduated from the CSU College of Business. They originally met in a finance class, when Bill says, “She decided I was obnoxious for arguing with the professor.” A year later, they found themselves together in an upper-level business statistics class of just seven or eight students, with only two being women. It was a difficult course, and Lindsay asked Bill if he could tutor her, which he did for several weeks.
“At midterms, the professor told us that none of us in the class did well, except for one,” remembers Bill. “I had scored a 63 percent — the second-highest score. Lindsay broke the curve. She was the smartest one in the class! Why was I tutoring her?” Lindsay responds, “Maybe ulterior motives.”
Over the years, the two have enjoyed many adventures — both in work and life. After their time at CSU, and a brief stint living in Casper, Wyo., both Bill and Lindsay found themselves interviewing for the same two positions at tech giant Motorola. Both were selected for both jobs — so Bill and Lindsay got to choose their roles, and return to Scottsdale for the next 30 years.
They’ve traveled the world for their work, often ending up in different places at different times but sometimes having the chance to rendezvous in places like Paris or Scotland. Lindsay fondly remembers trips to Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Europe, while Bill recalls a trip that took him to the Czech Republic while it was still behind the Iron Curtain. There, he says, the KGB followed his team around to see what they were doing with all their advanced technology.
Today, Lindsay is retired and is working on designing their “forever home,” which will be built just outside Fort Collins. They’ll be living back near each of their best friends from college and high school, who married each other. They’re both very excited about returning to the area where they met.
“We’ve had a lot of adventures, and we’re both very grateful for them,” says Lindsay. Their family enjoys spending lots of time together, including taking an annual beach vacation, and sometimes an annual ski trip as well, when schedules allow.
The Chapmans have two daughters, Chelsea (also a CSU alum) and Alyx, who graduated from the University of Colorado.
The College of Business at Colorado State University was founded in 1966 and consistently ranks among the top 10 percent of business schools in the nation. With over 2,300 undergraduate students in Fort Collins, and the largest MBA program in the state, the College of Business strives to fulfill the University’s land-grant mission by increasing access to education, promoting research, serving the community, and pursuing academic excellence.
