Plaza Building, Health Center closed due to a water main break.

MSU Denver’s Marathon Award is Metropolitan State University of Denver’s most prestigious honor. The Award is bestowed on individuals, families, or organizations whose contributions, service, and leadership, exemplify the Roadrunner Difference. These individuals have a meaningful, transformative, and enduring impact on the University and its progress. MSU Denver’s Marathon Award celebrates our mission and the collective impact of our students and scholars on the communities and people of Denver, state of Colorado, nation, and world.

A flock of roadrunners is called a marathon. Honorees personify the spirit of determination our students display and in particular, in the early days of the University, as they navigated and sprinted across Denver’s busy streets to attend class. It’s the Roadrunner Difference. Marathon Award recipients reflect our diverse, purposeful, and tenacious students at the highest levels.

MSU Denver’s Marathon Award is given annually, during Spring Commencement ceremonies.

Spring 2024 Marathon Award Recipient

Barbara Grogan HeadshotBarbara Barnes Grogan, Marathon Award Recipient and MSU Denver Foundation Member

In September 1982, Barbara Grogan founded Western Industrial Contractors with an inauspicious beginning. She bought a 1969 pickup for $500, rented offices on an unpaved dead-end street and hired her first three employees. Their focus was installing machinery and equipment in manufacturing plants, power plants, water-treatment plants, breweries, bakeries and airports. Western became a nationally recognized company providing integrated design/build of material handling and manufacturing systems working in all 50 states. It was a critical partner in the opening of Denver International Airport.

In addition to serving as the chairman and CEO of Western Industrial, Grogan was the first chairwoman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Denver Branch, and the first chairwoman of the Greater Denver Chamber of Commerce. She served on the boards of three publicly traded companies: Pentair Inc., Deluxe Corp. and Apogee Enterprises. She also served on the boards of the Winter Park Recreation Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Committee for Economic Development.

She served as Gov. Roy Romer’s first Small Business Advisory Council chair and as the first chair of the Chamber’s Small Business Profit Center. She was involved in the awarding of the Colorado Rockies Major League Baseball franchise and the construction of Coors Field. Most recently, she sat on the Denver Union Station Project Authority Board.

In addition to her business career, Grogan has been involved with nonprofits. She was one of the founding board members of Bright Beginnings and was the chair of Denver Road Home and Volunteers of America. She served on the boards of the Denver Scholarship Foundation, the National Civic League and the Denver Foundation. She also was the co-chair of Colorado’s Early Childhood Leadership Commission.

Grogan is involved in many nonprofits serving the needs of Colorado’s most vulnerable citizens, best reflected in her passions for immigration reform and higher education. She was the chair of the Board of Trustees of Metropolitan State University of Denver and serves on the board of the MSU Denver Foundation.

Past Marathon Award Winners