It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to appreciate both the brilliance and accomplishments of Joanne Maguire. The executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., and chair of the United Launch Alliance board is considered one of the 50 top women in business and technology, and this year alone her team will launch spacecraft to the moon, Mars and Jupiter.
She’s comfortable in the company of the world’s leading scientists, including several who are Nobel Prize winners, and at meetings of the advisory board for Denver School of Science & Technology, of which she is a member.
On a recent Wednesday night, Maguire seemed to be right at home when ARCS Colorado honored her at a fundraising dinner held at Denver Museum of Nature & Science.
Like Maguire, ARCS (Achievement Rewards for College Scientists) is dedicated to encouraging the study of all science, from medicine to technology.
As he introduced her, Jim Crocker, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin’s sensing and exploration systems, noted that Maguire is alarmed at the declining number of science and technology majors, and feels that unless the trend is reversed, the defense of the free world is at stake.
“There is a sense of urgency,” Maguire agreed, announcing that to express thanks for the honor she was being given, Lockheed Martin donated $10,000 to ARCS Colorado for scholarships to be awarded in the 2012 school year.
The dinner was planned by a 25-member committee which included Lyda Ludeman, Sue Kintzele, Jo Byyny, Sherri Weinstein, Ann Fawcett, Mary Margaret Wright, Ann Lowdermilk, Sherrye Berger and president Shirleen Tucker.
Guests included the national president of ARCS, Mary Snitch; the museum’s chief executive, George Sparks; Bart Snyder, whose grandfather, the late astronaut Alan Shepard, was the first American in space; Colorado School of Mines president Bill Scoggins; University of Colorado Denver chancellor Jerry Wartgow; and such past and present ARCS scholars as Kevin McSweeney, Clayton Bargsten and Jennifer Jarvie.
Coming right up.
Cosmopolitan magazine’s Bachelor of the Year, pro-kayaker Brad Ludden, will be a special guest tonight at a fundraiser for Freedom Service Dogs. Hosts Andi Leahey, Deviree Vallejo, John Tobey, Streeter McClure and Lee Clayton Roper say that people and their pooches are invited to the 6 p.m. event taking place in the Block Building Events Center, 2990 Larimer St.; sign up by calling 303-922-6231. . . . Thirty restaurants and food trucks will participate in Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation, which comes down Thursday night at Mile High Station. It’s a benefit for the Campaign to End Childhood Hunger in Colorado and tickets can be purchased at . . . . Also on Thursday, plans for the 25th anniversary Carousel Ball will be announced at a cocktail reception that co-chairs Gail and George Johnson are hosting at the new Chinook Tavern in Greenwood Village. Gladys Knight will headline this Oct. 1 gala benefiting the Barbara Davis Center.
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com; also, davidson and GetItWrite on Twitter
