Former Wyoming Gov. Mike Sullivan is so modest that he’s likely to attribute his selection as the 2016 Citizen of the West to the luck of the Irish.
His many friends would disagree, hailing Sullivan as “a Western treasure” and a faithful public servant who distinguished himself by working well with members of both political parties.
Sullivan, who was governor of Wyoming from 1987 to 1995 and U.S. ambassador to Ireland from 1999 to 2001, accepted the prestigious title Monday night at a dinner to raise money for the National Western Scholarship Trust.
“We couldn’t be prouder of Mike Sullivan, who embodies the spirit of the West,” said Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead.
Former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson of Wyoming, who was Citizen of the West in 1990, described Sullivan as “a statesman, not a politician, someone who didn’t think ‘compromise’ is a four-letter word.”
Sullivan, 76, was born in Omaha, Neb., and grew up in tiny Douglas, Wyo. But his father’s side of the family hailed from County Cork, Ireland, while relatives on his mother’s side came from the Midlands.
In a tip of the hat to his heritage, the dinner began with Sullivan and his wife Jane being escorted into the National Western Events Center by the Michael Collins Pipe and Drum band and the Celtic Steps, an award-winning Irish step dance troupe headed by Eimear McNicholas.
The dinner was emceed by lawyer Jim Lyons, a “good Irish lad” and close friend of the honoree.
The 920 guests included Gov. John Hickenlooper; Denver Mayor Michael Hancock; Bruce Benson, president of the University of Colorado; and Ron Williams, chairman of the National Western board.
The National Western Scholarship Trust has awarded $5 million since its inception to agribusiness and rural medicine students at 10 colleges and universities in Colorado and Wyoming.
