Graduate Program Students Glauce Santesso Coelho and Matt Wagner Honored at University of Denver Sturm College of Law Awards Ceremony

Earning a graduate degree is no easy task under any circumstances. But earning a graduate degree as well as finishing first in your program in terms of grade point average is an especially impressive achievement.

Today at an all school honors award ceremony, two of our program's students were recognized for finishing first among their peers in terms of grade point average within their respective programs.

Glauce Santesso Coelho, a native of Brazil, was recognized as the LLM student who earned the highest grade point average. Matt Wagner (with me in the first picture), most recently of Washington, D.C., earned the award as the Master's of Resource Law Studies top grade earner. It was my pleasure to present these two awards.

For a graduate program, there can be no finer sense of achievement than to watch the development of students as they gain knowledge and a greater confidence in their field of study. This was certainly the case with Ms. Coelho and Mr. Wagner, both of whom I met early in their studies here and talked with regularly.

To be sure, their paths to DU were different. Ms. Coelho is a Brazilian attorney, who has worked for some of the finest firms in the country. Mr. Wagner came to DU with a degree in journalism and an accomplished career in government relations. They both worked hard, took their studies seriously, and had a range of experiences while they were at DU. Each in his or her own way will make significant contributions in their future professional careers. Moreover, their sense of fairness and curiosity will serve them well.

The event also highlighted the interconnections that all of us who are involved with this program share as members of a fairly close-knit community. I was reminded of this when Cristiana Hess (in the second picture, which is from graduation day, on the right), wife of December 2009 graduate Tuukka Hess, joined Ms. Coelho (on the left) at the ceremony. Their link? They are both from Brazil (although they actually met in Denver)! It constantly amazes me how our community includes so many fine individuals who are sometimes linked in the most unusual ways.

Parabéns to Ms. Coelho and congratulations to Mr. Wagner. Each of you has much to be proud of.

--Don Smith

Matthew N. Wagner Earns 2010 "Masters of Resource Law Studies Student of the Year" Award

Matt Wagner has earned the 2010 "Masters of Resource Law Studies Student of the Year" award. The award is presented annually to the student with the highest grade point average in the Master's of Resource Law Studies (MRLS) program at the Sturm College of Law.

Mr. Wagner, who also has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Indiana, had a long and impressive career in professional communications before enrolling at the University of Denver in August 2009. His experience included serving as a principal at Public Strategies Inc., a Washington, D.C., communications consulting and strategy firm where he supervised an effort to rebuild investor confidence in the capital markets following the stock market upheaval in 2002. In 2005 he joined LeGrand Hart consulting in Denver where he was lead client counselor and strategist for several of the firm's largest accounts.

While studying at DU he has worked in an externship role at Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter's Energy Office, the key state government agency aimed at establishing Colorado as the center of "the new energy economy." Currently Mr. Wagner is serving as interim director of communications for Freedom to Roam, a Denver-based coalition of leading business, government and conservation organizations formed to improve understanding and funding for wildlife corridor conservation efforts.

Don Smith, Director of the MRLS program, said, "Matt Wagner was a successful communications professional before beginning his studies in the MRLS program. He has performed exceptionally well as a student in our program. Matt has chosen to complement his communications expertise with a growing understanding of key environmental and natural resources issues. His work should position him well to effectively address the types of environmental and natural resources issues that are and will continue to face businesses, governments, and NGOs in the future. Assistant Director Lucy Daberkow and I are confident that Matt has taken the steps that will establish him as a leader in this growing field."