By Griffin Moores

Bob Everitt, Stanley Slater, and Don Dobler - In memoriam
From left to right: Bob Everitt, Stanley Slater, Don Dobler

The College of Business community was deeply impacted by the passing of Don Dobler, Bob Everitt and Stanley Slater. But remembering their unique accomplishments and passion for education helps to reinforce the values that empower our school: making college affordable and accessible, providing rigorous academic offerings taught by faculty who are invested in students’ futures, and a belief in the power of our graduates to affect change.

Don Dobler’s ability to connect with people made him a natural fit to become the first dean of the College of Business. Dobler helped establish a strong and still vibrant network of industry partners and pioneered distance learning by developing an MBA program in the 1970s where students would receive courses filmed on VHS tapes sent through the mail. The College has continued to evolve by exploring new ways to bring off-campus students together and deliver engaging educational content. Although the pace of technological change has been constantly growing, so have the strategies used by the College to adapt and make higher education available to more people in Colorado and across the country.

Bob Everitt’s commitment to broad civic progress in Northern Colorado spanned decades. Creating vibrant neighborhoods while supporting economic and cultural growth in Fort Collins, Everitt found a home, and kindred spirits, in the College of Business. He established both the Summit Investment Fund, where students manage an active portfolio, and the Everitt Real Estate Center. Both programs facilitate business students’ education in real-world business environments and provide them the resources to connect with professionals in their fields.

Stanley Slater’s unwavering dedication to his students shone through in the way he approached teaching. Slater’s distinguished career in marketing led to his foundational work being cited more than 30,000 times, higher than 99.5% of publishing faculty members in either business or economics, but his enthusiasm for research was surpassed by the joy he found mentoring students and working with fellow faculty members. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1984, Slater didn’t let the illness take away his sense of adventure or devotion to family and work. He began skiing using specialized equipment and served on the board of directors of a local adaptive sports program that provides over 1,000 lessons per year to people with cognitive and physical disabilities.

Dobler, Everitt, and Slater all came to CSU for different reasons, and with different backgrounds, but united around their love for education and desire to support the College of Business and community at large. And although their legacies will leave different marks, countless lives are better by virtue of their generosity, as their contributions will continue to grow for years to come.

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To support the scholarships in memory of Stanley Slater and Bob Everitt please visit the links below. To give to the Dobler Family Scholarship please contact the College of Business’s development office.

Stanley Slater memorial scholarship: https://advancing.colostate.edu/stan

Bob Everitt memorial scholarship: https://advancing.colostate.edu/everitt

College of Business development office: http://biz.colostate.edu/Information-For/Alumni-and-Donors

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