The Spring 2004 MPA/PPA graduate recognition ceremony was held on Friday, May 21, 2004, at 6:00 p.m. in Gregory Gym.

The speaker was Lynn Utter, Chief Strategy Officer for Coors Brewing Company. She is responsible for Quality, Innovation, Technology and Strategy. She reports to Leo Kiely, president and CEO, and is a member of the senior leadership team at Coors.

Utter joined Coors in 1997. Prior to her current position, she has served as group vice president for Operations, vice president of Container Operations, and vice president of Logistics.

 
Her previous experience includes six years with Frito-Lay, where she held a variety of leadership positions in sales, distribution and planning. She served as a strategic planning group manager, director of distribution for the Denver area and area vice president for Denver. Earlier in her career, Utter spent four years with Strategic Planning Associates in Washington, D.C.

Utter earned her bachelor's degree in business administration in 1984 from the University of Texas at Austin, where she was named the university's outstanding student. She earned her master's degree in business from Stanford University in 1986, where she was the recipient of the Arbuckle Award.

A past president of the Stanford Business School Alumni Association, Utter is the vice chairman for The University of Texas' McCombs School of Business Administration Dean's Advisory Council. Utter is also the Chairperson for the 2004 Mile High United Way community campaign.

Utter and her husband, Ward, and their two children live in Englewood, Colo.