Gail Schoettler, PhD

Inductee Name

Gail Schoettler, PhD

Place of Birth

Los Angeles, California

Date of Birth

10/21/43

Year Inducted

2018

Category

Politics, Government & Military Service

Sponsor

Whistler Partnership

Impact

Denver

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Gail Schoettler, a tireless advocate for women, is the first woman to serve as both Colorado’s State Treasurer (1987-1995) and Lieutenant Governor (1995-1999).  As Lieutenant Governor, she negotiated the clean-up agreements for the Rocky Mountain Arsenal and Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Facility, saving billions of dollars.  Graduating with honors from Stanford University with a BA in economics, she earned MA and PhD degrees in African History from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

In 1979, Schoettler was elected to the Douglas County Board of Education.  She served eight years, including four years as president (1983 -1987).  In 1983, Governor Dick Lamm named her to his Cabinet as Executive Director of Colorado’s Department of Personnel.  While Lieutenant Governor, she launched Colorado’s School-to-Work program, which included 28,000 businesses and 95 percent of public school students, making Colorado the national leader in School-to-Work. In 1999, President Clinton appointed Schoettler a U.S. ambassador to negotiate a global treaty with 189 nations on the use of radio spectrum for all commercial, civil and military purposes.  She co-founded the International Women’s Forum and Electing Women, a national alliance of women who financially support women running for Governor and U.S. Senate.

Schoettler has a varied business and community background. She was a co-founder and board chair of the Children’s Museum of Denver.  She co-founded the very successful Women’s Bank of Denver. Schoettler in involved in her family’s ranches and vineyards and, with her 2 sons, in a residential real estate investment business.  She and her husband, Donald Stevens, own eGlobalEducation, a travel company which takes small groups all over the world to learn about the other countries’ people, culture, history and economies.  She has served on 10 corporate and numerous non-profit boards.

She has 3 children and 2 grandchildren.  An avid hiker, she conquered her fear of heights to climb all 54 of Colorado’s 14’ers and Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.  She is passionate about helping women run for political office and be successful in whatever they want to do.

Colorado Women's Hall of Fame

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