Interview abstracts

Donald Sturm was born and raised in New York City. He graduated from City College of New York and then entered the military where he served as a personnel psychologist. In Part One of his interview, Don reflects on coming to Colorado after his military service to attend the college of law at DU. He discusses his additional education at NYU and his early career with the IRS. Don shares how he was approached by Peter Kiewit to join Peter Kiewit, the company. He emphasizes how he successfully handled a very significant tax case for the company, which helped advance his career at Kiewit. Don highlights how he used profits generated from coal operations to invest in and control public stocks with the goal of increasing stock values. He describes how he worked with Armand Hammer of Occidental Petroleum to mine coal in China. Don reflects upon how the company acquired the Continental Group and how, as a result, he met his wife Susan. Don touches upon how he began in the banking business through the purchase of a bank in McComb, IL and then a failing bank in Wyoming and eventually the purchase of smaller banks and thrifts in Colorado, including one in Cherry Creek. Read Part One transcript.

In Part Two of his interview, Don Sturm shares how, after moving to Colorado, he was introduced to Dan Ritchie and recruited to become a trustee at the University of Denver. He reflects on his responsibilities as chair of the board's finance committee and a member of a group that studied and recommended investments in campus building and grounds. Don highlights his investment and commitment to developing a school of excellence which is the DU College of Law that now bears his name. He emphasizes the changes made in the admission policy and curriculum at the law school and shares the remarkable success, particularly in improvement of first-time bar passage rates. Don also reflects on his involvement with the DU School of Professional Psychology to address the mental health needs of veterans and touches on his other philanthropic activities highlighting the value he and his family foundation places on education in general. Read Part Two transcript.