Richard and Linda Bateman Scholarship in Appreciation of Cheyenne High School Math Teacher, Donald E. Kurtz

Richard graduated from Cheyenne High School in 1959 and then went to the University of Wyoming majoring in Chemistry, graduating in 1963 with a B.S. degree. He then went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a major in Physical Chemistry and a minor in Physics. It was at the University of Wisconsin where he met Linda (Rice University, 1963) who also majored in Physical Chemistry. Following their graduation with Ph.D.’s, they did post-doctoral work and taught at Dartmouth College. Richard then joined the DuPont Company in Research & Development while Linda taught at Bryn Mawr College. Linda later joined the DuPont Company as well. While at DuPont, both had careers in Research & Development, manufacturing, marketing, and business management.

They both continued their careers in management as contractors with the Department of Energy, first at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory and then as part of the environmental cleanup of the nuclear manufacturing facility, Rocky Flats, in Colorado.

They have lived in Colorado for nearly 30 years, mostly in Breckenridge and most recently in Denver. While in Breckenridge, they were heavily involved in the community including on the Board of Trustees of Colorado Mountain College, the Boards of the Breckenridge Music Institute, and the Intercultural Resource Center, a social services organization.