Byline: Todd Hartman, Rocky Mountain News
Staff writer John Sanko contributed to this report.
Joyce Lawrence is an accomplished former state legislator with a straight-talking style and a backbone to go with it.
Lawrence, who will help lead an investigation into the University of Colorado's football program, brings a legacy of civic involvement and a keen interest in educational issues to her role in the fledgling panel.
The 63-year-old from Pueblo will make up the Republican side of the co-chair role. Her counterpart, Peggy Lamm, is a Democrat.
Lawrence offers another critical component: no ties to CU and little knowledge of football. She did watch the Super Bowl, she said, but only for the slew of witty commercials.
Lawrence served eight years in the state House of Representatives and, before that, three years on the Pueblo City Council. She has also served on numerous civic boards and committees.
'She's a woman of integrity,' said Judy Weaver of Pueblo, a member of the Colorado Commission of Higher Education and longtime Lawrence associate. 'She's a person focused on results and is very committed to this community as well as the best interests of Colorado.'
While serving in the legislature, Lawrence's colleagues praised her work ethic when the Rocky Mountain News in 2000 asked lawmakers to grade themselves on their effectiveness. Lawrence was ranked 13th out of 65 lawmakers.
She also showed backbone, once publicly scolding a lawmaker - then-Rep. Mark Paschall, who is now the Jefferson County treasurer - in her own party after he killed an immunization-related bill using what many said were unfair tactics.
Paschall's maneuver was 'sick and sleazy,' Lawrence said at the time. During a heated House GOP caucus meeting called in the aftermath of the bill's demise, Lawrence stunned those gathered, saying, 'I can tell you there are a couple of people in here I wouldn't trust with my dog.'
Among several successful legislative efforts, Lawrence led the charge to change the mission of the University of Southern Colorado, making it a regional university with more master's degree programs. The change included renaming the school Colorado State University-Pueblo.
She ran unsuccessfully for a state Senate seat in 2002. Since then, she has served on several committees in Pueblo, including assisting pharmaceutical research at the Colorado Mental Health Institute.
'I think Joyce will be a fair and honest person to do the investigation and I applaud the selection,' said House Speaker Lola Spradley, R-Beulah, a colleague and friend of Lawrence.
INFOBOX
Joyce R. Lawrence
* Age: 63
* Hometown: Pueblo
* Political affiliation: Republican
* Education: Nursing degree, Borgess School of Nursing; bachelor of science degree in nursing, University of Michigan; M.B.A., University of Phoenix
* Legislative history: Four two-year terms in the state House of Representatives, 1994-2001
* Work history: Office manager, The Lawrence Center; director of physician services, St. Mary-Corwin Hospital in Pueblo
* Other: Served on Pueblo City Council, 1992-1994; Healthy Pueblo 2000 steering committee; pharmaceutical research committee for Colorado Mental Health Institute; Rotary member; numerous additional civic and business committees
* Family: Married, two sons
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Joyce R. Lawrence
