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CONTACT:
Dorothy Horrell
Bonfils-Stanton Foundation
303-825-3774
dorothy@bonfils-stanton.org

Denver, May 11, 2011 – The Bonfils-Stanton Foundation today celebrated the 26th Anniversary of its Annual Award Program by announcing the 2011 recipients of the Bonfils-Stanton Awards: Dianne Perry Vanderlip, Bruce and Marcy Benson, and Marion Downs. Each year, the awards recognize outstanding Coloradans for contributions made to enhance the quality of life for residents of Colorado.

“Colorado is home to some of the country’s most accomplished and talented individuals, and it’s our privilege to recognize the Centennial State’s very best,” said Dorothy Horrell, president of the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation. “Dianne Perry Vanderlip, Marcy and Bruce Benson, and Marion Downs provide inspiration for Coloradans and we are pleased to honor them for their accomplishments.”

Award recipients for 2011 include:

Arts and Humanities

• Dianne Perry Vanderlip is the founding curator of modern and contemporary art at the Denver Art Museum. During her 29-year tenure, she raised the funds and support to build a world-class collection of more than 8,000 pieces including paintings, sculpture and photography. She brought to Denver the works of significant artists such as Andy Warhol and Alexander Calder, and put Denver on the map as part of the international contemporary art scene. Her superb curatorial expertise was showcased with the October 2006 opening of the Museum’s Frederic C. Hamilton Building where she oversaw the first permanent installation of modern and contemporary work at the DAM in more than 20 years. She was instrumental in the selection of Denver as the repository for more than 2,000 works by abstract expressionist Clyfford Still. She retired in 2007 and was named Curator Emeritus, a title never before bestowed by the Denver Art Museum.

Community Service

• Bruce and Marcy Benson are skilled problem solvers, coalition builders, and fundraisers who have generously given their time, talent and treasure for the betterment of the citizens of Colorado.Born in Chicago, Bruce worked as a roughneck in the oil fields before founding theBenson Mineral Group in Denver. A tireless champion of education, he chaired the Colorado Commission on Higher Education and the boards of Metropolitan State College of Denver and the Denver Public Schools Foundation. He also chaired the boards of Boy Scouts of America and the Denver Zoological Foundation and served on numerous corporate boards. In his political life, he was chairman of the Colorado Republican Party and Republican nominee for governor of Colorado. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Colorado and was inducted into the Colorado Business Hall of Fame in 2009. Bruce became the 22nd president of the University of Colorado in March of 2008.Marcy was born in Oklahoma City and spent 19 years in Washington, DC, where she directed the White House Fellows program in the Reagan Administration and the first Bush Administration. Since coming to Colorado, she has been an ardent advocate for children’s health care. As a board member for The Children’s Hospital and The Children’s Hospital Foundation, Marcy co-chaired the $273 million campaign to support the hospital’s move to the Anschutz Medical Campus. She has served on the boards of the University of Northern Colorado, Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD) and the Denver Public Library Friends Foundation.

Science and Medicine

• Marion Downs is a pediatric audiologist whose pioneering work with infants helped create the program that today screens 95 percent of all American newborns. She was the first audiologist to venture into the newborn nursery and test whether newborn babies could hear. She developed the first infant hearing screening program and spent 30 years persuading her peers to adopt the test in hospitals. Marion is a Distinguished Professor Emerita at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and the founder of the American Auditory Society. She has published nearly 100 articles and books, including a seminal textbook for audiologists-in-training. She was inducted into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame in 2006. Still active at the age of 97, Marion skied until she was 95. In 2007, she published “Shut Up and Live: A 93-Year-Old’s Guide for Living.”

About the Bonfils-Stanton Awards

The Bonfils-Stanton Awards honor outstanding Coloradans for significant contributions in the fields of art and humanities, community service, and science and medicine. This annual award program was established in 1984 in recognition of Charles Stanton’s desire to bring acclaim to their efforts, and motivate others to greater accomplishments.

About the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation

The Bonfils-Stanton Foundation is a private, nonprofit corporation created to enhance the quality of life for residents of Colorado. Charles Edwin Stanton established the Foundation in 1962 following the death of his wife, Mary Madeline (May) Bonfils Stanton, the daughter of Denver Post co-founder Frederick Bonfils. The mission of the Foundation is to advance excellence in the areas of Arts and Culture, Community Service, and Science and Medicine. Since its founding, the Foundation has awarded more than $48 million to nonprofit organizations throughout Colorado.