vailsymposium

Professor of History Duane Vandenbusche is currently the longest-serving active professor at any public higher education institution in Colorado. His tenure at Western Colorado University began in 1962 at the age of 25. Vandenbusche teaches on the history of the U.S. West, especially water, public lands, and the environment, and his history of Colorado’s Western Slope, A Land Alone, has been the standard text on the region since its publication in 1981. Also a legendary running coach, Vandenbusche turned the Mountaineers cross country and track and field programs into national powerhouses from 1971 to 2007, and he is cherished to this day by the hundreds of athletes who ran under him. He is the author of 11 books, including: “The Gunnison Country,” “Around Monarch Pass,” and “Lake City” (in progress, April 2019). In 2018 History Colorado named Vandenbusche to the Colorado Historian’s Council.