Alan K. Simpson  - 1954

Former U.S. Senator

Retired U.S. Senator Alan Simpson started his career serving as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army from 1954 to 1958 in Germany. After earning his law degree from the University of Wyoming, he was admitted to the Wyoming Bar and the U.S. District Court in 1958. He practiced law in his hometown of Cody, Wyoming, from 1958 until 1977.

Representing Park County, Wyoming, Simpson was elected to the Wyoming Legislature in 1964 and served in the Wyoming House of Representatives until 1977. In 1978 he was elected to the U.S. Senate as a republican and was re-elected twice, once in 1984 and again in 1990.

He retired from the U.S. Senate in 1997 and wrote his book, Right in the Old Gazoo: A Lifetime of Scrapping with the Press. In 1999, he served as the director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Simpson continues to be involved with UW, and his family is becoming ever-greater benefactors of the university, supporting academic programs as well as capital improvements. He was chairman of the UW capital campaign, DISTINCTION: The Campaign for Wyoming's University. Simpson also served two years as president of the UW Alumni Association (1962-63).

Simpson is a current member of UW Allied Professional Board, Campus Advisory Board, and W.D. Ruckelhaus IENR Board. He has earned honorary doctorates from American University, Notre Dame University, Colorado College, and California Western School of Law.Library Fund and helped fund capital improvements, memorial funds, scholarships, and several cultural programs, including the American Heritage Center, theatre and dance, and museums.

Alan Simpson's papers are housed at the American Heritage Center on the UW campus.

Photos courtesy of O'Bannon Institute and American Heritage Center