UW College of Arts and Sciences to Honor Outstanding Alumna, Former Faculty Member

The University of Wyoming College of Arts and Sciences will hold its annual awards luncheon Saturday, May 4, at the UW Conference Center.

A reception begins at 11 a.m., followed by lunch at noon.

This year, the college honors outstanding former faculty member Duane Porter, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, as well as outstanding alumna Caitlin Long, School of Politics, Public Affairs and International Studies.

Porter, now a professor emeritus, joined the UW Department of Mathematics in 1964. Over the course of his career, Porter received numerous teaching awards, including the George Duke Humphrey Distinguished Faculty Award (1998), the John P. Ellbogen Meritorious Classroom Teaching Award (1994), the College of Arts and Sciences Extraordinary Merit for Teaching Award (1992) and the Amoco Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching (1980).

During the 1975-76 academic year, Porter worked with a colleague at Western Wyoming Community College to organize the first statewide articulation conference, the Rocky Mountain Mathematic Consortium, with UW and all seven Wyoming community colleges. This conference continues today. Porter facilitated National Science Foundation grants for many fellow faculty members and received four himself, each renewed multiple times.

Porter was a member of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) Board of Governors (1978-1981); served as MAA Rocky Mountain Section chairman (1975-77); and received the MAA Certificate of Meritorious Service Award (1991). Porter co-edited a well-regarded volume of linear-algebra essays, “Linear Algebra Gems,” and served on the editorial board of the prestigious journal Rocky Mountain Math.

Long, a Laramie native, earned a Bachelor of Arts in political economics in 1990 and is a graduate of Harvard Law School (J.D., 1994) and the Kennedy School of Government (MPP, 1994). A 22-year Wall Street veteran and expert in bitcoin and blockchain technology, Long helped drive Wyoming’s trailblazing 2018 blockchain legislation as a co-founder of the Wyoming Blockchain Coalition.

From 2016-18, Long was chairman and president of Symbiont, an enterprise blockchain company. She ran Morgan Stanley’s pension business (2007-2016), held senior roles at Credit Suisse (1997-2007) and began her career at Salomon Brothers (1994-97). During her time at Morgan Stanley, Long advised on the settlement of nearly $40 billion of pension obligations for General Motors, Verizon, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Motorola and JCPenney. At Credit Suisse, Long helped place the initial public offerings of MetLife, Manulife, Prudential, Principal and John Hancock.

An active UW alumna, she previously served on the UW Foundation Board of Directors and the College of Arts and Sciences Board of Visitors, and has created endowments, including the Caitlin Long Excellence Fund in Arts and Sciences.

The awards luncheon is open to all interested people at a cost of $35 per plate. To learn more, RSVP and pay online, go to www.uwyo.edu/as/alumni-and-friends/luncheon.html or call (307) 766-4106.