Wade Troxell, associate professor of mechanical engineering, was honored this fall with the Colorado Municipal League Sam Mamet “Good Governance” Award for his leadership and service as Fort Collins Mayor.
Troxell served a maximum of three terms as Mayor and fourteen years as a member of City Council. He helped lead the City to earn numerous national and international accolades particularly for governmental excellence and sustainability. Fort Collins is regularly recognized as one of the best places to live.
The Sam Mamet Award honors individuals who exemplify and seek to expand the application of good governance principles. Troxell was one of two people who were selected to receive the award out of a pool of 41 candidates.
“It is a distinct honor to be recognized in the name and legacy of Sam Mamet and for the purpose of good governance,” Troxell said. “As local government officials, we have a special relationship to our communities and responsibilities to our neighbors. We must embody the trust through our leadership making Colorado’s cities and towns ever stronger. As leaders, we need to strive for exceptional communities for future generations providing good governance to all that we serve.”
During his time as Mayor, Fort Collins was one of only four cities to achieve the U.S. Secretary of Commerce Malcolm Baldrige Award for leadership and operational excellence, and one of only five cities awarded a $1.1 million Bloomberg Mayor’s Challenge grant to help lower-income rental housing with energy efficiency improvements. In 2017, it was one of 10 international cities honored with the C40 Cities Bloomberg Philanthropies Award for taking innovative steps to address climate action.
“After 35 years of municipal government experience and having worked with dozens of elected leaders, Mayor Troxell stands out in my mind as a visionary and a leader who always focused on solving the problem at hand,” said Darin Atteberry, former Fort Collins City Manager who left the City this year to work for Elevations Credit Union as Market President and Senior Vice President of Government Affairs & Strategic Relationships. “He is a big thinker and always collaborative in his approach.”
Key to Troxell’s leadership was the launch of the Connexion broadband utility moving from initial concept to deployment. He is also a past president of the Colorado Municipal League, and served as the only municipal government representative on the FAA’s Drone Advisory Committee.
Troxell also helped advance key regional efforts in Northern Colorado, including the revitalization of the Northern Colorado Regional Airport with a new terminal design and establishment of the nation’s first remote air traffic control tower. He chaired Platte River Power Authority’s board in development of a resource diversification policy and an integrated resource plan leading to a commitment for 100 percent noncarbon energy by 2030.
Troxell has spent 37 years on the faculty in the Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering. He earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees at CSU and joined the faculty in 1985. He is a strong advocate of systems thinking, not only with his students but in municipal government. He played a key role as associate dean for research and economic development in forming the Systems Engineering department.
