A Life of Purpose, Passion and Performance

For Colleen Jennings-Roggensack, CAS ’75, who received Oakland University’s prestigious Alfred G. and Matilda R. Wilson Award as a student, it wasn’t just a recognition for her outstanding academic, leadership and service achievements, it represented a commitment to excellence she would keep as life moved forward.

“I feel like I’m fulfilling a promise that was made when I won that award,” she says. Decades later, as vice president for cultural affairs at Arizona State University and executive director of ASU Gammage, Colleen continues to honor that promise through a groundbreaking career in the arts that’s been anything but conventional.

Her journey began at Oakland University, where she says the university didn’t just prepare her for a career, it prepared her to think. “Oakland taught me how to approach challenges and how to be a good citizen,” she recalls. That citizenship started early. She was a resident assistant for three years and dove headfirst into campus life, dancing in the Slavic folk ensemble, performing in Meadow Brook Theatre productions and taking on 21-credit course loads to feed her curiosity.

Colleen’s time at OU also forged lifelong friendships. It’s where she met her best friend, Sheila Barnett Cooley. “She was my maid of honor and I was hers. She’s the godmother of my only daughter, Kelsey. She married my husband’s best friend,” Colleen shares. Their bond, like so many that began at Oakland, became an anchor throughout life’s twists and turns.

Colleen’s intellectual appetite was insatiable. From studying Russian and cultural history to modern dance and literature, she explored every corner of the curriculum. Two professors, in particular, helped shape her path; Helen Kovach-Tarakanov, (Mama K) who transformed her into “Katya” and swept her into the world of Russian language and folk dancing and Carol Halsted, who reignited her love of modern dance and exposed her to icons like Martha Graham and Ansel Adams. “Maybe everyone gets to meet Martha Graham in college,” Colleen once thought. At OU, it almost felt like they did.

That curiosity and passion launched a career that has redefined what it means to connect communities through the arts. Colleen’s leadership at ASU Gammage has turned the venue into an epicenter of cultural diplomacy and creative exchange, while her role as Arizona’s only Tony voter – one of fewer than 700 nationwide – puts her at the forefront of American theater. She sees every Broadway show in a season, reads plays and librettos and curates experiences for donors, students and the broader public.

Colleen also serves as vice chair of the road for The Broadway League Board of Governors and is co-director of Broadway Green Alliance. In 2024, her lifelong dedication was recognized with a Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre.

Yet for all the accolades, her deepest pride lies in the people she’s uplifted. “I’ve worn dresses on the Tony red carpet designed by emerging designers – each one their first major commission,” she says. These collaborations have helped launch young designers’ careers from dining room fitting sessions to viral moments and national recognition. “Paying it forward is the most important part,” she insists. “Whoever you are, wherever you go, you didn’t get there by yourself. There are secret people you don’t even know about who are rooting for you, cheering for you, pushing you along.”

That commitment to lifting others extends to her family. Her husband, Kurt Roggensack, Ph.D., is a volcanologist and faculty member at ASU. “We are such different people,” she laughs. “But because of him, I exist.” Their daughter, Kelsey Jennings Roggensack, Ph.D., exemplifies the family’s academic firepower. A Fulbright scholar with degrees from Williams, Harvard and Cornell, she is fluent in both Dutch and Indonesian. “Being a mother with a career means you’re always in the wrong place. But if you can live with that ambiguity, you’ll be a great parent,” she acknowledges.

From her start as a military “third culture kid” who’d eaten sushi by age five, to her global work as a speaker, mentor and cultural envoy, Colleen has lived a life steeped in passion, resilience and purpose. She teaches not only through lectures at the Smithsonian or classes at NYU and Columbia, but also through action – showing that living “deep in your curiosity” is not just an academic exercise, but a calling.

As Oakland University honors Colleen Jennings-Roggensack with the Odyssey Award, given to alumni whose lives exemplify OU’s motto to “seek virtue and knowledge,” she is celebrated for her spirit of exploration, community and courage.