American politician, a three-term Governor of Colorado, the state’s longest-serving governor, in office from January 1975 to January 1987. Selected as one of Time Magazine’s “200 Young Leaders of America” in 1974, he wrote five books and was known for being on the cutting edge of change. He served as Director of the Center for Public Policy and Contemporary Issues at the University of Denver since its founding in 1987, with his focus in the health policy area, specifically health care systems reform and resource allocation.
Lamm was born in Wisconsin, where his father was a coal company executive. He served in the Army in 1957-1958, following his graduation from the University of Wisconsin. He received his law degree from the University of California in 1961. A freshman state representative in 1967, he authored what was then the nation’s most liberal abortion law. In 1972, he led the coalition of environmentalists that defeated real estate and tourism interests to keep the 1976 Winter Olympics out of Colorado. He was elected Colorado’s Governor in 1974. He was not successful in a bid for the 1992 Democratic Senate nomination.
He authored several books, including “The Angry West,” co-authored with G. Michael McCarthy; “Pioneers and Politicians,” with Duane A. Smith; “Megatraumas: America in the Year 2000;” and “The Immigration Time Bomb.”
On leaving office in 1987, he taught at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, as the Montgomery Fellow. He continued with his work as Director of the Center for Public Policy at the University of Denver.
In addition to the Time Magazine citation, Lamm also won the Christian Science Monitor’s “Peace 2010” essay competition in 1985. In 1992, he was honored by the Denver Post and Historic Denver, Inc., as one of the “Colorado 100” – people who have made significant contributions to Colorado and its history.
His wife, Dottie, a former flight attendant who earned a degree in social work, is a columnist for the “Denver Post.” She had a mastectomy in 1981. They have two grown children, Heather, and Scott.
Lamm enjoyed hiking, mountain climbing, skiing, whitewater canoeing and reading. He died on 29 July 2021 in Denver from complications of a pulmonary embolism, one week before his 86th birthday.
Link to Wikipedia biography