The Honors College experience continues to impact generations. Lynn and Lisa Pace, along with their children, Andrew and Eliza, are all graduates from the University of Utah Honors College and are all members of the Beehive Honors Society. Their participation in the Honors College provided them not only with a shared family framework but with a solid foundation for achieving their individual goals.
Alumnus and previous National Honors Advisory Board (NHAB) member, Lynn Pace, graduated from the University of Utah with an Honors Bachelor of Arts in History in 1984. Afterward, he attended the University of Chicago Law School. After graduating and working in private practice, he eventually transitioned into public practice and worked for Salt Lake City for nearly 25 years. He was the Deputy City Attorney and the Senior Advisor to the Mayor serving with 5 Salt Lake City Mayors. Lynn handled all of the legislative work for Salt Lake City and was the liaison between the mayor and city council. He also served on the Holladay City Council for 14 years and was instrumental in developing their village center, city hall, fire station and city park. He has served on the Bennion Center advisory board, as the President of the Utah Municipal Attorneys Association, President of the Utah League of Cities and Towns and is still on its advisory board. Currently, he is the Sandy City Attorney and also serves on the Board of Directors of the Utah Fancy Poultry Association.
Lisa Oldroyd Pace graduated with an Honors Bachelor of Arts in English in 1989. Since then, she has focused her time as a stay-at-home mother raising 7 children. She frequently volunteered in the community, serving in the PTA, participating on the Olympus Development Foundation board, teaching music, directing and producing six Shakespeare plays, and serving on the alumni board for the Beehive Honor Society. Lisa taught her children to read at home, which gave each child confidence as they began school. Education was a high priority in their home. Six of their children have graduated from college, the youngest is currently in college, and four have earned graduate degrees.
Andrew and Eliza Pace followed in their parents’ footsteps by participating in the Honors College when they attended the U. Andrew Pace graduated from the University of Utah with an Honors Bachelor of Arts in History in 2013. He continued his education by attending the University of Chicago and completed a Master’s degree in Social Sciences and then received a PhD in American History from the University of Colorado Boulder. His dissertation focused on the evolution of American grand strategy between World War II and the Vietnam War. He is currently working at the University of Southern Mississippi, as a Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) Research Partner Fellow in the Dale Center for the Study of War and Society. He uses forensic history, archival research, and military genealogy to fulfill the agency’s mission to provide the fullest possible accounting for missing American Service Members. He is also teaching a graduate seminar on American History and hopes to advance his career through tenure-track professorships, professional military education, or continued government work. Andrew is married to Marianne Thompson Pace (BA, 2011) and they have 4 children.
Alumna and Honors Young Alumni Board Member, Eliza Jane Pace graduated from the University of Utah with an Honors Bachelor of Arts in Communication with an emphasis in Journalism in 2021. Since graduating, she worked as a journalist for KSL TV for three years – writing stories, creating social media content, and hosting a daily TV segment on digital trends. She is married to Michael Petersen (MAC, 2019) and is pursuing a Master’s degree in Education at Boston College with a focus on secondary English. Eliza loves and values education and wants to take every opportunity to learn more. Additionally, since most of her undergraduate experience was virtual due to COVID-19, she is excited to have an on-campus graduate student experience.
The Pace family attributes many of their successes to their participation in and the education received through their Honors College experience.
One of Lynn’s greatest takeaways from participating in the Honors College is the ability to think critically among differing opinions and to discover creative solutions to complex community problems. Lynn has used critical thinking in public service as he has often had to mediate between the city, state legislators, and the public. He often says that Honors College graduates learn to be community problem solvers.
Similarly, Lisa navigated different points of view while raising children and engaging in community projects with people who have diverse personalities, ideas, and goals. Lisa appreciated the diverse classes offered as well as the relationships she gained with many of the faculty. She enjoyed a Property Tax class, taught by former governor, Norm Bangerter. She marveled that someone so renowned took the time to teach undergraduates. Among her mentors was a nationally recognized playwright, David Kranes, who supervised her thesis. Lisa is grateful to have strong mentors who enabled her to connect with diverse people.
The Honors College connected Andrew and Eliza to the greater community. For example, Andrew participated in an Honors College Think Tank (today called Praxis Labs) with the South Sudanese Association of Utah, and wrote his Honors Thesis on the punishment of Nazi collaborators after World War II.
To Eliza, the thesis was not just another box to check, but a way to create lasting change in an area she was passionate about. Inspired by a news article about a boy who took his life after being exploited online, She developed a curriculum for social media literacy for Utah High School health classes. Eliza is currently developing her research from her thesis into a podcast highlighting the knowledge she gained through her thesis project.
Eliza loved her Professional Negotiations class. In one project, Eliza studied global feminism by interviewing women across the world on the female experience. Through this project in her Intellectual Traditions class, Eliza developed a passion for interviewing people and telling their stories, leading her to the journalism field.
These experiences allowed them to develop real-world solutions beyond the classroom. The Pace family hopes that the legacy of Honors will continue to make an impact in the lives of students today. Lynn admonishes, “If academics and your education matter to you as a student in high school, there is no better place to be than in the Honors College at the University of Utah.”
We are so grateful that the Pace Family is part of our Honors College alumni community!
*Dr. Andrew Pace is not an employee of the DPAA, he supports DPAA through a partnership. The views presented are those of the interviewees and do not necessarily represent the views of the DPAA, DoD or its components.