Owen J Hill(Candidate for Senate District 11, Colorado)
Owen J Hill (Candidate for Colorado Senate District 11)
Owen Hill grew up in Virginia, splitting time between his grandparent’s peanut farm in the eastern part of the state and attending a small private school in Blacksburg towards the west. The first of seven children, he learned from a young age the importance of contributing to the family economy. His first job began in fourth grade with a newspaper route. He then transitioned to mowing lawns in the neighborhood, culminating with managing more than 30 residential and commercial properties when he finished high school.
In high school, Owen’s father spent the summers tutoring him in math and physics in preparation to study engineering in college. While this academic challenge proved quite formative, economics proved a better fit at the Air Force Academy 1 in what ended up being a double major with operations research. Owen built upon his experience as a captain of his high school soccer team by captaining the intramural soccer team at the Academy. In addition, he also instructed other cadets to fly gliders, logging more than 300 flights as a glider instructor pilot.
While flying was an option upon graduating the Air Force Academy, academic challenges continued to prove attractive. He was the recipient of the Superintendent’s RAND2 Scholarship. This allowed him to pursue a Ph.D. in Policy Analysis while researching a wide array of national and international policy issues at the think tank in Santa Monica, California. He had the privilege to marry Emily Nelson in between graduation at the Academy and commencing studies at the Pardee RAND Graduate School3. Emily was born and raised in the same house her parents live in to this day. She was teaching kindergarten at Stratton Elementary School until just before leaving town as a new bride.
As a diversion from the intense monotony of completing a Ph.D. in the three years allotted him by the Air Force 4, Owen chose an alternative monotony of triathlons. He completed Ironman5 Arizona days before his first son was born; placing 8th in his age group and just missing qualification for the world championships in Hawaii. After receiving his final dissertation signature on the day he left town, Owen drove to Virginia to work on his grandfather’s farm for several months before returning to Colorado.
As a captain in the Air Force, Owen served as the lead analyst for a new constellation of military communications satellites. During this time, his second child, a daughter, was born. Upon completing his service in the Air Force, Owen had the opportunity to develop a new planning process for one of the biggest non-profits in the country. At Compassion International 6, he has integrated 37 country plans and economic forecasts into a consolidated strategic planning process for a $500 million annual budget. While at Compassion their second daughter was born.
During his travels to Africa with Compassion, Owen was confronted with the difficulty of international development and began to realize his passion for conserving the principles that have made the United States exceptional. This passion, in large part, has been a driving force in his decision to enter the public realm as a candidate for the Colorado State Senate. His campaign, against Democratic incumbent John Morse, is being cast as one of the pivotal races in Colorado for the 2010 elections.
Owen currently lives in Colorado Springs with his wife Emily and three children Kaiden, Miette, and Ellis in a house built by General Palmer in 1896. They are working to raise their children in a culture that respects those who have animated the years past, rewards hard work in the present, and looks with eager optimism to the future.