This story originally appeared in the June 2024 Checkpoints magazine.

Hugh Williamson ’64 first heard of the U.S. Air Force Academy’s planned TrueNorth Commons development during an Air Force Academy Foundation board meeting break several years ago. He and fellow board director and developer Dan Schnepf ’83 talked about Schnepf’s hopes for the future of the Academy’s North Gate.

“Dan was telling me about his vision for what he wanted to try to make happen,” Williamson says. “I went away thinking, ‘If he pulls this off, it’ll be second only to putting a man on the moon.’”

Fast forward to the fall of 2023, when construction crews didn’t put a man on the moon, but they did put shovels in the earth when breaking ground on the development’s two main projects — the Hosmer Visitor Center and Hotel Polaris.

“Thanks to Dan’s tenacity, he was able to make it happen,” says Williamson, who at age 42 became USAFA’s first graduate to become CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

As the much-anticipated late-2024 opening of Hotel Polaris approaches, Williamson and his spouse, Nan, are interested in how the property will benefit the Academy long term. In late 2023, the Williamsons made a $5.5 million gift supporting Hotel Polaris, as well as a new way to recognize the accomplishments and contributions of USAFA’s Distinguished Graduates.

“In everything we do, we try to move the needle a little bit,” says Hugh Williamson, a 2020 Distinguished Graduate.

According to Mark Hille ’97, CEO of the Association of Graduates and Air Force Academy Foundation, the Williamsons’ gift more than moves the needle.

“What an intelligent and far-reaching gift this is,” Hille says. “It has multiple layers of impact over coming generations. The Williamsons had the vision to see this, as other donors have, and we’re delighted they have the generosity to see it through.”

Hotel Polaris will be the second largest hotel in Colorado Springs after The Broadmoor. Its 375 rooms and conference facilities with an expansive view of the Air Force Academy and Rampart Range will attract cadet families, tourists and event planners. It will boast several design elements that pay homage to the traditions of the Air Force Academy. Guests will have access to flight simulators; a spa; a terrace with a swimming pool, cabanas and fire pits; and six eateries, including a 1950s soda shop and an upscale, ninth-floor lounge and bar called The Aviator. Most of the amenities will be open to the public.

Provident Resource Group will use the Williamsons’ gift — combined with several others — to retire high-yield debt incurred to start the development. Once the debt is retired, the Association of Graduates and Air Force Academy Foundation will take ownership of the hotel, providing significant perpetual financial support for the Academy. The Association and Foundation’s mission is to support the Academy, serve graduates and preserve the heritage of the institution.

“When I learned the details about the benefit of paying off the most expensive tranche of capital for the hotel early, which would mean reducing the interest by tens of millions of dollars, it just connected all the dots,” says Hugh Williamson.

“It will result in the Association and Foundation owning the hotel several years earlier than planned and seeing millions of dollars of profits that can be used in support of the Academy. I’m hoping we will still be around to see that happen.”

In addition to the direct economic benefit to the Academy’s mission, Hugh Williamson sees the hotel as an important addition to the Academy landscape and north Colorado Springs. It will be a meeting place for graduates and potential lodging for classes hosting reunions.

He believes guests will be inspired by the views and the interactive displays planned for the Hosmer Visitor Center just across North Gate Boulevard via a pedestrian bridge.

“Once someone has stayed in the hotel, visited the Hosmer Visitor Center with all of the history and background of our Academy on display, and personally witnessed the spectacular natural splendor — I think we all hope one will be motivated in some way to contribute to the continued success of the Academy,” Hugh Williamson says.

While a significant portion of the Williamson gift was made with future Academy needs in mind, the remaining money will support the creation of a new Distinguished Graduates monument on the Academy’s Heritage Trail.

Currently, recipients of the Distinguished Graduate award, an honor bestowed by the Air Force Academy and the Association of Graduates, are recognized with bronze plaques displayed on stone pedestals.

“Continuing the current, unique method of memorializing DGs was physically untenable for the next 50 or 60 years,”

Hugh Williamson says. He chaired a committee of Distinguished Graduates to come up with a more sustainable but still meaningful way to recognize the award recipients.

Starting with the 26th class of Distinguished Graduates — to be announced in 2027 — honorees will be recognized for one year on the same pedestals as the previous award recipients. Once a new class is honored, the previous class’s plaques will be moved to a Distinguished Graduate memorial wall for permanent display. This prominent architectural feature and gathering space will be built north of the new Wecker Hall and have seating that faces the cadet area of the Air Force Academy.

Hugh Williamson hopes all members of the Long Blue Line recognize the benefits of their cadet experiences and leadership lessons and are therefore inspired to give back to the institution in any way they can.

“It is very important to the Foundation’s ability to secure contributions from numerous supporters and constituents and that they see large percentages of the graduates stepping up as donors. The fact that many graduates are supporting our Academy is often equally as important as the amount one is able to donate,” Hugh Williamson says.

“Every graduate has received a very extensive free education. All of them could make a meaningful contribution, because they, too, would not be where they are today.” Hugh Williamson is equally positive about current cadets and the future of the institution.

“As a cadet, I would love to have been able to take part in all the numerous programs and majors and classes that are going on at the Academy now for the cadets,” he says. “We go down [from Denver] for a lot of things, and we’re totally blown away by the presentations. It was true in 1960 and hopefully it will be true forever: The Academy is an outstanding institution. It’s a great place to learn and to grow and to thrive.”

Hugh Williamson attributes his life’s successes — including his marriage and his family — to his choice 64 years ago to attend the Academy. He spent his Air Force career as an instructor pilot and academic leader before embarking on an extensive and successful business career. Over the past 50 years, he has served as chairman and chief executive officer of five public companies.

As Hugh and Nan Williamson enjoy retirement and more time with their family, they also look to the next generation of Academy graduates and cadets to lead through support of and engagement with the Academy.

“If you’re flying a fighter, and there are two people in the airplane and you want the other person to take control, you shake the stick,” Hugh Williamson explains. “I think all of us grads are shaking the stick, figuratively. I would say to the cadets, ‘We’re shaking the stick, you have the plane. So keep the mach up.’”