Published: Dec. 1, 2012

Nate Solder with his mother

New England Patriots offensive tackle Nate Solder has many achievements, including first-team 2010 All-American (he was a University of Colorado Buff between 2007 and 鈥10) and Outland Trophy finalist.

Now a CU donor, he has something else to be proud of.

Solder, who earned a CU-Boulder biology degree, directed his gift toward a required introductory lab course, which Solder credits with setting a positive tone for his academic experience.

鈥淢y hope was that the donation I made could begin improving the old lab equipment, instead of merely maintaining it,鈥 Solder says.

鈥淚t was my first introduction to giving back and I wanted to choose an area that had positively affected my life in hopes that it could continue to help others in the same way.鈥

Recalls John Basey, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology senior instructor, 鈥淣ate had a good grasp of the nature of science as well as science-process skills. I was proud that Nate was a product of our department, in that his understanding of science was so well-grounded.鈥

Basey considers Solder鈥檚 gift a program highlight. 鈥淥ur equipment gets heavily used, and it is hard to keep it all in tip- top shape,鈥 he explains.

鈥淪older鈥檚 donation really helps out the workings of the classroom and goes directly toward improving the education of the students.鈥

This article originally appeared in Creating Futures, a magazine published by the CU Foundation.