From the classrooms and airwaves at Westminster College to leading an organization advocating for children AND making history in international cycling, Noreen Landis-Tyson ’75 has always followed her passions. After earning her political science degree, she built a long career in nonprofit work in Colorado, including more than two decades as CEO of the Community Partnership for Child Development. And when she’s not serving her community, she’s breaking barriers on the track—becoming the first woman to lead the commissaires panel at the Olympic Games.

You graduated from Westminster in 1975 with a degree in political science. Tell us about your career and educational path after WC. 

Most of my career has been in Colorado Springs, Colorado in non-profit work. I worked for the U.S. Olympic Committee in the early 1980s, then moved to the U.S. Field Hockey Association working with the national team for 10 years. In 1992, I started with Community Partnership for Child Development (CPCD), the Head Start grantee in El Paso County, doing fundraising, grant writing, volunteer management and marketing. Head Start is an early childhood development and family program for young children who are living in poverty. If there is one thing that political science studies taught me, it is how to write, so grant writing became one of my strengths. The last 21 years of my career with CPCD I was the CEO, leading 350 employees serving about 1,500 children and their families annually. During my first several years at CPCD, I enrolled in the MBA program at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, and earned my degree in 1997, and was named the college of business graduate student of the year.

Retiring in 2023 as the CEO of CPCD, what keeps you busy in retirement?

My friends laugh when I say that I am retired because I stay pretty busy. I am contracted by a non-profit in Colorado Springs to support the implementation of universal preschool, a new program in the state of Colorado. While I work from home, this program keeps me very busy, ensuring that early care and education providers are supported and families can enroll their children in the program. My weekends in the fall are devoted to college football, a passion that I share with both my husband, Mark, and daughter, Claire. We also have three dogs (a Jack Russell rescue, a miniature Bull Terrier and a Havanese). And I have a 9-year-old grandson, Asher. Both the two-legged and four-legged members of the family provide lots of entertainment and keep me busy.

How did you get involved in track cycling? And what titles do you hold as an official?

My husband introduced me to road cycling back in 1978, as he was a cyclist and a coach. When we moved to Colorado Springs, Mark started to coach a junior cycling team, and we were spending our summers traveling all over Colorado with a van full of junior cyclists. I decided if I was going to be at these events, I might as well do something useful, so I obtained an official’s license through USA Cycling. Up until 1983, I spent my time officiating on the road until the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs partnered with USA Cycling to build a velodrome. I immediately fell in love with track cycling as it is a cycling discipline that requires quick decisions and a well-developed feel for the sport. Over the subsequent years I officiated at the velodrome in Colorado Springs and also traveled around the country to learn from other officials. 

As a commissaire (an official), where have your travels taken you?

In 1997 I was given the opportunity to take the international commissaires course in Ottawa, Canada. Four Americans attended that class; I was one of only two women in the whole class of 50. After passing the course, which was no easy task, my very first international assignment came the next year to British Columbia, Canada, and since then, my assignments have included traveling to several countries in South America and Europe, Canada, and Mexico. In 2019 I was appointed to serve as the first woman starter at a World Cup, the first woman president of the commissaires panel at a world championship, and the first woman president of the panel of the Olympic Games in Tokyo. I have since mostly retired to working national-level events in the U.S., training new commissaires, and leading the USA Cycling national technical commission that designs and implements training plans for commissaires in the United States.

As an international trailblazer for women officials, did you ever think you’d be in this position?

It has taken time for women to become accepted as commissaires, especially on the track where we are in a “fishbowl,” with everyone being able to see the impact of decisions that are made by the panel. The UCI Track Coordinator at that time was a gentleman who decided to champion women commissaires and gave me (and a few others) the opportunity to prove ourselves. I will be forever grateful to this gentleman for advocating for our appointments to the highest-level events. The commissaires panel in Tokyo only had one other woman assigned, out of a total of 9.

Did I ever think I’d be in this position? Nope. I remember the day that I opened my email to see that I was assigned as the starter at a World Cup and was shocked as only men were appointed to that position (the starter has the pistol to start and stop races and it is a very visible position).  Then the next email was an appointment as the president of the commissaires panel for a World Cup (Canada) and the World Championships (Berlin) and I was even more surprised as there had never been a woman appointed as the president at a world championships. Two weeks later, the Olympic appointments came out, and I cried when I saw my appointment as president of the commissaires panel. I would have been so happy to be appointed, but to lead the panel was groundbreaking …and I hope I will be the first of many to come.

Reflecting on your time at Westminster, do you have a favorite experience from New Wilmington?

I have two facets of my time at Westminster that were particularly memorable to me. The first was my time at WKPS Radio. I met so many really wonderful people there and loved not only DJing but also helped to manage the station as a student. The second was my experience as a Kappa Delta sorority member. I am still in touch with several of my sisters and valued the camaraderie that we shared.

The class that was most memorable was a January history class (in the 4-1-4 system) in which we traveled to Williamsburg, Virginia, as part of the class. I plan to go back there someday soon to visit one of my friends from both high school and Westminster resides there – Christine Laub Punchard ’75 and her husband, Randy Punchard ’74.

Picture: Christine Laub Punchard '75 (bride) and Noreen Landis-Tyson (far right)

Connect with Noreen Landis-Tyson on LinkedIn.

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