Dale Farrand (AeroEngr'93)
2024 Alumni Engagement Medal Award recipient
Current Job and Employer: Senior Program Manager, Connected Logistics
Current City: Washington, D.C.
Professional Background
Dale Farrand graduated from CU in 1993 with a bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering. Attending school on an ROTC scholarship, Dale was commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Army. During a 25-year career, Dale served as a Missile Maintenance Production Control Officer, commanded a Missile Maintenance Company, and commanded a Multifunctional Logistics Battalion that supported all Army missile assets in Central Iraq. Dale led organizations numbering 50 to 1,500 Soldiers in Europe, Haiti, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, and Iraq; developed the Army’s logistics enterprise information technology system; prepared dozens of staffs to deploy on contingency operations; and culminated his career as the Director of Customer Operations for the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) – the Department of Defense’s $35 billion-dollar annual business unit. At DLA, he championed small and large businesses in the Defense and Aerospace Industry. Utilizing business intelligence tools, managing Congressional budgets, and interacting with the factory to front line supply chain, Dale implemented programs to invest in repair parts that improved weapons system readiness – the key performance metric for customers – for all Army and Marine Corps vehicle fleets.
After retiring from the Army, Dale served as a Vice President for Business Strategy and currently runs the Department of Defense's Radio Frequency In-Transit Visibility program which uses satellite and cellular technology to track over 80,000 military shipments monthly across 44 countries.
Contributions to the Aerospace Engineering Sciences department over the past year
Dale’s volunteerism with CU began when he served as a mentor for the Hacking for Defense Course. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Dale served as a panelist on the College of Engineering and Applied Science’s (CEAS) virtual networking event Taking a Non-Traditional Career Path After Graduation and, along with his wife, Kristen (Psych ’92), hosted a virtual welcome for New Buffs Families, focused on how CU was taking care of its students during the pandemic. Dale and Kristen are parents of two Buffs (EnvSt ’23 and Edu ’25).
Dale is a CEAS Network Ambassador for the Washington DC Metro area and helped coordinate a highly successful launch of CEAS’s DC Metro Alumni Network in October 2023. Dale also leads the Forever Buffs Chapter in Washington DC, serves on the CU Boulder Alumni Association Advisory Board, and is one of the Chancellor’s Global Ambassadors. For the Forever Buffs in Washington DC, Dale established several programs within the Chapter to increase engagement.
He doubled the number of Buffs Give Back philanthropy events, started a series of industry focused networking events, changed the criteria for the Chapter’s annual scholarship to be more inclusive of first-generation college students (on track to award over $7,500 in scholarships) and started a mentorship program for CU students studying in Washington DC that has mentored more than 50 students to date.
Dale has a passion for the University of Colorado, the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences Department. He has built the brand in under-represented areas and helped others see the value of a CU education and more importantly, the talent within the network of diverse students and graduates