“Learn theory and then actually put it into action,” Jamie Orcutt ‘99 told students who attended the Department of Sociology’s recent “Why Sociology?” event. “If you learn how to write well, speak well and understand complicated situations, you will get promoted in your career. High-level jobs require complex thinking that cannot be replaced by computers.”

James (Jamie) Orcutt is a 1999 graduate of the College of Liberal Arts, where he majored in Sociology and minored in Political Science. Jamie is a Vice President and Lead Attorney at CoBank, ACB, in Greenwood Village, Colorado, where he leads a team of attorneys and other legal professionals that documents and collateralizes CoBank’s agribusiness loans across the country. Before moving to CoBank in 2011, Jamie worked at several large law firms in Denver, representing banks, developers, and landlords in commercial real estate transactions. Immediately after graduating from the University of Denver’s law school in 2002, Jamie clerked for United States District Judge Edward Reed in Reno, Nevada, for two years.

Jamie is married to Carrie Orcutt, who is also a Colorado State alum. Jamie and Carrie live in Centennial, Colorado, with their two sons, and they stay busy with baseball, basketball, skiing and the other outdoor activities Colorado has to offer. Jamie has a passion for the liberal arts, and he has enjoyed serving on CSU’s Liberal Arts Development Council (LADC) as a way to stay connected.

“You have to be able to think your way through,” Jamie tells students. “That’s what sociology taught me.” He says he especially enjoys creating webs of connections, brainstorming strategic plans, unifying people from different cultures, navigating gray areas, and making a difference in people’s lives.