Happy New Year and happy spring semester! As I consider the upcoming year at the University of Colorado, I’m filled with hope and gratitude for CU – for our faculty, students, staff, alumni, donors and many other supporters – and the incredible work happening here. The CU community achieved much in 2023 that will have a profound impact this year and well into the future.
Topping our Best Moments List for 2023 are our spring and fall commencement ceremonies, where approximately 18,000 students received degrees from one of our four campuses (commencement tops our Best Moments List every year). Celebrating our students, their hard work and achievements is one of the best parts of my job. Knowing our graduates will go on to save lives, create, innovate, advocate and do countless other things that better their communities and corners of the world inspires and instills hope, particularly during turbulent times.
2023 also marked the publication of CU’s System Sustainability Report, which comes out every other year and charts our progress in reaching our critical, long-term goal of carbon neutrality. The latest report helps illustrate how our efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy and water consumption are paying off, and highlights advances on all our campuses in the areas of transportation, the built environment and waste diversion. While we celebrate the good work being done, we acknowledge we must do more. Recognizing that the environmental clock is always ticking, I’m creating a systemwide sustainability working group this year to build upon our good work and take it to the next level.
CU’s impact on Colorado’s economy is a powerful testament to the extraordinary teaching, research, community engagement and health care we provide the entire state. We generated an economic impact of $10.8 billion statewide last year ($17.2 billion with our two affiliate hospitals on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus). Meanwhile, our incredible faculty had a record-breaking year, garnering $1.6 billion in sponsored research funding and gifts supporting research, a 9% increase over the previous year and the highest such total in CU history.
While Boulder athletics was the talk of the town – and the country – Colorado’s designation in 2023 as a U.S. Tech Hub focused on advancing the quantum industry has tremendous implications for the entire state and nation, and CU Boulder is at the heart of this exciting work. Its longstanding leadership in quantum research and technology translation, along with its federal partnerships – with the National Institute of Standards and Technology through JILA, the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy – make CU Boulder a significant player in Colorado’s efforts to become a global quantum leader and propel CU to the forefront of this vital work.
2023 also marked the 25th anniversary of CU Boulder’s dynamic Center for Humanities & the Arts (CHA), which drives research and innovation in the arts and humanities and provides vital support to students and faculty, including opportunities to showcase their work. The CHA also fosters invaluable connections with the campus and greater communities and helps us learn more about ourselves and each other. I can’t wait to see how the center continues to build community, awareness and dialogue around the arts and humanities over the next 25 years.
A groundbreaking gift from the Anschutz Foundation last year made possible the Anschutz Acceleration Initiative, which is fast-tracking healthcare innovations to directly impact patients in the next three to five years. Focusing on game-changing treatments and therapies for conditions ranging from cancer to macular degeneration to dental disease and much more, nine projects have been selected for the first round of funding from the initiative, which promises to transform health and health care delivery.
CU Anschutz’s Center for Combat Medicine and Battlefield (COMBAT) Research continues to garner well-deserved attention as it works to solve the U.S. military’s toughest medical challenges. A visit from the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Lester Martinez-Lopez in November 2023 intensified the national spotlight on the center while reaffirming its importance as a resource and leader in military medicine and medical research.
CU Denver’s celebration of its federal designation as an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution (AANAPISI) in 2023 included several inspiring alumni speakers who gave personal accounts of the transformative effect a CU education has had on their lives. As an AANAPISI, CU Denver – the only institution in the Rocky Mountain West to achieve this designation – will be able to serve more students from diverse communities. The designation also reaffirms CU Denver’s commitment to breaking down barriers to a college education, fostering student success and being a place where all can feel a sense of belonging.
This fall, CU Denver will launch its new master’s degree in sustainable business following a unanimous vote by the CU Board of Regents to approve the program. The degree, which can be completed entirely online, will address students’ demands – both nationally and statewide – for sustainability-related programs. To be among the few universities in the U.S. to offer this type of advanced business degree is exciting, as are the opportunities this will afford our students.
Just in time for the start of the fall 2023 semester, UCCS announced a new tuition assistance grant for active-duty military undergraduate students. The grant bridges the gap between military tuition assistance and UCCS tuition and required course materials for active-duty undergraduates. This is the latest demonstration of UCCS’ strong and longstanding commitment to military-affiliated students – who make up more than 20 percent of its student population – and their families as they pursue their educational goals.
The selection of Jennifer Sobanet as UCCS chancellor was among CU’s biggest news last year. Sobanet, who did excellent work as UCCS interim chancellor for many months in 2023, is a proven leader with a firm commitment to collaboration and a deep affinity for UCCS and the state of Colorado. I’m so pleased she’ll continue working to advance UCCS as chancellor with the support of the campus and the entire CU community.
While we can’t predict what 2024 will bring, it’s clear CU has many exciting things in store. We also have a great deal of work to do as a community as we remain focused on meeting the needs of our students, the state of Colorado and beyond. Here’s to a great year for all of us!
