Todd Saliman Biography
Todd Saliman is the 24th president of the University of Colorado. A proud CU alum and lifelong Coloradan, Saliman was appointed president in July 2021.
Among Saliman’s top priorities as president is connecting with communities across Colorado to ensure CU meets the state’s evolving needs. Under his leadership, CU’s outreach, engagement and programming have grown dramatically and now include regular visits, listening tours and community conversations across the state. He is deeply committed to ensuring CU’s campuses reflect Colorado’s diverse population and ideas so that all students, faculty and staff feel they have a place at CU. In fall 2021, Saliman oversaw the relaunch of the Campus and Workplace Culture Survey to better understand the experiences of CU community members and to inform action plans aimed at maximizing faculty, staff and student retention.
A driving force behind the development of CU’s strategic plan, Saliman considers helping students cross the finish line to graduation one of the university’s core responsibilities. By doing so, he believes CU positions students for success, which ultimately benefits their communities, the state and far beyond. He has a special focus on raising awareness about the value of a four-year degree and breaking down barriers to higher education.
Saliman is a tireless champion of the extraordinary work happening on CU’s campuses, and seeks to reinforce the university’s position as a national and world leader in research, scholarship, the humanities, health care and innovation. He collaboratively engages with faculty, campus leaders, stakeholders and funders to help elevate work in these critically important areas.
Prior to becoming CU president, Saliman served as CU’s senior vice president for strategy, government relations and chief financial officer. As head of the university’s budget and finance operations for nearly 10 years, Saliman was instrumental in transforming CU’s budgeting process to make it more efficient, transparent and easily understood. His efforts have helped enable the Board of Regents to keep tuition in check while making informed decisions that allow CU to thrive. Saliman also co-led the CU system strategic planning process.
Saliman is a former member of the Colorado General Assembly and spent four years on the Joint Budget Committee. He served in the Cabinets of Govs. Bill Ritter and John Hickenlooper. During Gov. Ritter’s administration, he directed the Office of State Planning and Budgeting, representing the governor as he worked with the legislature to develop and implement the state’s budget and other legislative and strategic initiatives. Saliman and his team also built the governor’s annual budget request, kept the budget balanced throughout the fiscal year, and prepared quarterly economic forecasts for the state. He guided Colorado’s budget during the great recession of 2008, and worked with legislative leadership to keep the budget balanced by cutting billions of dollars in state spending. When Gov. Hickenlooper was elected, Saliman continued as a senior advisor during the governor’s first legislative session and provided guidance and support on state budget and policy issues.
Saliman and his wife, Michelle Segal, an alum of the University of Colorado Law School, are the proud parents of Max and Mira. In his spare time, Saliman enjoys woodworking, yoga, skiing, hiking with the family dog, Sammy, and attending bluegrass music concerts with his family.