CU names Kenneth T. Christensen as Denver campus’s next chancellor
“Dr. Christensen brings a deep commitment to CU Denver’s mission and student success as well as an impressive understanding of higher education’s ability to transform individual lives, our great state, the nation and the world,” CU President Todd Saliman said in a statement.
The University of Colorado this week named Kenneth T. Christensen, provost of the Illinois Institute of Technology, as its Denver campus’s next chancellor following a national search.
“This institution’s honorable mission of inclusive education and innovation was readily apparent to me during my interactions with the search committee and my campus visit, and this mission aligns with my own values and priorities as an academic leader,” Christensen said in a CU news release. “I am thrilled to join the University of Colorado as CU Denver’s next chancellor and to support the campus community in their transformative work to ensure and expand student success, scholarly impact and economic development.”
As provost at Illinois Institute of Technology, Christensen launched academic initiatives around workforce readiness, created a pathway for undecided students to explore degree possibilities and charged a university-wide task force to modernize curriculum around the entrepreneurial mindset, design and innovation, computation and data literacy, and leadership, the news release said.
Christensen’s Hispanic heritage contributed to his passion charting Illinois Tech’s path to becoming a Hispanic-serving Institution, CU officials said.
He first joined Illinois Tech in 2020 as the Carol and Ed Kaplan Armour College Dean of Engineering. Before that, he was on the faculty at Notre Dame, the University of Illinois and the University of New Mexico.
A native of Santa Fe, New Mexico, Christensen holds degrees from the University of New Mexico, the California Institute of Technology and the University of Illinois.
Michelle Marks announced she would step down as CU Denver’s chancellor in August. Ann Schmiesing, vice chancellor for academic resource management at the University of Colorado Boulder, has been interim chancellor since then.
Christensen begins his new role in February.
“Dr. Christensen brings a deep commitment to CU Denver’s mission and student success as well as an impressive understanding of higher education’s ability to transform individual lives, our great state, the nation and the world,” CU President Todd Saliman said in a statement. “I was impressed by the strong support he received from CU Denver faculty, staff, students and community members following his campus visit and open forums. Dr. Christensen’s deep understanding of CU Denver’s unique opportunities make him the ideal person to lead the institution forward.”
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