Local, National and Global Impact
1892鈥1914: Expanding Horizons
In the early 20th century, CU 乐播传媒鈥檚 impact extended far beyond campus through its Extension work across Colorado. Extension leaders like Elmore Petersen helped organize civic institutions, support local economies and connect communities to the university鈥檚 knowledge and resources. Stationed in Pueblo, Colorado, he brought education, coordination and practical problem-solving to towns and cities alike through various programming, including the broadcasting of university lectures over CU鈥檚 very own KFAJ radio station. His work reflected a moment when CU鈥檚 public mission was measured in direct service to Colorado鈥攁nd he later carried that perspective into university leadership, serving as dean of the business school.
Source: Office for Outreach & Community Engagement
Photo credit: Map of early KFAJ radio broadcasts of lectures from CU 乐播传媒. CU Office for Outreach and Community Engagement.
What began as a modest extension program stands today as a fully-fledged university serving over 15,000 students. CU Denver originated in 1912 when the University of Colorado began offering a few classes downtown to meet the needs of Denver鈥檚 growing population. This early institution was nicknamed Denver鈥檚 鈥淯CLA鈥 (University of Colorado between Lawrence and Arapahoe Streets). In 1965, the extension program was renamed the CU Denver Center, reflecting its rapidly growing enrollment of 7,300 students across bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 programs. Later, a 1973 Colorado amendment established CU Denver as an independent university. The Auraria Campus was constructed in the 1970s, shared by CU Denver, Metropolitan State University of Denver and the Community College of Denver. However, the project resulted in over 300 homes from an established Hispanic community being demolished, leading CU Denver to create the in 1988 for residents and descendants of the Auraria neighborhood.
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Photo credit: Two students stand outside of the University of Colorado Denver Center, 1966. Colorado Alumnus Magazine, CU 乐播传媒 Heritage Center.聽
1914鈥1939: The Great War, Depression & New Deal
Born in 1892 to a family that prioritized education, Icie focused her time on studying chemistry in the 鈥渟ervice of mankind.鈥 She attended CU for her master鈥檚 degree, where she studied tungsten extraction and arsenic effects on the body. After graduating, she spent an additional year teaching inorganic chemistry before completing her PhD at Yale. Dr. Hoobler later led a significant research project in Detroit focused on nutrition and the development of pregnant women and infants. A pioneer in her field, she is credited with discovering the nutritional benefits of breastfeeding, a finding that led to a resurgence in its popularity. Throughout her career, she published extensively and collaborated with over 150 co-authors, but she faced neglect from her colleagues and superiors due to her gender. Despite the obstacles, she surmounted and continued to excel in her field, earning the Norlin Award in 1938 for her contributions to biochemistry.
Source: Icie Hoobler portrait with test tubes and book "Hidden Hunger." HS8126. In the digital collection Bentley Historical Library: Bentley Image Bank.
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Born in 1904 to a ranching family in Las Animas, Colorado, Llewellyn Thompson graduated from CU in 1928. He had a long career as a foreign service officer. During the 1940s he became fluent in Russian while stationed in Moscow. He later served as the ambassador to Russia between 1957 and 1962, where he developed a professional relationship with Nikita Khrushchev. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, Thompson drew upon his knowledge of Khrushchev to advise President Kennedy, successfully urging him to allow Kruschev to boast of stopping the invasion of Cuba after a blockade by the U.S. Navy. The crisis was resolved with Khrushchev removing the Cuban missiles and the U.S. publicly pledging not to invade while secretly withdrawing missiles from Turkey. Often credited by his colleagues as the man who prevented nuclear annihilation, Thompson would go on to serve as an Ambassador to Russia from 1966 until his retirement in 1969.
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Photo credit: Meeting between John F. Kennedy and Llewellyn E. Thompson. Photo by Robert Knudsen. White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston
The Business Research Division (BRD), originally established at the Leeds School of Business in 1915, conducts business, economic and market research to assist local entities in their business and policy decisions. The BRD is widely known for its publications including the Colorado Business Review, which offers analysis information about Colorado鈥檚 economy, the Leeds Business Confidence Index, which gauges business leaders鈥 opinions about the economy, and its Quarterly Business and Economic Indicator reports, which discuss various points of data and economic metrics. The BRD also hosts an annual Colorado Business Economic Outlook and Forum, presenting its economic forecast for the upcoming year to local and state business leaders.
Source: Leeds School of Business
Photo credit: Colorado Business Review publications. CU 乐播传媒 Heritage Center.
1939鈥1954: WWII, Cold War & Expansion
Anna Osler Shepard pioneered the development and use of ceramic petrography, the microscopic analysis of thin sections of pottery sherds identifying their mineral composition, across the American Southwest and Mesoamerica. Her work was instrumental in identifying the existence of migration and a large trade network between Ancestral Puebloan women, investigating sites like Chaco Canyon and Pecos Pueblo in New Mexico, and have continued to shape archaeological investigations of the region today. She received a PhD in chemistry from CU in 1942 with many of her archives and archaeological collections, including Maya Blue pigments, residing in the CU Museum of Natural History. While her demand for rigorous analytical standards in her work met resistance in her male-dominated field at the time, her 1956 book Ceramics for the Archeologist is still a foundational text for pottery analysis today.
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Photo credit: University of Colorado Museum of Natural History, Anna O. Shepard papers.
1954-1974: Civil Rights, Vietnam & Social Change
The first official study abroad program at CU was initiated in partnership with the German University of Erlangen in 1954, with each institution agreeing to exchange two exceptional students annually. In 1959, the Office of International Education (OIE) was established under part-time director W. F. Dyde, focusing primarily on international scholarships and language acquisition. Professor Harold Amoss became the first full-time administrator of the OIE in 1961 and worked to launch the 鈥淛unior Year Abroad Program.鈥 The first offering started in 1963 when CU students arrived in France to attend the University of Bordeaux. Within 20 years of the OIE鈥檚 inception, programs had spread across the globe, reaching countries such as Egypt, Japan, Costa Rica, Mexico and India. Today, the Education Abroad Office offers hundreds of programs in over 60 countries, promoting cultural competence, social and environmental responsibility and greater access for traditionally underrepresented students.
Source: Office of International Education
Photo credit: 鈥楽afari Time' photo by Sam Bergman taken in Kenya, 2024. Education Abroad Photo Contest.
The Volunteer Clearinghouse program began in 1965, giving CU students a chance to donate their time and energy to those in need within the 乐播传媒 community. Clearinghouse grew rapidly from just a couple hundred volunteers to over a thousand within a few short years, as did their reach. They went beyond 乐播传媒, across Colorado and even into some parts of New Mexico. Their impact garnered the attention of the White House, with a visit in 1970 from First Lady, Mrs. Nixon, commending the Clearinghouse鈥檚 work. With their volunteer efforts, they assisted schools for those with developmental disabilities or for families in need, and donated supplies to the Navajo reservation. They worked with local agencies to further their reach in supporting wherever they could. Clearinghouse has since changed its name to Service Learning & Impact in Community Engagement (SLICE) and is providing students with volunteer opportunities to this day.
Source: Division of Student Life
Photo credit: John Hadlow volunteers with students as part of the Clearinghouse program. Photo by Jerry Stowall, CU 乐播传媒 Heritage Center.
1974鈥2000: Modernization & Globalization
Throughout the early 1970s, CU 乐播传媒 researchers Gilbert F. White and Eugene Haas published several landmark papers in the field of natural hazard research. Following a suggestion made in the 1975 book Assessment of Natural Hazards Research in the United States, White, Haas and their colleagues worked to establish a clearinghouse for natural hazards research, leading to the creation of the Natural Hazards Center. As the National Science Foundation鈥檚 designated hub for the societal dimensions of hazards and disasters, the center has advanced research, collaboration and public policy for nearly five decades. White served as the center's first director until 1984 and later received the National Medal of Science for his contributions to assessing the Nation鈥檚 floodplain, water use, and natural disaster policies. Today, under the leadership of Director Lori Peek, the center continues to help communities prepare for disasters through applied research, including a statewide initiative to improve multilingual emergency alerts and efforts to strengthen school safety during natural hazards.
Source: CU 乐播传媒 Today
Photo credit: Gilbert F White, CU 乐播传媒 Heritage Center.聽
Inspired by the ratification of Brown v. Board of Education, Wilkinson decided to dedicate his life to law. In 1971, he joined the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) in 乐播传媒, where he worked alongside John Echohawk and David Getches to advocate for Indigenous tribal sovereignty and environmental protection. In 1987, Wilkinson joined the law faculty at the University of Colorado and helped establish a relationship between Colorado Law and NARF that endures to this day. He was known for his empathetic personality and his immersive teaching style, often taking students to meet with Indigenous tribes or fishing to educate them on water laws. He became a co-founder of CU鈥檚 Center for the American West and a recipient of the Distinguished Professor award, the highest award for a faculty member at CU. His passion for the environment and Indigenous rights leaves a lasting impact that continues to inspire many.
Source: Colorado Law
Photo credit: Charles F. Wilkinson, 1990. CU 乐播传媒 Heritage Center.聽
In 1978, CU professor and INSTAAR director Jack Ives spearheaded the United Nations University鈥檚 鈥淢ountain Ecology and Sustainable Development鈥 project. Under this program, Dr. Ives and an international group of scholars, practitioners and policymakers worked to expand research and awareness on pressing environmental and developmental issues facing mountain regions. Through these global connections, Dr. Ives brought a series of post-doctoral fellows to study at CU鈥檚 Mountain Research Station from countries such as Nepal, Thailand, China, Japan, Bhutan and Russia. Later in his career, Dr. Ives contributed to a chapter on mountain regions in Agenda 21, the United Nations鈥 plan for global sustainable development. Today, CU 乐播传媒 scientists at INSTAAR and the Mountain Research Station continue to lead alpine science and sustainability efforts with a global reach.
Source: Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research
Photo credit: Jack Ives in Icleand, 1987. CU 乐播传媒 Heritage Center.
In 1979, Richard Hieb earned his master鈥檚 degree in aerospace engineering from CU before beginning his career with NASA at the Johnson Space Center. Before logging more than 750 hours in space and traveling over 13 million miles, Hieb supported Space Shuttle programs from the ground, notably working in Mission Control during STS-1, the first Space Shuttle launch, in 1981. Across his NASA career, he joined STS-39 to help deploy and retrieve the IBSS satellite, took part in the maiden voyage of Space Shuttle Endeavour, joining the only three-person spacewalk ever completed, lasting 8 hours and 29 minutes and his final flight was onboard STS-65 carrying out 80 microgravity experiments before returning home. After leaving NASA in 1995, Richard Hieb spent 20 years as an aerospace executive before returning to CU as an instructor.
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Photo credit: Portrait of astronaut Richard Hieb. NASA.聽
CU Science Discovery (CUSD) began the summer of 1983 as a pilot program of 10 summer camps based out of Fiske planetarium. Under the leadership of Carol McLaren, the program thrived and expanded to include classroom presentations, professional development workshops and wilderness experiences. CUSD also moved into its current headquarters in the Rose Litman Laboratories to accommodate its growth. In 2010, CUSD moved under the Division of Continuing Education, and Stacey Forsyth was named the new director. With a central mission to increase interest and literacy in STEM, CUSD works to educate more than 10,000 people across Colorado each year.
Source: CU Science Discovery
Photo credit:聽 Prof. Matsuo helping two camp attendees with their camera as part of a CU Science Discovery Camp.
Anthropology collections staff and Museum and Field Studies graduate students at the CU Museum of Natural History steward important archaeological and cultural materials from across the region and the world. CUMNH and Tribal representatives work together to ensure the repatriation of Ancestors and cultural items under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) passed in 1990, and community centered returns. Community partners guide collections staff in collaborative and ethical collections care, public engagement through educational exhibits and programs, and cultural heritage protocol.
Source: CU Museum of Natural History
Photo credit: Exterior of the Henderson building which houses the Museum and Anthropology collections. University of Colorado Museum of Natural History.
The International and Voluntary Service Training (INVST) program was started at CU 乐播传媒 in the Fall of 1990. Students involved with INVST focused on finding solutions to eco-social problems using practical skills, meaningful community action, and theory in unique ways. Participation in the INVST program was limited聽at聽14-18 students per year, which worked to foster a small, interactive environment. Key features of the program included travelling on a Climate Justice summer, working with community organizers to solve problems, and supporting classes throughout the school year. While the program was dissolved in 2025, it provided students for 35 years with the opportunity to promote peace in worldwide conflict, and work on problems such as food inequity, combating racism, addressing housing unaffordability, and more.
Source: The INVST Program
Photo credit: The INVST Program.
In 1992, internationally renowned violence researcher Delbert S. Elliott founded the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV) to research, develop and implement evidence-based violence prevention strategies. Following the tragic Columbine High School shooting in 1999, the center became deeply involved in mass shooting research and helped develop the Safe Communities Safe Schools program aimed at addressing root issues contributing to youth violence. CSPV also supported the creation of Safe2Tell Colorado in 2004, an anonymous safety reporting system for youth that now receives more than 20,000 tips annually. In 2011, CSPV launched the Denver Youth Violence Prevention Center, which has been shown to reduce youth arrests by up to 75%. Since its founding, the CSPV has supported over one million youth, partnered with 900 schools and communities, and initiated more than 150 violence prevention projects across the nation.
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Photo credit: Game Changers, a passionate group of youth leaders at the Youth Violence Prevention Center-Denver. Institute of Behavioral Science. 聽
The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Ice Core Facility was collaboratively founded in 1993 between the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR), the United States Geological Survey, the NSF and the Denver Federal Center. The 55,000-square-foot freezer preserves and studies ice cores drilled from polar regions around the world. These samples can measure over a mile long and contain climate records dating nearly 100,000 years ago. Stored at -36 degrees Celsius, the ice cores are archives of climate data that capture intense temperature changes, atmospheric composition and volcanic activity. The facility itself processes up to 30-35 meters of ice per day through its processing line. INSTAAR leaders Mark Meier, Tad Pfeffer and Jim White were at the helm of the founding team but later passed on management to the University of New Hampshire. Today, the lab remains a cornerstone of global climate research and ice core preservation initiatives.
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Photo credit: Two men at the National Ice Core Lab storage facility. Photo by Ken Abbott, CU 乐播传媒 Heritage Center.聽
Launched in 1996, is a research clearinghouse within the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence at the Institute of Behavioral Science. It evaluates the effectiveness of preventive and rehabilitative interventions for children and young adults, using rigorous scientific standards to help schools, communities and governments identify evidence-based programs while avoiding interventions that lack proven results. Beyond its registry of scientifically supported interventions, Blueprints has also provided model program training to hundreds of schools and implementation partners. In 2025, Blueprints received funding from the United States Office of National Drug Control Policy to maintain the registry and provide technical assistance to Drug-Free Communities and Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act grant recipients on how to identify, select, and access implementation resources for programs featured in the Blueprints registry as part of their prevention strategy.
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Photo credit: Stockphoto. Institute of Behavioral Science.
2000鈥2026: The 21st Century
Created in 2003, GAMES after-school program at the CU Museum of Natural History is designed to encourage early interest in science for elementary age kids. The program seeks for children to envision themselves in scientific roles modeled by experts in the museum, promote hands-on learning and gain confidence with scientific skills while removing barriers by providing transportation, meals and materials at no cost. Open to everyone, youth gain real life experience with items and specimens from the museum collections and are exposed to a wide range of disciplines from archeology to zoology and beyond. Recently, GAMES has expanded to offer in school and virtual options, and introduced the summer program, Moving on to Research Experience (MORE), allowing kids to continue involvement while in middle school. Together, these programs reflect a core principle: the future of science depends not just on discovery, but on who is invited to participate.
Source: CU Museum of Natural History
Photo credit: Drilling into a rock to generate dust that could be analyzed in a mass spectrophotometer with participants from Columbine Elementary School. University of Colorado Museum of Natural History.
Since the 1970s, an interdisciplinary group of CU scholars have studied population dynamics and human well-being. Their work eventually grew into the CU Population Center (CUPC), which became an official federally funded research center in 2005. By 2010, CUPC became one of 19 NIH-supported population research centers in the United States and the only one in the Rocky Mountain West. Researchers at CUPC study a variety of important issues relating to climate, environment, and population; fertility and reproductive health; genetic demography; health disparities and behaviors; and migration in the U.S. and around the world. One particular scholarly focus has been contemporary trends in contraceptive access, fertility rates, women鈥檚 socioeconomic outcomes, and maternal and infant mortality. Through their work, CUPC continues to fuel innovation in population studies, support junior researchers, and accelerate population science that matters.
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Photo credit: Headshots of Jane Menken and Leslie Root, Director and Assistant Director of CUPC. Institute of Behavioral Science.
As wildfire risk increased across Colorado and the American West, CU 乐播传媒 researchers helped advance understanding of how communities can prepare for and adapt to wildfire. Following major Colorado fires, including the 2010 Fourmile Canyon Fire near 乐播传媒, researchers at the Institute of Behavioral Science expanded their work examining how homeowners understand wildfire risk, what motivates them to take protective action and how communities recover after disaster. Led by scholars including Hannah Brenkert-Smith, this work transformed wildfire preparedness from a question of forestry and firefighting into one of human behavior, communication, and community resilience. Through partnerships with fire districts, local governments and organizations such as the Wildfire Research (WiR膿) Center, CU researchers developed tools and strategies that have informed wildfire mitigation and resilience programs across Colorado and the West. Their research continues to help communities prepare for an increasingly fire-prone future by translating scientific knowledge into practical action.
Source: Office for Outreach and Community Engagement
Photo credit: Hannah Brenkert-Smith. Institute of Behavioral Science.
The First-Year Global Experience (FGX) is a two-credit business elective meant to teach first-year Leeds students about how global issues and cultural differences impact the international business world. Throughout the spring semester, FGX participants attend weekly classes that explore both international business and location-specific history, politics, and culture. During either spring break or the Maymester, students travel to their desired locations for a 10-day trip abroad that includes both business meetings and cultural experiences. Since its inception in 2013, the FGX program has taken Leeds students to places including Tokyo, Reykjavik, Dubai, Madrid, Florence, and other international business hubs.
Source: Leeds School of Business
Photo credit: Spring 鈥24 FGX students pose for a photo in front of Vatican City. Leeds.
In 2020, as a freshman at CU 乐播传媒, Maddie Freeman founded the digital wellness nonprofit NoSo (No Social Media) November to educate and empower young people to foster a healthy tech-life balance鈥攁 message that has now reached hundreds of thousands of people 聽around the world. After Maddie Freeman was faced with the grief of losing 10 friends to suicide in high school, she committed herself to raising awareness about the negative effects of social media and helping teens develop healthier digital habits. For one month each year, the 鈥淣o Social Media November鈥 movement challenges young people across the world to give up or reduce their social media usage, drawing tens of thousands of detoxers every year. Beyond the social media challenge, NoSo November also works year-round to provide interactive school programs, community workshops, and student speaker training to bring digital wellness directly to teens.
Source: NoSo November
Photo credit: Maddie Freeman works on a mural designed by Ryanne alongside muralist, . NoSo November.聽
Thanks to an anonymous gift, Leeds invested $3.85 million in the fall of 2025 to launch the Initiative for Global Business Impact and Citizen Well-Being. The initiative, which conducts business research around the world, uses cross national comparisons to provide the key insights needed to achieve the initiative鈥檚 goal of improving citizen well-being. John G. Lynch, who was awarded the AMA-Irwin-McGraw-Hill Distinguished Marketing Educator award in 2025, was selected to serve as the program鈥檚 inaugural director. 鈥淐oping with and Planning for Elder Fraud鈥 by Tony Cookson and Michael Gropper, with Daniel Karpati of Erasmus is one of the research projects currently funded through the initiative. As a part of a bigger effort to take Leeds global, this initiative, along with other programs, will expand business research and relationships through global partnerships.
Source: Leeds School of Business
Photo credit: Aerial photo of the Koelbel building which houses the Leeds School of Business, 2024. Leeds.
Are videos trustworthy? The Visual Evidence Lab (VEL), founded under the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information by director Sandra Ristovska in 2025, is dedicated to examining this question where it matters most: the courtroom. One estimate says 80% of criminal cases in the USuse video evidence, but the legal system is ill-adapted to handle them. In its , the VEL highlights critical inconsistencies created by the lack of standards for verification, storage and access, evidentiary admittance, and interpretation of video evidence. This problem has been compounded when considering the advancement of AI for video enhancement, suspect identification, or deepfakes. The VEL makes recommendations for standards of judicial training, jury instruction, storage, and AI policy to be consistent across the country.
Source: Visual Evidence Lab
Photo credit: "Justice by Video." College of Communication, Media, Design, and Information. Visual Evidence Lab.
The CU Center on Crime and Justice opened this year under the co-directorship of Professors Jill Turanovic and David Pyrooz as part of the Prevention Science Program. The center uses interdisciplinary research to reduce crime and improve the effectiveness and fairness of the justice system, with a strong emphasis on addressing real-world challenges in Colorado. Through partnerships with the Governor's Office, the Colorado Division of Criminal Justice and law enforcement agencies across the state, the center helps translate research into evidence-based policies and practices that improve public safety in Colorado.
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Photo credit: Headshots of Jillian and David, Co-Directors of the CCJ. Institute of Behavioral Science.