Dear Friends,

Chancellor G.P. "Bud" Peterson

Students walk by international flags at the 2007 Conference on World Affairs.

I want to share with you the abundance of good news and exciting activities on campus this spring. Midterms are upon us and the students’ well-deserved spring break is just around the corner.

The 60th Annual Conference on World Affairs is fast approaching April 7-11. The keynote speaker for the Conference on World Affairs is Wendy Chamberlain, former ambassador to Pakistan.

Later in April we are pleased to host two more distinguished guests on consecutive nights. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will speak at the Coors Events Center as a guest of our student-run Distinguished Speakers Board at 7:30 p.m. on April 16. Tickets are $1 (students), $8 (community members) and $30 (floor).

The next night, recently retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor will speak in Macky Auditorium as a guest of the Center of the American West at 7 p.m. on April 17. Tickets are $3 for students and $10 for community members. Exposure to such thought-provoking dignitaries is one of the greatest values of an education at CU.

Mid-April is indeed an exciting time on campus. Our Gridiron Bash and annual Spring Football Game are on consecutive days, April 18 and 19. The Gridiron Bash on Friday, April 18, 6:45 p.m.–9 p.m., is a paid event at Folsom Field that features a performance by the Counting Crows and promotes the spring game. We hope to establish an all-time spring game attendance record with our Spring Game Day at Folsom on Saturday, April 19. Full of free activities, the day begins at 10:30 a.m. with "Healthy Kids Day," where children in 8th grade and under have a chance to meet their favorite athletes and participate in skills and fitness stations. This is followed by an autograph session hosted by student-athletes and an open house to show off the Byron R. White Club Level. Kickoff is 1 p.m. Bring your friends!

Our nine Flagship 2030 task forces charged with developing action plans to implement our strategic plan for the future met for the first time Saturday Feb. 16 in a productive three-hour kickoff forum. The enthusiasm and excitement generated by the group was infectious. More than 250 campus volunteers enlisted for 128 available slots on the task forces. The task forces will report on their recommendations by Sept. 1.

InsideCU, Feb. 26: "Moving Forward with Flagship 2030"

Let me also take this opportunity to note that this year the Boulder campus had the largest increase in institutional financial aid in its 130-year history — an increase of $6.6 million in fiscal 2007-2008 — thanks largely to the Office of Financial Aid and to the CU Foundation. More than 17,000 Boulder students received over $224 million in grants, scholarships, work-study and loans in academic year 2006-2007.

InsideCU, March 11: "Going the extra mile to help students afford higher education"

I am pleased to share with you the abundance of good news emanating from the Boulder campus this semester. Former CU researcher and aerospace engineering professor Takao Doi is one of 17 CU-Boulder alumni to fly on a NASA mission. He blasted into space March 11 with biomedical payloads designed and developed by our BioServe Space Technologies Center as well as experiments for middle and high school students coordinated by BioServe’s educational outreach.

Rocky Mountain News, March 11: "Shuttle astronaut, cargo have CU ties"

Instruments built by our scientists on the Messenger spacecraft are allowing NASA to study the hot one — Mercury. NASA is getting its best view of Mercury in 30 years thanks to our instruments. CBS4 Denver, Jan. 14 : "CU helps scientists get a close look at Mercury"

This 16-day space flight laden with CU ties is a perfect entree to Boulder County’s community reading project, One Book, One Boulder, featuring Homer Hickam’s "Rocket Boys." We are a proud participant in conjunction with Boulder County’s six public library systems and Boulder Valley Schools. We are hosting many community-oriented educational events on our campus April 12-18 including a public lecture and other events with Mr. Hickam April 17-18.

Boulder Daily Camera, Feb. 29: "Rocket Boys this year’s One Book, One Boulder choice"

Freshman applications hit an all-time high, increasing 16 percent from this time last year and topping 20,000 for the first time.

Boulder Daily Camera, Feb. 29: "Applications to CU spike"

I’m excited that we announced our joint mechanical engineering program with Mesa State College on Feb. 22. Former President Brown, Mesa State College President Tim Foster and I announced the new program in Grand Junction.

CU-Boulder News Services, Feb. 22 : "Mesa State College and CU-Boulder announce mechanical engineering partnership"

Two Puksta Scholars remove invasive plants and grasses for a service project at Bluff Lake Nature Center in Denver, Colo.

One of my favorite stories to emerge recently was on Feb. 11 when CU-Boulder was one of only three colleges and universities in the United States to receive the Presidential Award for General Community Service. More than 530 universities and colleges competed for the award given by the Corporation for National and Community Service, a government agency in Washington, D.C. Estimates show that nearly 14,000 of our students devoted more than 360,000 hours of community service during the 2006-2007 fiscal year. That is the equivalent to more than 170 people working full-time for one year. "Contribution" is one of the seven guiding principles of the Colorado Creed, a student-initiated code of conduct and a statement of social responsibility.

Corporation for National and Community Service, Feb. 11: "Six Colleges and Universities Receive Presidential Award For Exemplary Community Service"

Many of our students continue their acts of kindness and service after they graduate. On Jan. 15 the Peace Corps announced that the Boulder campus ranks No. 3 in the nation for graduates now serving in the Peace Corps.

Boulder Daily Camera, Jan. 15: "CU No. 3 in nation for Peace Corps volunteers"

We are a favorite landing spot for local and national media looking for expert analysis on any number of subjects. Leeds School of Business Professor Dr. Richard Wobbekind appeared on the NBC Nightly News Jan. 14 with a brief remark on the declining value of the dollar and the prospects of a recession.

NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, Jan. 14: "Silver lining to weak U.S. dollar"

The U.S. Arctic Research Commission, appointed by the President, was on campus for three days in February to educate itself on our latest global warming research. One of the things the commissioners learned is that our scientists are discovering the history of global climate change by boring an ice core two miles long from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. This story received significant coverage days before the commission arrived on campus.

Boulder Daily Camera, Jan. 24: "Ice cores could explain global warming"

Scientists using laser light to detect potential diseases via breath, study says.

By blasting a person's breath with laser light our scientists and graduate research assistants have shown they can detect molecules that may be markers for diseases like asthma or cancer. This new technique may someday allow doctors to screen people for certain diseases by sampling their breath.

CBS4 Denver, Feb. 19: "Your breath can pinpoint certain diseases"

The Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory is a good example of a key initiative in our Flagship 2030 strategic plan for the future on developing the Colorado Research Diamond. Created a year ago to discover new energy technologies and transfer them to the free market, the collaboratory already is hatching start-up companies and fresh research while attracting new funding as evidenced in this Feb. 28 report.

Rocky Mountain News, Feb. 28: "Solar mirrors could array near DIA"

Research by our faculty continually shines a spotlight on our campus. Electrical Engineering Professor Frank Barnes was cited 68 times nationally on Jan. 18 as the chairman of a National Research Council committee calling for research on cell phone health effects. Their report will go on to the Food and Drug Administration to determine what research should be pursued. Here’s one report from Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jan. 18: "Panel calls for research on cell phone health effects"

I am pleased to report that three Pulitzer Prize winners have returned to their alma mater to further the mission of the university. One is joining our School of Journalism and Mass Communication faculty this fall, and two are now working in University Communications.

Westword, Feb. 28: "CU hires three Pulitzer winners"

The CU ski team finished second in the NCAA National Championships in Bozeman, Mont. Maria Grevsgaard and Lucie Zikova each claimed two individual titles.

Women’s basketball forward Jackie McFarland was named an Academic All-American for the third straight year by ESPN The Magazine. Jackie has a 3.86 GPA and is working on a concurrent degree which will allow her to earn her MBA while completing her undergraduate degree in accounting. Jackie is a senior who won our Scholar-Athlete Award last spring for having the highest GPA in her class.

We know that spring is in the air when 5,600 students in the class of 2008 begin to think about commencement May 9 at Folsom Field. The graduation speaker selected by the students is Jeanne Jackson, considered by Fortune magazine to be one of the most powerful women in American business. She also serves as president of the Board of Trustees for the United States Ski and Snowboard Association, the governing body for the U.S. Olympic snow sports teams.

It is a pleasure for me to share these upcoming events and articles with you. We hope to see you on campus soon.

Best Regards,

G.P. "Bud" Peterson, Chancellor
University of Colorado at Boulder