Coleman Institute for Cognitive Disabilities

Coleman Institute to Focus on Assistive Technology for People with Cognitive Disabilities

CU President Elizabeth Hoffman, left, joins Claudia and Bill Coleman in announcing the establishment of the Coleman Institute in January 2001.

Computer science professionals Bill and Claudia Coleman have a vision: To harness the full power of technology to enhance the lives of people with cognitive disabilities. Through a $250 million gift to the University of Colorado system, the Colemans have established the University of Colorado Coleman Institute for Cognitive Disabilities — the first system-wide institute in CU's history, funded with the largest gift ever made to a public university.

"This unprecedented gift is a tribute to the Colemans' generosity and vision, as well as to the university's growing reputation for work in developmental disabilities and assistive technology," says CU President Elizabeth Hoffman, who helped to develop the partnership along with the College of Engineering and Applied Science. "The institute is designed to break through the barriers that separate a wide array of programs and encourage the cross-pollination of ideas that foster real innovation."

Bill Coleman, a U.S. Air Force Academy graduate who founded BEA Systems in San Jose, Calif., says the decision to partner with CU stems from a tour of the Center for LifeLong Learning and Design in the College of Engineering, following his visit as a guest lecturer in a freshman computer science class.

"I saw some of the incredible research being done in cognitive science, including the use of computer-based technologies to support lifelong learning and online community building," he says. "I saw a connection with the work my company, BEA Systems, has been doing with the development of personalization technology for the Internet and possible techniques to help those with cognitive disabilities."

Coleman and his wife, a former manager with Hewlett-Packard, have a niece with cognitive disabilities.

"We have witnessed the challenges this population faces every day with problem-solving, reasoning skills, and understanding and using language," he says. "I passionately believe that we as a society have the intelligence and the responsibility to develop technologies that will expand the ability of those with cognitive disabilities to learn, to understand, and to communicate." More