Home | 150th Anniversary | University of Colorado Boulder
CU Boulder’s 150th anniversary film teaser
Sustainability & Social Change
In 1976, a small group of passionate CU Boulder students ran a DIY recycling operation out of two decommissioned military trailers. Now, 50 years later, CU Boulder is celebrating the anniversary of campus recycling: a program that has evolved with the times and remains a powerful example of the partnership and collaboration that make real change possible.
Red sunflowers were discovered and cultivated in Boulder, Colorado by high school biology teacher Wilmatte Porter Cockerell and her husband CU Boulder professor Theodore Dru Allison Cockerell in 1910. Now more than 100 years later, CU Boulder faculty and staff are growing the flower on campus and in their own gardens thanks to STEM Engagement Librarian Abbey Lewis.
Spotlighting Our Notable Buffs
Mildred and Charles Nilon
Charles H. Nilon was the first Black faculty member hired in the English Department in the fall of 1956. In 1962, the university hired Mildred Nilon, who was CU’s first Black librarian. In the late 1960s, Charles Nilon launched and became chair of the university’s Black Studies Program, when, at the time, he estimated there were about 100 Black students on campus. The Nilons were active on and off campus in the United Black Action Committee, the United Black Women of Boulder Valley, Housing for Everyone through Local Programs, the Town and Country YWCA Board, the Mental Health Board and Historic Boulder.
150th Anniversary Events
150th Project Team
- Ann Schmiesing, Senior Vice Chancellor, Strategic Initiatives
- Ryan Chreist, Associate Vice Chancellor, Strategic Initiatives
- Katherine Eggert, Vice Chancellor, Academic Planning and Assessment
- Katy Herbert Kotlarczyk, Vice Chancellor, Advancement
- Jon Leslie, Vice Chancellor, Strategic Relations and Communication
- D’Andra Mull, Vice Chancellor, Student Life
- Sarah Adderholt, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Events, Protocol and Outreach
- Lori Call, Associate Vice Chancellor Local Government and Community Relations
- Theresa Hernandez, Professor and Director, Crawford Family WHOLE student athlete program
- David Humphrey, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Leadership Support and Programming
- Hon. Gary Jackson, Alumnus
- Taylor Jarvis, Assistant Vice Chancellor of Engagement and Executive Director, Marketing and Communications
- Polly McLean, Assoc. Professor, Media Studies
- Carolyn Moreau, Assistant Dean, Communications and External Relations
- Hope Saska, Acting Director, Chief Curator and Director of Academic Engagement
- Jennifer Schufer, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Marketing and Content Strategy
- Stein Sture, Vice Chancellor for Research Emeritus and Professor Emeritus, Engineering
- William Wei, Professor, History