Bud Coleman is the next director of CU in D.C., ushering in new leadership for the burgeoning 5-year-old program.

Coleman, a professor in the Theatre and Dance Department and the Roe Green Endowed Chair in Theatre, has been a member of the University of Colorado faculty for 24 years. During that tenure, he has also been a co-director of the LGBTQ Studies Certificate Program, chair of the CU Boulder Outreach Awards Committee, and has served as the department chair of theatre & dance for 14 years.

CU in D.C. is an undergraduate program that annually offers 50-70 undergraduate students from all disciplines — not just political science majors — the chance to study and intern in Washington, D.C., during the fall and spring semesters, Maymester and over the summer, thanks to the academic, social and professional support of the CU Boulder faculty in the nation’s capital.

“Currently, the program primarily attracts students from political science, international affairs, and the College of Media, Communication and Information,” said Coleman. “I’m hoping to expand the program to include more students because the opportunities in Washington, D.C., are really endless. Regardless of what the student’s major is, there’ll be a good fit for them in D.C.”

Outgoing director Kenneth Bickers echoed that sentiment in a previous interview, commenting that, “Washington has the greatest concentration of scientists in the world. It also has the second-most theatre performances, second only to New York.”

Bickers, a professor of political science, has served as the director of the CU in D.C. program since its formation in 2012.

Prior to joining the CU Boulder faculty, Coleman was a ballet dancer with Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, Fort Worth Ballet, Kinesis and Ballet Austin, and a wardrobe supervisor, dresser and buyer for Broadway productions and tours as well as the New York City Opera. Coleman has also directed and choreographed many prominent plays and musicals and taught at the University of Texas-Austin and St. Edward’s University.

As CU in D.C.’s director, Coleman wants to maintain the foundation established by Bickers, while also personally talking with classes and departments to ensure all questions and needs are met, because, remarked Coleman, “the program’s a fantastic opportunity for CU students to gain professional connections in our nation’s capital.”

For more information about the CU in D.C. program, including applying, click here.

Title image: Martin Falbisoner/Wikimedia Commons