Spring 2021

A CU team froze their ship in Arctic ice in the name of science and storytelling. When the sea ice shifted beneath him, sending a crack straight between his two feet, Matthew Shupe didn’t panic. He calmly looked at his precious scientific equipment — installed only four feet away —...

Jessica Gilman takes to the skies to understand how unprecedented wildfires and the global pandemic are changing the climate and affecting our health. When Colorado went on lockdown last March, Jessica Gilman (PhDChem’06) was in her lab analyzing air samples from wildfire plumes. Gilman had spent the previous summer in...

CU psychology professors share tools to improve mental health amid COVID-19. As the world plunged into the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, Sona Dimidjian knew a parallel and more silent crisis was brewing in mental health. Dimidjian, a CU Boulder psychology professor, immediately saw a trifecta of trouble: COVID-19 disrupted...

From Beyonce to Pixar, Tia Fuller shines her light on jazz. Soon after Tia Fuller (MMus’00) vamped the red carpet at the Grammy Awards in March 2019, she got a call from a casting agent representing the animated Pixar film Soul . “They were looking for a saxophone player to...

American Indians and archaeologists have had a long and often fractious history. Carlton Shield Chief Gover is trying to change that.

CU grad Jessica Dee Sawyer (ArtHist’03) is a fifth-generation candymaker with an eye for innovation.

An essay by CU Boulder Chancellor Philip P. Distefano. One of the core missions of our university is to positively impact humanity, and humanity faces the existential crisis of a warming planet caused by human beings.

CU Boulder’s College of Music celebrated its 100th birthday in style last year with a stunning 64,000-square-foot, $57 million expansion funded by numerous private donors and a university matching capital grant.

Where did it all begin? Where is it now? As the university continues to grow and evolve, these are the questions asked in the "Then and Now" series. Through powerful images of both the past and present, the story of CU Boulder comes to life.

J.J. Tompkins is CU soccer’s all-time leader in wins. Now, the goalkeeper plays professionally in Norway. Goalkeeper J.J. Tompkins (Psych’19) is CU soccer’s all-time leader in wins with 49 total. Her standout performance, however, came in defeat Nov. 22, 2019, as she made several highlight-reel saves when North Carolina eliminated...

Human sweat and bleach cleaners mix to create new airborne chemicals in gyms. A CU study from Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) says this could affect air quality.

For the alumni, parents and CU friends who have joined ForeverGold, it has delivered an integral and intimate connection with the campus through exclusive academic, athletic and social activities like symposiums, retreats, tailgates, behind-the-scenes campus tours and more.

Learn about travel entrepreneur Funmi Oyatogun, join the Forever Buffs network, nominate for the Alumni Awards, try out Alumni Career Services and see views from the Roaming Buffs 2021 trips.

Though many Forever Buffs had to watch the game from afar, they still found creative ways to cheer for their team at the 2020 Valero Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, Texas.

With at least eight institutions dedicated to solar and space physics, the city of Boulder is a global mecca for science related to the sun.

Take a look at a few major highlights from CU athletics — from skiing to soccer to football.

Sophomore Jaylyn Sherrod (Soc’23) is CU women’s basketball’s first–ever player from Alabama. Named CU’s Most Improved player and selected for the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team, the 5'7" Birmingham native reflects on leading as a point guard, choosing the Buffs and communicating on and off the court.

Jennifer Doudna smashes the glass ceiling with her historic recognition in chemistry. Doudna, a former CU Boulder postdoc, won the prize for co-development of the genome editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 with French microbiologist Emmanuelle Charpentier — the first time a science Nobel had been won by two women together.

A story of the history of the Pearl Street Mall and how it came to fruition.

Campus News Briefs: Leeds + Techstars Elevate, Honoring Inclusive Excellence, Electric Skin - the New FitBit?, and Heard Around Campus qoute.

CU research finds technology use in children and teens may not be as dire as many assume. Kids growing up in the mobile internet era have heard it all, often uttered by well-meaning parents fearing too much screen time could spur lasting problems. But a series of studies by CU Boulder sociology professor Stefanie Mollborn suggests such fears may be overblown.

Stefanie K. Johnson is an associate professor at Leeds and director of the CU Boulder Center for Leadership. She is an expert on leadership, inclusion and mitigating bias in the workplace. Her book Inclusify, released by HarperCollins in June, hit the Wall Street Journal National Bestseller List in its first week on the market.

Shelly Miller solves problems she cares about. As a CU Boulder mechanical engineering professor, her expertise on aerosols, indoor air pollution and urban air quality catapulted her to a global spotlight in 2020, giving her the chance to make huge world changes, fast. She discusses her work, the pandemic and what it’s like being suddenly in high demand.

Before the rise of scientific calculators and computers in the 1960s and 70s, cylindrical slide rules were used to complete multiplication, division and other complex mathematical operations. This particular slide rule — known as Thacher’s Calculating Instrument — was donated to the university by the late William J. Hanna (ElEngr’43;...

The University Portfolio’s first issue lamented the lack of a university glee club, reported anticipation for the upcoming Christmas holiday and exclaimed that Dr. Sewall — CU’s first president — would work the eight chemistry students 15 hours a day if he could.