Published: June 6, 2017

Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano

Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano

This week I’m visiting alumni, friends and donors across Colorado with CU Boulder coaches Tad Boyle, JR Payne and Mike MacIntyre along with Athletic Director Rick George.

Together we’re talking X's and O's and GPAs. I'm carrying our strong academic message to Colorado's far corners from Greeley to Pueblo, Salida to Gunnison, Durango, Grand Junction and Carbondale. And I have quite a story to tell.

It's a story about developing tomorrow's leaders, being a top university for innovation and how we as Buffs positively impact humanity.

I'm talking about how new graduates Tyler Huggins and Justin Whiteley patented a renewable energy-storage battery made from brewery wastewater. I note how staff came up with a scholarship pilot program to incorporate non-traditional forms of achievement into admissions criteria.

I tell the story of how a team of engineers developed a material to cool buildings with zero energy and how Madalyn Kern and a group of her fellow students invented an adjustable socket for prosthetic limbs. I mention how new graduate Maithreyi Gopalakrishnan developed a hybrid-powered rickshaw to replace gas-powered ones to contribute to air pollution solutions in India.

These stories demonstrate leadership, innovations and societal impacts by students, faculty and staff. As I speak to our friends across the state, their pride in CU Boulder is evident.

Reaching out statewide to tell our story on such a personal level to alumni, donors, newspaper editors, business and government leaders is one of the most gratifying things I do all year.

Without the creativity and ingenuity of our CU Boulder community I wouldn’t have such a compelling story to tell.

Go Buffs!

Philip P. DiStefano,
Chancellor

Chancellor Philip P. DiStefanos