A Historic Year for CSU Discoveries

When I first began to get to know the faculty, staff, and students of Colorado State University, I was absolutely blown away by their achievements, their engagement, and their energy. Why hadn’t I known how extraordinary this campus community was earlier, even as an outside observer? The answer seems clear: Like many land-grant and public institutions that truly embrace their service mission, CSU has a habit of hiding our light under the proverbial bushel basket. In doing so, we sell ourselves short – but more than that, we do a disservice to our community, our state, and our world, which need to know just how much we have to offer to improve lives now – today – and to truly shape and improve our future. So as the new president of CSU, this is my message for our entire campus community: Embrace your brilliance.As a land-grant university, our mission is clear: set the standard for public research universities in teaching, research, service, and Extension for the benefit of the citizens of Colorado, the United States, and the world.The research done here at CSU reflects the brilliance of our faculty, our staff, our graduate students, and our undergraduates. As an institution, we can create an environment through our research infrastructure that amplifies this brilliance. CSU has a vibrant ecosystem of discovery and innovation that makes significant economic impacts in our Colorado communities. We translate our ideas into partnerships that carry this impact deep into our state with demonstrated gains to communities in our region. This past year has been a historic year for our impact, one in which we have broken records for productivity. Notable accomplishments from the year include:

• Election of Dr. Sue VandeWoude to the National Academy of Sciences for her international recognition in One Health and wildlife disease management.
• A $155 million NOAA award to the Center for Research in the Atmosphere, the premier site for weather prediction in Colorado, including national impacts with the recent Hurricane Dorian prediction using the new GOES-R satellite.
• Zoetis, the largest animal health company, invested in a Zoetis incubator, locating 20 new discovery scientists in our Foothills incubator to work on increasing sustainability of agriculture and food systems.
• We increased investments in existing core facilities and established new shared research facilities aligned with research opportunities, including the new Drone Core and the Institute for Research in the Social Sciences.
• We implemented a new Research Safety Culture Program that works collaboratively across the University to ensure productive, synergistic relationships within our research community.
• Our Energy Institute has established broad recognition for creating an ecosystem with social venture, corporate, and government partners. This year, we have established new ARPA-E sites for testing new innovations in methane leak detection and continued international work in access to energy, including work in Africa, South America, and India.

We are consistently impressed with and often amazed by the brilliance Colorado State University researchers deliver in and across multiple disciplines, and the creative and thoughtful ways in which they seek to address and solve the most pressing challenges of our time. As you read their stories here, I am confident that you will agree with me that this incredible institution truly needs to own our brilliance.