Phil DiStefano, who has worn many hats at CU-Boulder during 35 years, has made it to the top: Boulder campus chancellor.

DiStefano, 62, former provost, stepped up as interim chancellor on April 1 when previous chancellor Bud Peterson left after less than three years to become president of the Georgia Institute of Technology. DiStefano became the sole finalist after a committee representing internal and external campus stakeholders conducted an internal search.

On April 20 President Bruce Benson (Geol’64, HonDocSci’04) announced DiStefano as sole candidate for the chancellor position. DiStefano spent two weeks meeting with key campus and alumni constituencies. On May 5 Benson appointed him permanent chancellor.

“Phil DiStefano has the integrity, experience and skills to lead our Boulder campus at this important time in its history,” Benson says. “He is a team player and a proven leader who is respected on campus and in the community, and I have a great deal of confidence in his abilities and trust in him personally.”

Benson says conducting an internal search allowed CU to tap into campus talent and provide continuity as CU-Boulder addresses key issues such as budget challenges, a national re-accreditation process and implementation of the campus Flagship 2030 strategic plan.

DiStefano has served CU-Boulder in several capacities during his many years on campus: professor of education, associate dean, dean, vice chancellor, provost and twice as interim chancellor.

A first-generation college graduate, DiStefano earned a bachelor’s degree from Ohio State and a master’s degree in English education from West Virginia University. He holds a doctorate in humanities education from Ohio State University, where he served as a teaching and research associate. Read about Phil’s history on campus and his thoughts on Page 50.

Not long after I started as an assistant professor of education at CU-Boulder in 1974, Dain Fritz (Comm’77) and Hillary Kramer Fritz (Engl’78) graduated. On May 8 their son Matt became a newly minted graduate.

Seeing the family at commencement reminded me of the late summer day four years ago when I bumped into the Fritz family as they helped Matt move into Farrand Hall — the same hall where his mother lived as a freshman in 1974. Perhaps with nostalgia sweeping over her, Hillary said, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

There is charm when the ivy-covered places on campus that nestle into our memories remain unchanged. But the fact is, things are changing more rapidly now than at any time during my 3½ decades at CU.
If you return to campus, you will see familiar sights you fondly remember. But like our classrooms, our residence halls are being reinvented for education in the 21st century.

We are moving forward with innovative residential colleges called for in our Flagship 2030 strategic plan. Freshmen through upperclassmen with common interests and ambitions will reside in combined living and learning environments alongside a resident professor who conducts lectures, seminars, recitations and tutoring in the residence hall.

This gives students the opportunity to pursue their academic passions together in both a structured and social environment, studying together and exchanging ideas. It also creates a small-college environment within a comprehensive research university.

The first residential college, the Kittredge Honors Program, opened this year at Arnett Hall. The Engineering Honors Program will open next fall in Andrews Hall with a faculty-in-residence. Soon, the Global Studies program will move into Smith Hall after it’s renovated.

Eventually students will be able to study with a resident professor, choosing from residence halls that focus on everything from natural sciences, fine arts and the American West to international interests, business, global leadership and liberal arts.

Some of the fondest memories for the next generation of students may come from experiences in their residential college or from other Flagship 2030 initiatives, such as experiential learning, civic engagement and studying abroad.

Watching two generations of the same family graduate from CU fills my heart. I have had the pleasure of watching all three become part of the Buff family. Now, Matt’s younger sister, Jacquelyn, has her eye on CU!

Phil DiStefano is the chancellor at the University of Colorado at Boulder. You may contact him at chanchat@spot.colorado.edu.

Chancellor G.P. “Bud” Peterson is the 10th chancellor of the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Not long ago I was talking with Richard “Dick” Engebretson (MBA’72), a longtime supporter of the university who has served on the boards of our Leeds School of Business, the CU Foundation and the Alumni Association.  In our conversation, I asked him what was special about his time as a CU student. His answer is instructive, I think, for all of the CU family: “I came to CU more or less on a whim, but by the time I left, all that I learned had given me all the tools I would ever need to create the life I wanted to live.”

What a great answer. And what a great description of CU’s enduring value.

As the university and our nation weather some of the toughest economic times we’ve seen in a generation, Dick described perfectly the value of a CU degree for our time, and perhaps, for all time. A CU degree — indeed, the CU experience — gives our graduates the tools they need for a lifetime of self-transformation.

But of course, as CU alumni, you already know that. Every time one of our graduates succeeds, many other people and the numerous institutions in which they are involved succeed along with them.

As we approach spring commencement, these are important things to remember. A CU degree gives our graduates the confidence to enter a shifting job market knowing they can succeed. In fact, a recent study in Forbes.com ranked CU seventh in the nation among public universities for the earning power of its graduates.

As alumni, you and your successes are as vital to advancing CU’s reputation as any ranking in a publication. Sharing how CU made a difference in your career and life is invaluable in helping us make the case for continuing our long legacy of transforming lives, Colorado communities and indeed, the world.

Working together, we have an opportunity to transform countless lives — those of our students and those touched by the works you do throughout your lives.  This is particularly true when we, as a country, are faced with financial challenges impacting virtually every facet of our lives.  Today we need graduates who are trained and educated to meet and overcome these challenges.

Thank you for your support of CU-Boulder.  As Dick, you and thousands of alums prove daily, we are transforming the world one graduate at a time.  Without you, we would have no past and certainly, no future.

You may contact the Chancellor at chanchat@spot.colorado.edu.