Dr. Larry Edward Penley

Now at CSU

To the faculty, staff and students of Colorado State University:

I know that all of you are preparing for a new year with some excitement about the return of current students and the arrival of a new freshman class. That anticipatory excitement that is typical of this time of the academic year makes even more poignant the events of a few days last week.

While tragic events are — sadly — inevitable among a community of more than 25,000 students and 5,000 employees, this doesn’t diminish their impact. In particular, the loss of a well-loved colleague through an accident, the loss of a promising graduate student and the critical injury of another in a lightning storm, along with the discovery of a homicide victim on campus provide a stark reminder of the unpredictability of our lives. At times such as these, we are reminded that Colorado State is a close and tight-knit campus where we understand the immense value of each member of our community and the impact each life has on individuals and the campus as a whole.

Let us join our colleagues and friends in mourning the sad loss of each of the three and the critical injury of another as we continue preparations for the beginning of the academic year.

Sincerely,
Larry Edward Penley
President

MyCSU

MyCSU is an innovative Web concept composed of a series of videos, blogs, articles and photos. MyCSU highlights the myriad of people and experiences within the CSU community. Featured in many different locations on the CSU website, MyCSU offers engaging videos about students and their campus experiences; stories about CSU people and their involvement; and photos of CSU students on their travels and adventures.

The goal of MyCSU is to show students what the world looks like from others' viewpoints and to showcase the opportunities available to them as part of a globally connected university like Colorado State. Together, these stories make up the vibrant, exciting community of Colorado State University.

Visit MyCSU

Welcome to
Colorado State University

At Colorado State University, we have a particular focus on the challenge of global sustainability and environmental stewardship. And as a major research university, our focus is not just on running a green campus through such actions as changing out old light bulbs for energy efficient ones, but on engineering a better light bulb — and educating the knowledge leaders who will invent a replacement for the light bulb. The anticipated explosion of "green collar" jobs worldwide over the next two decades is well-aligned with CSU's historic academic excellence in related fields like natural resources, clean energy, engineering, atmospheric science, sustainable enterprise, water resources, communications, and much more.

We also take seriously our obligation and opportunity to demonstrate that we have the agility, vision, and enterprise-based focus to be an effective partner in deploying innovation in support of environmental and other global challenges. Our pioneering Superclusters concept is a testament to this commitment. Here at Colorado State, we continue to take great research ideas, narrowly focused in specific areas, and move innovation rapidly into the market space where it can improve human lives worldwide.

This new mission of globally deploying innovative solutions developed at Colorado State to help solve global problems dovetails with our mission since this institution was founded in 1870: To educate the next generation of leaders, conduct groundbreaking scholarship and research, and extend that learning beyond our campus to improve our society.

Sincerely,
Larry Edward Penley