E-Insight

April 2004

University News

• The campus community is welcome to attend the inauguration of Dr. Larry Edward Penley as the 13th president of Colorado State University and the third chancellor of the CSU System on April 22. The academic procession from the CSU Oval to the Lory Student Center Theatre begins at 2:30 p.m., and the inaugural convocation begins at 3 p.m. in the Lory Student Center Theatre. A campus and community reception follows at 4 p.m. in the main ballroom of the Lory Student Center.
  

• Two Colorado community and business leaders joined the Board of Governors of the Colorado State University System at its meeting on March 16 in Pueblo, Colo. Board appointments for Diane Evans and Chad McWhinney were confirmed by the full Colorado Senate last month. Each will serve a four-year term.
  
  Evans has served as vice president of the Land Title Guarantee Company in Castle Rock, Colo., since 1981 and has an extensive background in real-estate related matters. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Land Title Association of Colorado and has been active in volunteering for such community-based organizations as the Castle Rock Chamber of Commerce and Douglas County 4-H.
  
  McWhinney is president and CEO of McWhinney enterprises, a real estate development company headquartered in Loveland, Colo., and is involved in a variety of civic activities. He currently serves in leadership positions for several community organizations, including director for Centennial Bank of the West, director of the Northern Colorado Economic Development Corporation, and member of the Urban Land Institute. McWhinney also has served on Colorado State 's Real Estate Advisory Committee and the University's Global Leadership Council for the College of Business.
  

• Long-time administrator and Colorado State alumnus Dr. Steven R. Abt has been appointed interim dean of the College of Engineering. He began his duties on March 8. Dr. Abt, a professor of civil engineering, has more than 27 years of general engineering experience. He earned his bachelor's degree in civil engineering, master's degree in water resources and doctoral degree in hydraulics, all from Colorado State. Dr. Abt joined the Colorado State faculty in 1976 after serving in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and working as a consulting water resource engineer in Denver. Dr. Abt succeeds Dr. Neal Gallagher who recently announced he was leaving the University to take on a new position as dean of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Central Florida. A national search for a permanent dean is under way.
  

• Gov. Bill Owens has named Rick O'Donnell executive director of the Colorado Commission on Higher Education. O'Donnell is a graduate of Colorado College in Colorado Springs with a combined bachelor's degree in history and political science. He takes over a state college system that has been hit with $200 million in cuts during the last two years. O'Donnell has been director of the state Department of Regulatory Agencies for the past 14 months after running an unsuccessful primary campaign against Bob Beauprez in the 7th Congressional District. O'Donnell, a senior fellow at the UCLA School of Public Policy and Social Research, replaces former higher education director Tim Foster, who resigned March 5 to accept the presidency of Mesa State College in Grand Junction.
  

• The Colorado Science and Engineering Fair (CSEF) will be held April 8-10 at Colorado State University. This event is a competition among Colorado 's top junior and senior high school students as chosen by 13 regional science fairs held throughout the state. Over 300 participants are entered in the following categories: Botany, Chemistry, Earth & Space Sciences, Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Health & Behavioral Sciences, Mathematics & Computer Sciences, Microbiology, Physics, and Zoology. The CSEF will be in the main ballroom on the second floor of the Lory Student Center. Exhibits will be available for public viewing from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Friday and from 9 a.m.-11 a.m. on Saturday.  Colorado State faculty and staff are actively involved in the CSEF as judges, sponsors and volunteers.