University of North Dakota president named sole finalist to lead CU

DENVER  — University of North Dakota president Mark Kennedy was named the finalist to serve as the next University of Colorado system president.

The decision was made Wednesday by the CU Board of Regents. Kennedy will replace outgoing system president Bruce Benson.

The CU system oversees four campuses: the flagship campus in Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver and the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Kennedy is scheduled to make visits to each of those campuses later this month to meet staff, faculty and students.

SPONSORED CONTENT

The many benefits of simple, coordinated healthcare

Kaiser Permanente combines health care and coverage in one connected system to maximize employee health and minimize employer costs.

Kennedy, 61, served as a Republican representative from Minnesota in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2001 to 2007.

He has held multiple leadership positions with large corporations and was the director of the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

“Mark Kennedy is a proven leader with a diverse set of skills and experiences in higher education, government and business that will allow him to build on the considerable success CU has experienced in recent years and take the university to even greater heights,” Sue Sharkey, chair of the CU Board of Regents, said in a prepared statement. “My colleagues on the Board of Regents and I are excited to have the CU community meet and get to know him in the coming weeks.”

The board’s decision to recommend Kennedy as the finalist was unanimous. By law, the regents must name a finalist at least two weeks prior to officially naming a president.

“I’m honored to be considered for the presidency of the University of Colorado and I appreciate the confidence and trust the Board of Regents has in me,” Kennedy said in a statement. “I look forward to meeting and talking with the university community in the selection process.”

The CU Board of Regent’s decision comes a little less than a month after Colorado State University named its new president.

Joyce McConnell, provost and vice president for academic affairs at West Virginia University, will take over from current president Tony Frank this summer.