Polis appoints 3 to UNC board

GREELEY — Gov. Jared Polis has appointed three new board members to the University of Colorado Board of Trustees following departures of three whose terms ended in December.

Appointees are subject to confirmation of the Colorado General Assembly, which begins its 120-day session today. Those appointed are Patricia Barela Rivera, Maia Babbs, and UNC alumnus Dr. Shashwata Prateek Dutta.

Barela Rivera is owner and president of PBR Solutions, a Denver-based consulting firm. She previously spent 11 years as the director of the Colorado District Office of the U.S. Small Business Administration. She has been appointed to a one-year term to replace Tony Salazar, who resigned last fall after accepting a position with the University of Colorado.

Babbs is partner and vice president of investments and client advisory for Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel. She has more than 20 yars of experience in the financial industry.  

Dutta, who graduated from UNC in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in political science, is the Colorado policy director for Democrats for Education Reform in Denver. 

The terms for Babbs and Dutta will run through 2023. They replace former trustees Paul Washington and Kevin Ahern, whose terms ended in December.

UNC’s Board of Trustees consists of seven members appointed by the governor, a faculty member elected by peers and a student elected by peers.