Parsons to resign as CSU president Dec. 31

FORT COLLINS — Amy Parsons will resign as Colorado State University’s president effective Dec. 31, she announced Wednesday.

Parsons issued her announcement just after 11 a.m. on CSU Source, but gave no reason for why she is stepping down.

“On Dec. 31, I will step down as president of Colorado State University,” Parsons’ statement said. “Serving as CSU’s 16th president has been the honor of a lifetime. I am deeply grateful for the trust you have placed in me and extraordinarily proud of what we have accomplished together.”

Twelve minutes after Parsons made her announcement, CSU Chancellor Tony Frank announced that he has named provost Rick Miranda as interim president.

“Rick knows and loves this university deeply,” Frank said. “He has spent decades at CSU as a faculty member and as our long-serving provost, and he has stepped into the interim president role before. He will work closely with Provost and Executive Vice President Lise Youngblade and CSU’s talented leadership team to ensure a smooth transition and to keep its major initiatives moving forward.”

Miranda served as CSU’s interim president from Joyce McConnell’s departure in June 2022 until  Parsons took over the role in February 2023. McConnell, the first woman to serve as president of CSU, was appointed in 2019 but left the position after three years in what the university described as “parting ways” and paid $1.5 million to buy out her contract. McConnell had succeeded Frank, who held the position for 11 years.

The school also paid $325,000 to buy out the contract of Marion Underwood, who resigned in January as CSU’s provost and executive vice president.

Parsons was announced as the sole finalist for CSU’s presidency in December 2022 after a nationwide five-month search process.

She came to the presidency from a private-sector job as founding CEO of global e-commerce company Mozzafiato LLC, an American firm that represents a collection of Italian beauty brands. But before she took on that post in October 2020, she had served in various senior executive leadership roles at CSU and its system. After earning a bachelor’s degree in political science from CSU and a law degree from the University of Colorado Boulder, she worked as a litigation attorney for Denver-firm Brownstein Hyatt & Farber from 1999 to 2004, then returned to CSU first as deputy general counsel and associate legal counsel, then served six years as vice president for university operations and then five as executive vice chancellor of the CSU system.

Frank’s statement Wednesday reiterated his intention, first announced in February, to retire from the chancellor position and appoint executive vice chancellor Rico Munn as his replacement. Munn will take those reins July 1.

“Because CSU’s next president will work most closely with Rico, he will lead the search for the university’s 17th president,” Frank wrote. “That process will begin this spring and be built around a campus engagement effort. Faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends of the university will all have meaningful opportunities to provide input that will shape who leads CSU next.”

In her resignation announcement, Parsons hailed the “remarkable momentum” CSU achieved during her tenure.

“Together, we have set new records for enrollment and philanthropy, while advancing student success and degree completion,” she wrote. “We have expanded access through innovative pathways such as Spur Start and the Ram Transfer Academy, opening doors for more Colorado students to pursue a CSU education.

“We have redoubled our commitment to rural Colorado and strengthened our land-grant mission of serving every corner of our state. We have advanced academic and research excellence across the university and opened the state-of-the-art Veterinary Hospital and Education Complex, ensuring CSU remains at the forefront of preparing future leaders in veterinary medicine and animal health.

“We have created new traditions, including bringing our entire university community together for commencement in Canvas Stadium, and positioned CSU as a national leader in democracy,” she wrote. “We have boldly entered an exciting new era in the Pac-12 and watched Rams fans set incredible new attendance records at Canvas Stadium and Moby Arena in both men’s and women’s sports.

“These accomplishments matter,” she wrote. “But what makes me most proud is the people behind them.”

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