CU regents elect Rennison chair, Montera vice chair

BOULDER – The University of Colorado Board of Regents on Friday elected members Callie Rennison as chair and Ken Montera as vice chair for the coming year.

The nine regents elected both officers by acclamation during the board’s meeting at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Rennison, a Democrat representing the Second Congressional District, first was elected to the board in 2020 and is a professor and former associate dean of faculty affairs at the CU Denver School of Public Affairs. She also served as director of the Office of Equity and Title IX coordinator for the CU Denver and CU Anschutz Medical campuses.

She succeeds Regent Lesley Smith, who served as board chair for the past year.

“I appreciate the support of the board and look forward to working with Regent Montera,” said Rennison in a prepared statement. “He’s a superb regent and, together, I believe we’ll continue the important work of advancing CU.”

Montera, a Republican representing the Fifth Congressional District, just concluded his first year as board vice chair. He first was appointed to the Board of Regents by Gov. Jared Polis in December 2021, then won election in 2022 for the remainder of the term. Montera spent more than 30 years as a senior executive in four Fortune 200 companies leading strategy, multi-billion-dollar budgets and direct responsibility for more than 40,000 associates. He graduated from the CU Leeds School of Business in 1979.

“Regent Rennison and I worked together as chair and vice chair of the University Affairs Committee,” Montera said. “I’m excited to continue working with her in this new capacity and to drive continuity in what we’ve already established strategically as a board.”

CU’s Board of Regents consists of nine members serving staggered six-year terms, one elected from each of Colorado’s eight congressional districts and one from the state at large. The board is charged constitutionally with the general supervision of the university and the exclusive control and direction of all funds of and appropriations to the university, unless otherwise provided by law.

“I look forward to working with Chair Rennison and continue working with Vice Chair Montera to advance CU and serve our students and the great state of Colorado,” said CU President Todd Saliman.

With more than 66,000 students and more than 6,200 full-time instructional faculty members, CU has an annual budget of $5.9 billion and generates an economic impact of $14.2 billion annually for the state. CU researchers attracted $1.46 billion in sponsored research funding in fiscal year 2021-22. The university’s Technology Transfer Office has helped launch 190 startups since 1994.

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