Draper named vice chancellor for strategic relations at CU-Boulder

Draper

Frances Draper has been named vice chancellor for strategic relations at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Draper currently serves as associate vice chancellor for strategic relations; her new post takes effect Oct. 1. The change elevates the position to oversight of all external and internal communications, branding, alumni activities, government and business relations, reputation management and strategic relationship development for the CU-Boulder campus. Draper will report to Senior Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer Ric Porreca.

“Frances has proven to be a consummate organizer and leader of the university’s representational activities,” said Chancellor Philip DiStefano. “This move will ensure that our most strategic communications and relationships are well-coordinated at the highest levels in order to advance our most important goals. It is vital at this time in CU-Boulder’s history that we do this, and Frances is exactly the right person to lead these efforts.”

Draper was named associate vice chancellor for strategic relations on Feb. 14. Before joining the university, she had served since 2006 as executive director of the Boulder Economic Council. She worked for General Electric in Boulder and Westminster as a vice president in business development (2004-05) and risk management (1998-2003), as well as the director of treasury and financial services (1995-97). She also spent 12 years (1982-94) at First Interstate Bank in Denver in marketing, strategic planning and financial analyst positions. From 1978-80, she served on the legislative staff of Harrison Schmidt, the junior U.S. senator from New Mexico.

Draper earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Stanford University and an MBA with an emphasis in marketing from the University of California, Berkeley.

She has served on numerous local boards, previously including Boulder Rotary and the Boulder Innovation Center, and currently including CO-LABS Inc., the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship within the Leeds School of Business at CU-Boulder, Naturally Boulder and I Have a Dream of Boulder County.