Nisha Shanmugaraj has always been captivated by the power of language. “After receiving my doctorate, I was thrilled to receive a job offer from CU Boulder’s renowned Program for Writing and Rhetoric,” said Shanmugaraj, an assistant professor. She is at work on a book, “Bootstrapping Identity: Indian American Women and the Rhetorics of Internalized Racism,” being made possible with help from a 2026 President’s Fund for the Humanities grant.
Samuel Burciaga, a first-generation student pursuing his Ph.D. at CU Anschutz, is driven by a passion for advancing cancer research by enhancing the immune system’s ability to fight disease. His work focuses on developing new approaches to improve patient outcomes, including for children with leukemia. Watch a video to see how Burciaga is shaping cancer research and inspiring the next generation.
Wildfire risk in Colorado and the U.S. is growing at an alarming rate, putting more homes and lives in danger than ever before. The growing threat prompts more education about wildfire risk and mitigation, and every community faces different challenges. Effective strategies for advancing resistance and resilience are increased when researchers and community practitioners work together. The WiRē (Wildfire Research) Center, a nonprofit formed by researchers and practitioners involved with wildfire prevention, resilience and research, works to support the efforts of both groups through collaborative projects.
The CU Anschutz School of Medicine continues to boost its standing in the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research rankings, moving to No. 8 among public medical schools in the nation and to No. 21 among all medical schools, with half of its 18 clinical Departments landing in the top 15. Annual Blue Ridge rankings are determined by total funding granted from the National Institutes of Health to researchers at U.S. medical schools and their departments.
For more than two decades at CU Boulder and a decade at CU Denver, the Learning Assistant model has strengthened classroom learning by empowering students to serve as peer mentors and instructional leaders. Now, thanks to a CU Next system award, that impact is expanding systemwide – including at UCCS – marking a new chapter for the nationally recognized approach. Watch the video to see how the Learning Assistant model is evolving at CU – and why it continues to shape the future of teaching and learning.
The University of Colorado has entered into an agreement with OpenAI to provide secure, institutionally controlled access to ChatGPT EDU for students, faculty and staff across all four campuses and the CU system office, university leaders announced.
