The 10 most-read CU Connections features of 2021
1. President’s Diversity Awards honor faculty, staff, students
March 4 – The award recognizes significant achievements of university community members in developing a culturally and intellectually diverse university community reflective of inclusive excellence. Awardees, each of whom receives $2,000, engage in meaningful diversity activities beyond their primary CU responsibilities.
2. CU Faculty Voices: The persistence of pay inequity
May 20 – Equal pay for equal work seems like a topic that would garner little debate. Surprisingly, the notion of equal pay for equal work has a long history of debate and defeat, and has proved to be difficult to achieve in practice. Consider that decades ago, newspaper listings for employment included separate sections for men and women seeking work.
3. Five CU researchers named to 2021 class of Boettcher Investigators
May 27 – The 2021 Boettcher Investigators are the newest recipients of grant funding through the Webb-Waring Biomedical Research Awards Program, which supports promising, early career scientific researchers by helping them to advance their independent research and compete for major federal and private awards in the future.
4. New class of CU Distinguished Professors: leaders in research, education, service
Nov. 11 – CU Distinguished Professors are tenured faculty members who demonstrate exemplary performance in research or creative work; a record of excellence in promoting learning and student attainment of knowledge and skills; and outstanding service to the profession, the university and its affiliates.
5. CU Faculty Voices: A historian gets fact-checked
April 1 – In early March, a shiny magazine—the Spring 2021 issue of Alpinist, a magazine for mountaineers—arrived in my mailbox. The issue included a short article I wrote about down sleeping bag testing during World War II. Because I’m a historian of the outdoor industry, the publication’s readership represented an ideal popular audience.
6. Five questions for Regent Jack Kroll
July 8 – John “Jack” Kroll has served on the CU Board of Regents for over four years, but he’ll lead the governing body as newly elected board chair when members gather next week for their annual summer retreat. The multi-day meeting in Tabernash will be the board’s first in-person event since before the coronavirus pandemic.
7. 2021 Sustainability Report: How CU is making strides in reducing carbon footprint
June 3 – A new report takes stock of the University of Colorado’s significant achievements in environmental sustainability in recent years, while also stating goals for improvement that align with the systemwide Strategic Plan that’s nearing completion.
8. Exceptional staff members recognized by Staff Council
Nov. 18 – The CU staff members – two from each campus and from system administration – received the honors, which annually recognize those who go above and beyond their job duties and consistently surpass expectations. Each received $250 award presented by a member of each campus’s leadership team at the Oct. 1 ceremony at the Hilton Denver Inverness.
9. Regents announce slate of 2021 honorees
Jan. 7 – The University of Colorado Board of Regents has announced its selection of this year’s recipients of Honorary Degrees, Distinguished Service Awards and University Medals. Upon the recommendation of the board’s Awards Committee, the regents in November approved the 2021 nominees.
10. CU draws $1.45 billion in sponsored research funding
Oct. 28 – University of Colorado faculty this year attracted $1.45 billion in sponsored research funding and gifts supporting research. The support fuels discovery and impact that benefits Colorado and beyond. The 2020-21 systemwide total marks the fifth consecutive year that CU’s annual sponsored research funding and gifts have topped $1 billion. This year’s tally increased 3% over the previous year’s $1.41 billion mark.