University of Colorado at Boulder Chancellor G.P. "Bud" Peterson will visit Grand Junction on Wednesday, Feb. 28, as part of his annual outreach tours to Colorado communities.
Chancellor Peterson will meet with CU-Boulder alumni, community leaders and stakeholders and will discuss CU's presence on the Western Slope and how the university can be a greater resource to the region.
Peterson will begin the tour with a 7:30 a.m. Alumni Breakfast in the Grand Junction Hilton's Kokopelli Room, with guests including area alumni, school board members and school principals, local service organizations, chamber of commerce and city government officials. Fee for the breakfast is $10 per person.
The chancellor also will be a special guest of the Grand Junction Rotary Club at a luncheon at the Two Rivers Convention Center, where he will offer remarks. A special musical performance at the luncheon will be presented by CU student Michelle Spottsville.
In addition to these activities, Peterson will meet with community leaders including newly elected CU Regent and long-time Grand Junction lawmaker Tilman Bishop and George Orbanek, editor and publisher of the Grand Junction Sentinel.
"I am delighted to be visiting the Grand Junction community and the Western Slope," said Peterson. "As a city at the crossroads of the exciting transformations now occurring both in Colorado and the American West, I am eager to hear from community members about how CU can be a vital resource to the area."
Peterson was named CU-Boulder chancellor last June by CU system President Hank Brown. Prior to coming to Colorado as chancellor, he served as provost at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and before that in various leadership posts at Texas A&M University. He holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M and bachelor's degrees in mechanical engineering and mathematics from Kansas State University, as well as a master's degree in engineering from Kansas State.
While at Texas A&M, Peterson held leadership positions as head of the mechanical engineering department, executive associate dean of the College of Engineering and associate vice chancellor for the Texas A&M University system. In 1993-94 he served as Program Director for the Thermal Transport and Thermal Processing Division of the National Science Foundation and has also been a NASA fellow. He and his wife, Val, have four grown children.