The Colorado General Assembly on Feb. 8 confirmed the appointment of one new member and one returning member to the Colorado State University System Board of Governors. Lakewood businessman Raymond T. Baker and current Board of Governors Vice Chair Armando Valdez were nominated by Colorado Gov. Jared Polis for the governing board seats.
The Board of Governors is the governing body for the entire CSU System and its three campuses: Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado State University Pueblo, and CSU Global, the nation’s first fully online public university. The Board also oversees the new CSU Spur campus at the National Western Center in Denver.
“Ray Baker’s distinguished record in business and nonprofit leadership, along with his roots in Pueblo and the metro area, will be great strengths for our diverse and representative Board,” Board of Governors Chair Kim Jordan said. “We’re also pleased that Armando has been re-appointed for a second term as one of our representatives for the agricultural community, and I look forward to his continued leadership on the Board.”
Baker and Valdez will take the oath of office at the next regular meeting of the Board of Governors in May.
Ray Baker
Born in Pueblo, Colorado, influential business leader Raymond T. Baker has played an active role in the nonprofit world as well as community banking and real estate throughout the Denver metropolitan area and the Western Slope. He is a partner at Gold Crown Management Company, a real estate management firm established in 1977 in Greenwood Village. He is also the co-founder and president of the Gold Crown Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides access to after-school sports for children throughout the Metro area.
Mr. Baker’s community and professional activities include serving as chair of the Colorado Commission on Higher Education and on Boards of Directors including UC Health; the Metropolitan Football Stadium District; Lakewood High School Foundation; the Caruso Foundation; Alpine Banks of Colorado; and as a director for the Judi’s House Endowment and a member of the N.E. Corridor Task Force for National Western. He previously served on the Board of the Denver Metropolitan Major League Baseball Stadium District. He was inducted into the Greater Pueblo Sports Association Hall of Fame in 2009.
Armando Valdez
A native of the San Luis Valley, Armando Valdez was raised near Capulin, Colorado, on a farm and ranch consisting of cattle, sheep, small grains, and hay — Valdez Land & Livestock, LLC, which he continues to operate today, along with his wife and children. Valdez is State Director for USDA-Rural Development in Colorado and previously served as an assistant professor of management and director of the Health Care Administration program in the School of Business at Adams State University. He was integral in the development of the Health Care Administration and the Agribusiness programs at ASU.
Governor Valdez is a member of the Conejos County Land Use Planning Commission, chair of the Conejos County Board of Adjustments, chair of the St. Joseph Parish Finance Committee, Board President of the Board for Guadalupe Parish Credit Union, a member of the 12th Judicial District nominating commission, and a member of the Noxious Weed District for Conejos County. In November 2009, he was appointed by President Barack Obama to the USDA-Farm Service Agency Executive Committee for Colorado. In 2012, he was appointed as executive chair of this committee and served in that role until his term ended in 2018.
About the CSU System
The Colorado State University System includes three distinct universities: CSU, a leading public research university and the state’s only land-grant institution, located in Fort Collins; CSU Pueblo, a regional-serving campus and federally designated Hispanic Serving Institution; and CSU Global, the nation’s first fully accredited, fully online public university. These universities serve around 50,000 students annually. The CSU System also operates the CSU Spur campus at the National Western Center in Denver. Learn more about the CSU System and its institutions, projects, and partnerships at csusystem.edu.
