
Tony Frank and Jim Lochhead: On a new water future at CSU Spur
Back in 2017, at the Biennial of the Americas, Colorado State University and Denver Water announced plans to work together to support a new future for water research, policy, education and innovation. This week, that vision comes fully to life with the opening of the Hydro building on the CSU Spur campus at the National Western Center.

Tony Frank: On peace
A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of attending the celebration of life for Walter Scott, Jr., a Colorado State University alumnus and donor for whom the Scott College of Engineering is named.

Tony Frank: On Water in the West
Over the course of this past summer, I hit the road with my colleague Kathay Rennels and traveled around the state. This is a trip we try to make every year – this summer included stops in Greeley, Yuma, Fort Morgan, Steamboat Springs, Craig, Gunnison, Grand Junction, Center, Alamosa, Lamar, Rocky Ford, Castle Rock, and Durango.

The Hill: Op-ed: America’s land-grant universities uniquely positioned to fight today’s biological threats
Op-ed from Tom Daschle, former Senate Majority Leader and Democratic Senator from South Dakota who serves on the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense, and Tony Frank, Chancellor of the Colorado State University System who has a research focus on infectious disease pathology.

Tony Frank: On facts
The truth doesn’t need to be believed to be true. Facts exist even when we miss them or hide them. And arguing to win an argument is not the same as discussing to more fully understand a complicated issue.

Tony Frank: On rural-urban collaboration at Spur
Food brings people together – around the dinner table, at picnics, and on restaurant patios. Sometimes, though, food production and its complexities spark a tension between rural and urban communities and drive us apart.

Tony Frank: On investing in Pueblo
Last week, I proudly joined President Timothy Mottet at Colorado State University Pueblo to kick off a new phase of the campus’s comprehensive campaign.

Tony Frank: On the lives they lived
I want to use our newsletter this month to tell the story of two people from different backgrounds whose lives became an inextricable part of the fabric of Colorado State University, and in doing so made our world a better place.

Remembering Mary Ontiveros
Mary Ontiveros was the long-time head of Admissions and the first vice president for Diversity at CSU in Fort Collins.
Chancellor Frank’s remarks to the Boyer 2030 Commission
CSU System Chancellor Tony Frank was invited to speak about “Campus Freedom of Speech and Expression” to the Boyer 2030 Commission, charged with designing a 2030 Blueprint for Excellence & Equity in Undergraduate Education at U.S. research universities.

Tony Frank: On Spur 2022
Since 2008, we’ve had a big dream at the Colorado State University System. We’ve dreamed of creating a one-of-a-kind public campus that doesn’t grant degrees but instead throws open its doors and invites the community to come inside and explore learning about food, water, and human and animal health.

Tony Frank: On prosperity
A couple of weeks ago, the Colorado Futures Center at the CSU System released the first of what will become a new, short-term economic forecast for Colorado. This new ColoradoCast found that economic activity in our state has rebounded to where it was pre-pandemic and will continue to expand in 2022.

Tony Frank: On collateral damage
There have been no shortage of comparisons made between the recent images of Afghan civilians clinging to airplanes and the iconic image of Vietnamese citizens filling the stairs to the lone Huey helicopter sitting atop the U.S. Embassy in Saigon.

Tony Frank: On hunger
On the same day in 1863, the U.S. government created both its own Department of Agriculture and a new model of higher-education education institution – land-grant universities – that also focused on preparing people to feed a growing nation.

Feeding People Matters
Chancellor Tony Frank’s keynote address to the North American Agricultural Advisory Network in conjunction with the World Food Prize.

Tony Frank: On talent
Jim Sheeler graduated from Colorado State University in 1990. Our paths didn’t cross. I arrived on campus as an assistant professor in 1993, and I was on the faculty in Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, while he was a graduate in journalism.

Tony Frank: On investing in rural Colorado
I grew up on a small farm in Illinois. I spent mornings doing chores and after-school time in 4-H, and my plan was to farm. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else or wanting to live anywhere else. College seemed foreign to me, and quite a stretch.

Tony Frank: On commencement
There are thousands of wonderful stories about this year’s roughly 11,000 students graduating from CSU, CSU Pueblo, and CSU Global.

Tony Frank: On equity
In discussions about public funding and policy, language often gets in the way of finding common ground. That’s particularly true in discussions around educational equity and equality – people with the same goals can wind up talking around each other and miss the common ground that serves as the best foundation for actual progress.

Tony Frank: On celebrating milestones
One reason the COVID pandemic has seemed to alter our sense of time is that all the normal events and traditions that typically fill our days are either cancelled or online.

Tony Frank: On economic impact
In the upcoming days, we’ll be releasing the findings of our first ever economic impact report for the entire Colorado State University System. Anyone who’s attempted to quantify a university’s “return on investment” knows how challenging it is.
A New Year’s wish from the Chancellor
Over the years, I’ve written many long email messages, but never, to my increasingly leaky memory, a New Year’s Eve message.

Tony Frank: On research
With the pandemic and elections taking so much of our focus this fall, it can be easy to lose track of the fundamentals that drive higher education and the CSU System: teaching, research, and outreach that supports our communities. But all this year, even while moving their courses online and working to connect with students in their new digital classrooms, our faculty have not only kept their focus – they have excelled.

Tony Frank: On elections
This past week, I was struck by an odd realization that this year’s election reminded me of the end of most of my college semesters.

Tony Frank: On voting
A week from today, election night will be over. So whether you vote out of respect for past sacrifice, or on behalf of a hope for tomorrow, my message this month is simple: If you can vote, vote.

Tony Frank: On how we talk to each other
Most Americans don’t like the way we talk to each other these days, but no one seems to know how to fix it. The Colorado State University System proposes that we start at the most obvious point: Let’s talk about it.

Tony Frank: On college costs and COVID-19
The State of Colorado produces a college graduate at a lower cost to taxpayers than any other state, and our tuition costs for public colleges and universities are solidly in the middle of the national pack. The total amount of student loan debt in Colorado has been on the decline for several years, and recent state studies indicate that higher education remains a wise investment for our students.

Tony Frank: On public art
In June, the CSU System completed its public art selection for the Spur campus at the National Western Center. This has been in the works for months, and part of our Spur planning for years – then we found ourselves making the final selection in the middle of a national conversation about monuments and statues and what art belongs in the public square.
Chancellor Frank Statement on the Supreme Court DACA Decision
The CSU System, led by our Board of Governors, has had a long-standing position in support of DACA students who have the drive and commitment to pursue higher education.

Tony Frank: On the Board of Governors
I don’t often get the opportunity to talk publicly about the Board of Governors of the CSU System.

Tony Frank: On navigating a pandemic
Wrestling with the operational and budgetary challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged employers in nearly every industry.

Tony Frank: Dear COVID-19
I’m writing to get some thoughts off my chest as I sit here late at night, unable to sleep.

Tony Frank: The employment sector that led the last recovery is at major risk
Elected officials in our nation’s capital are deeply engaged in discussions around stimulus packages to restart our economy.

Tony Frank: On COVID-19
I had been at Colorado State University for only a few years in the summer of 1997, when a late-July storm flooded the Fort Collins campus and surrounding community, leaving devastation in its wake.

Tony Frank: On Founders Day
On February 11, we celebrated 150 years of Colorado State University in Colorado.

Tony Frank: On college affordability
With the start of the Colorado legislative session, it’s a good time to talk about state funding, tuition, and return on investment.

Tony Frank: On CSU’s commitment to Colorado
The CSU System has a home in every county in Colorado, and our employees are important threads in the fabric of communities across Colorado.

Tony Frank: On Veterans Day
The celebration of Veterans Day has special meaning for the Colorado State University System.