A Partnership for today and tomorrow

Business and Engineering collaboration transforming campus and our students

The University of Colorado Boulder is one of the most-cited universities in the world, boasting five Nobel Prize-winning faculty members over the past three decades. CU Boulder’s world-class academic excellence extends across many parts of the university, ranging from business to engineering, medicine, humanities and the sciences.   

Recognizing the potential of bringing together ideas, education and action at the nexus of business and technology, in January 2017 the Leeds School of Business and the College of Engineering and Applied Science announced a joint building expansion that will physically connect the two schools on the Boulder campus. This first-of-a-kind collaboration will shape the nature of interactions between business, technology and our community for decades to come.

The expansion, estimated at more than 60,000-square-feet, creates space where students, faculty, staff and the business community can come together to connect and solve the challenges of tomorrow.
 

“We’re excited to engage with our partners and the community to make this project a reality, helping us to drive forward our mission of positively transforming the future of global business by inspiring and educating next-generation leaders.”

–  Sharon Matusik, Dean of the Leeds School of Business.

This next step in the university’s future is made possible through the investment of the University of Colorado Boulder community of alumni and friends. Philanthropic investment is elevating two signature programs on the Boulder campus and unlocking the potential at the intersection of business and technology. 

 

The future of higher education

Deans Sharon Matusik of business and Bobby Braun of engineering are united in their belief that the partnership represents the future of higher education: the bridging of technology and business, with a clear anchoring in entrepreneurship and innovation. 

The two deans are overseeing a significant expansion in joint programmatic offerings. Preparing students to navigate collaborative work environments, their approach marries the technical complexities of engineering with the operational acumen of business. The increase in joint offerings is paralleled by a surge in demand from students in both disciplines. The Leeds School’s business minor, originally developed with engineering students in mind, was recently expanded to accommodate growing enrollment. 

Spurred by a philanthropic gift from an alumnus, Leeds is also piloting a business mentorship program for engineering students in the business minor. Additional joint offerings include an integrated degree in business and computer science; a cross-campus entrepreneurship certificate through the business minor; cross-listed courses in venture planning, supply chain and prototyping; joint career fairs, workshops and co-curricular programming; and joint corporate partnerships with companies such as Arrow Electronics, Google, Lockheed Martin, Zayo and more.

 

Standing out from the crowd

The Business + Engineering partnership differentiates Leeds and elevates CU Boulder from its peers in higher education, playing a critical role in a future that will look vastly different from today. Preparing students to thrive and lead in an environment where technology continues to redefine and reshape industries is critical. Experiential learning is essential to translating academic excellence inside the classroom to practical application.

“Our building project symbolizes what is important to higher education in the future–connecting across disciplines, with entrepreneurship and innovation at the center,” says Matusik. Boulder’s reputation as a leader in innovation is not a coincidence. Boulder is recognized for its entrepreneurial community that has deep connections to campus. The university’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative, charged with cultivating entrepreneurial mindsets across the Boulder campus, connects students, faculty and staff with leaders and organizations in the community.
 

“The university and community feed off each other,” says Dan Caruso, founder and CEO of Zayo and an investor in the expansion along with his wife Cindy. “A lot of students come here because of their interest in Boulder’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.”

With the creation of dedicated space to build out entrepreneurship programming on campus and encourage collaboration among students of different disciplines, Leeds and its university partners are taking a bold stand in cementing CU Boulder as a global leader in innovation.

The space is scheduled to open to students in 2020.