Chief Operating Officer Patrick O’Rourke announced today that he has appointed Marlon Lynch to serve as the new associate vice chancellor for public safety at CU Boulder, effective March 4, following a national search.
Associate Vice Chancellor for Public Safety Marlon Lynch
Lynch joins CU Boulder from Michigan State University, where he has served as the vice president overseeing public safety since early 2021. He will report directly to O’Rourke at CU Boulder, overseeing CU's police department, event and emergency management, flight operations, a new office of threat assessment, and all administrative operations of the public safety division.
“I am grateful for Marlon to bring his wealth of experience in leading public safety operations for institutions of higher education as well as his experience in a variety of administrative positions,” O’Rourke said. “Safety is our top responsibility to our people and essential to ensuring the success of our university mission. I am excited for Marlon to bring his strategic vision and build on the progress we have made in recent years.”
After starting his tenure at MSU as vice president for public safety and chief of police, Lynch was promoted to vice president and chief safety officer in March of last year.
In his most recent role, Lynch has served as the senior administrator for police and public safety, including the areas of police, security, emergency management, security systems, transportation, parking and health care system.
Prior to Michigan State, Lynch served as chief safety officer at the University of Utah; senior vice president for campus services and safety at New York University; and associate vice president for safety and security and civic affairs at the University of Chicago. He also served as chief of police at Vanderbilt University, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and North Carolina A&T State University.
Lynch holds a master’s degree in criminal justice from Boston University and a bachelor of arts in criminal justice from Michigan State. He is a former president of the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators and the current chair of the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. He is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy.
“I could not be more excited for the opportunity to lead the Division of Public Safety at CU Boulder,” Lynch said. “CU Boulder and the community of Boulder are special, and I look forward to building relationships, caring for our people and continually improving upon our safety operations.”
The new AVC for public safety role replaces the AVC of integrity, safety and compliance position being vacated by Dan Jones, who in September announced plans to retire. Jones will remain with CU Boulder through the end of February to assist with the transition to Lynch.
“I want to thank Dan for his leadership in developing the Office of Integrity, Safety and Compliance in 2018 and for building a solid foundation as we move to a Division of Public Safety,” O’Rourke said. “I also want to thank our search committee and search committee chairperson Jessica Doty for their work in identifying a talented and diverse group of candidates. And I am grateful to our campus community and the dozens of students, faculty and staff who participated in the interview process.”
