Chancellor Communique

I write to share the news that University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus Associate Vice Chancellor for Biotechnology Steve VanNurden, MBA, will retire December 31, 2024. Steve joined our campus from Mayo Clinic in 2012, assuming his leadership role at CU Anschutz and taking the helm as president and CEO of the Fitzsimons Innovation Community (previously known as the Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority).

Along with an ambitious vision, Steve brought to our campus decades of expertise and a track record of turning big ideas in health into reality for the benefit of patient care. He founded CU Innovations in 2016, fundamentally transforming our technology transfer operation. Since that time, we have seen 44 new companies launched, 1,833 patents filed and 1,220 inventions developed. Our campus has been listed among the “Top 20 in the World for Tech Transfer” and named a “Top 5 Innovation Hub” by the National Institutes of Health, and we’ve built several investment vehicles to speed the translation of breakthroughs made here into commercialization. 

We have Steve to thank for putting our campus on the map nationally and globally as a prominent life science innovation center with room to grow, and for elevating our campus among the key economic drivers in Colorado. The Fitzsimons Innovation Community is now home to over 80 companies, up from just 20 when Steve arrived 12 years ago, and in many ways is just getting started.

We look forward to announcing Steve’s successor at CU Anschutz in the coming weeks. Last week, the Fitzsimons Innovation Community announced that Kelly Brough will assume the role of president and CEO on January 1, 2025, and we are delighted to welcome a leader of her caliber to the post as we look ahead to our next chapter together. 

Please join me in thanking Steve for his countless contributions to making CU Anschutz a destination for innovation and discovery over the course of the last 12 years. He leaves us positioned well for continued growth, and we wish him all the best in his much-deserved retirement.

Sincerely,

Don Elliman
Chancellor