University of Colorado Denver
Encyclopedia
The University of Colorado Denver, shortened as CU Denver, UC Denver, or UCD, is a public university
in the United States
state
of Colorado
. It is one of three schools of the University of Colorado
system. The university has two campuses — one in downtown Denver at the Auraria Campus
, and the other at the Anschutz Medical Campus
located in neighboring Aurora
. The single university is the result of the 2004 consolidation of the "University of Colorado at Denver" and "University of Colorado Health Sciences Center". The official name of the university is University of Colorado Denver | Anschutz Medical Campus.
The University of Colorado Denver is adjacent to its primary teaching hospital, the University of Colorado Hospital
, on the Anschutz Medical Campus. It is also affiliated with the neighboring Children's Hospital, and with the National Jewish Medical and Research Center
and Denver Health Medical Center
in Denver. There are currently more than 27,000 students at the school's two physical campuses in downtown Denver
and in Aurora
. The school also offers classes via CU Online
.
The University of Colorado Denver is the largest research institution in Colorado, attracting more than $375 million in research grants annually, and granting more graduate degrees than any other institution in the state. UC Denver, along with University of Colorado Hospital and University Physicians, Inc., employs more than 12,200 Coloradans, making it one of the metro Denver area's top employers. The university serves more than 500,000 patients a year through its hospital and clinical services.
The University of Colorado created the Department of Medicine and Surgery in September 1883 in the Old Main building on the Boulder campus. The Department of Nursing opened in 1898.
By 1892, the last two years of classes were taught in Denver because the larger population afforded more practical experience. This practice triggered something of a turf battle with the University of Denver
’s medical school and the subsequent legal battle went to the state Supreme Court. In 1897, the court found that CU’s charter restricted them to Boulder
. However, in 1910, CU
got an amendment to the state Constitution
passed which allowed them to move back to Denver. In 1911, the School of Medicine combined with the Denver and Gross Medical College to form a larger school with a more comprehensive program, paving the way for the school's permanent move to Denver. In 1925, the School of Medicine moved to the campus on Ninth Avenue and Colorado Boulevard in Denver. This would become the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center ("UCHSC").
In 1995, the Fitzsimons Army Medical Center
was officially put on the Base Realignment and Closure
list, after which officials from the Health Sciences Center, University of Colorado Hospital and the City of Aurora presented a proposal to the Department of Defense
in Washington, D.C.
to repurpose the decommissioned base as an academic health center. In 1999, the Army base was closed under the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure action. In 2004, the first UCHSC labs moved from Denver to the research towers on the Fitzsimons campus. In 2006, the Fitzsimons campus of UCHSC was renamed the Anschutz Medical Campus
in recognition of philanthropic donations from Philip
and Nancy Anschutz. By the end of 2008, academic and research operations of all UC Denver health sciences schools and colleges relocated from the Ninth Avenue and Colorado Boulevard campus to the new Anschutz campus, joining the affiliated University of Colorado Hospital and Children's Hospital.
Company Building at 14th and Arapahoe Streets (now the Hotel Teatro and the Denver Center for the Performing Arts
Tramway building). In 1964, the Extension Center was renamed the University of Colorado - Denver Center, and in 1974 it became the Denver campus of the University of Colorado, or University of Colorado at Denver. Between 1973 and 1976, the State of Colorado built the Auraria Higher Education Center (AHEC) on a 127 acre (0.51395122 km²) downtown campus to be shared by the University of Colorado at Denver, the Metropolitan State College of Denver
and the Community College of Denver
. In 1977, the Denver campus expanded to the newly opened AHEC, and later to office buildings on 14th Street and on Lawrence Street.
On October 29, 2007, the board of regents voted to rename UCDHSC as the University of Colorado Denver, consisting of the Anschutz Medical Campus and the Downtown Campus. This has reportedly been a source of frustration for the City of Aurora, whose representatives feel slighted that the location of one of the university's two campuses is not reflected in the university's name. In 2008, lawmakers asked the CU board of regents to replace "Denver" with "Aurora" from the university's name while referring to the Anschutz Medical Campus, which the regents refused. One state senator has proposed the moniker "University of Colorado Denver/Aurora". In 2010, it was reported that CU would drop the term "Denver" from the Anschutz Medical Campus' full name, referring to it only as "University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus".
As of August 2011, after the latest rebranding, the institution should be referred to as University of Colorado Denver | Anschutz Medical Campus (including the vertical bar "|"), while its legal name is University of Colorado Denver. The primary name of the Anschutz Medical Campus is University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. The primary name of the Denver Campus (previously Downtown Campus) is University of Colorado Denver and it can be referred to as CU Denver but not UC Denver. The domain name for the whole institution is
The Denver Campus, part of the Auraria Campus
, is located to the southwest of downtown Denver in the Auraria Neighborhood, on Speer Boulevard and Auraria Parkway. UC Denver shares the Auraria Campus
with two additional institutes of higher education: Metropolitan State College of Denver
and the Community College of Denver
. Regional Transportation District
's (RTD) Light Rail
has two stops on the Auraria Campus
: Colfax at Auraria and Auraria West Campus.
The Denver Campus features both undergraduate and graduate courses, with more than 35 percent of the students graduate students. The campus is located in the heart of the central business district
and is in close proximity to the Pepsi Center
, Elitch Gardens
, The Colorado Convention Center
, The Denver Center for the Performing Arts
, Larimer Square, and the 16th Street Mall. The reclaimed Tivoli brewery, which closed in 1969, houses the student union.
, which has since been decommissioned, and a new campus in neighboring Aurora
, where all activities of the former Health Sciences Center has since relocated. The latter campus, which is now called the Anschutz Medical Campus, is host to the Research Complex towers, The Barbara Davis Diabetes Center, the Nighthorse Campbell Native Health building, various centers of the University of Colorado Hospital
, and the health sciences library. There are approximately 3000 students at the Anschutz Medical Campus with 1297 of these in the School of Medicine (including medical and graduate students).
. All of the facilities on the campus, with the exception of the former Fitzsimons Hospital (referred to as 500 Main, or "Building 500"), are new construction. A series of distinct quadrangular zones on the campus governs its architectural design: the research quadrangle, consisting of the three Research Complex towers, features a contemporary glass and metal design; the education quadrangle is characterized by a brick aesthetic; and the core quadrangle is located on the central axis of the campus, and anchored by Building 500. The comprehensive 116000 square feet (10,776.8 m²) medical library is located along the center quadrangle of the campus.
The combined 578 acres (2.3 km²) of the Anschutz Medical Campus and the Fitzsimons Life Science District is undergoing a $4.3 billion renovation and transformation into the largest medical-related redevelopment project in the United States. The 184 acre (0.74462224 km²) Colorado Science + Technology Park in Aurora is being developed directly adjacent to the health sciences areas of campus, providing opportunities to collaborate with biotechnology companies and their resources. The remaining acres of the former military facility are dedicated to commercial, hospitality, retail, and residential development.
Built as state-of-the-art, the Anschutz Medical Campus consists of three zones: an education zone with facilities for training in the medical and health-related fields, a research zone that houses the various graduate programs, and a clinical care zone with the University of Colorado Hospital and The Children's Hospital, the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine's primary adult and pediatric hospital partners, nearby.
and University Physicians, Inc.) operates on a $1.8 billion
annual economy. The University of Colorado Hospital
, which is the principal teaching hospital for the University of Colorado Denver, serves more than half a million patients every year. In the 2009-10 fiscal year, UC Denver's two campuses received almost $385 million in combined research funding.
12,726 students are enrolled on the Downtown Campus. Of these, 8,188 are undergraduates, and 4,538 are graduate students. 28.7% of undergraduate students and 12.5% of graduate students, on the Downtown Campus, belong to an ethnic minority. The average entering ACT score for new freshmen on the Downtown Campus is 22.0 composite, 21.7 English, and 21.6 Math. The average entering SAT scores on the Downtown campus is 540 Math and 542 Verbal. The average high school GPA for new freshmen is 3.3. The most popular undergraduate majors on the Downtown campus are biology, business and psychology. International students on the campus arrive from 125 countries.
There are 2,954 students enrolled at University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Of these, 430 are undergraduate students, 1,026 are graduates, and 1,498 are enrolled in first professional courses. 17% of the student population at the Anschutz Medical Campus are an ethnic minority.
University of Colorado Denver is one of the largest universities in Colorado with more than 27,000 students and awarding more than 3,400 degrees in a year. It has the largest graduate business school and graduate school of education in Colorado, and its School of Medicine is the only medical school in the state. In 2010, almost $385 million in sponsored research funding was awarded to University of Colorado Denver researchers. The vast majority of this research is dedicated to health sciences at the Anschutz Medical Campus. In 2009, more than $167,000,000 was awarded by the National Institutes of Health
to UC Denver researchers. The core laboratories in the research complex, at the Anschutz Medical Campus, include mass spectrometry
, X-ray crystallography
, electron microscopy, a 900 mega-hertz
nuclear magnetic resonance
(NMR) spectrometer, DNA array and peptide protein chemistry. The university is considered by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education
to have "very high research activity" with a basic classification of Research Universities (RU/VH) (very high research activity).
conducted the first liver transplant in the world at CU's medical school, and is considered "the father of modern transplantation." Dr. Ted Puck
, a biophysicist at the medical school, developed a classification system for the human chromosome, and has been referred to as "a pioneer in mammalian cell culture, somatic cell genetics, and the study of human genetic diseases." He was also the first scientist to grow human tissue from a single cell. Dr. Henry Swan revolutionized open heart surgery at the Department of Surgery, pioneering investigations and clinical application of hypothermia in cardiac surgery. Dr. John Caldwell and colleagues, from the Departments of Cell and Structural Biology, and Physiology, discovered the volgate-gated sodium channel Nav1.6
. Dr. Lawrence Hunter
is the founder of the International Society for Computational Biology, the world's oldest and largest professional organization for bioinformatics and computational biology. Nobel Laureate Dr. Tom Cech, of CU Boulder, is an affiliated faculty with UCD's Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics.
, 30 group study rooms, and wireless internet connectivity throughout the library.
, the School of Education & Human Development, the College of Engineering and Applied Science, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the School of Public Affairs and its Presidential Climate Action Project, and the Graduate School. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is UC Denver's largest school on the Downtown Denver Campus, offering 20 baccalaureate degrees, 17 master's degrees, and two PhD programs. The Presidential Climate Action Project is a two-year, $2 million initiative administered by the Wirth Chair, School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado Denver, to engage the nation’s science, policy, business and civic leaders to produce a Presidential Climate Action Plan (PCAP). UC Denver sponsors the only college of architecture and planning in Colorado. The School of Architecture and Planning is located on 14th street, offering graduate degrees in architecture, urban design, and landscape architecture. In the engineering areas, the downtown campus has worked with Lockheed Martin
and Raytheon
. On the Anschutz Medical Campus, the university houses the School of Dental Medicine, the School of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the School of Pharmacy, Colorado School of Public Health, and the Graduate School
.
, and offers medical and graduate degrees in pharmacy, the pharmaceutical sciences, molecular toxicology, and pharmaceutical outcomes research. 30% of its class is from out of state. In 2009, the NIH awarded $7,310,389 and $19,189,543 in grants towards the SOP and Pharmacology department, respectively. In 2011, the school will move into its new building, the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences which will also be located on the Anschutz Medical Campus.
, First Bank, and Frontier Airlines
, who provide feedback on the school's Business curriculum.
ranks the university as having the top 10 Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index
in the United States in the fields of biomedical sciences, developmental biology
, human and medical genetics
, oncology
and cancer
biology, structural biology
and toxicology
. University of Colorado Denver features in a number of rankings in U.S. News & World Report
's America's Best Graduate Schools. The university ranked 5th among American medical schools for primary care in 2010, and 27th among medical schools for research. The graduate school ranked 68th in the biological sciences in 2010. UCD's School of Nursing ranked 15th in the nation in 2007, while among Nurse Practitioner programs, the university is ranked 8th, 5th, and 3rd in the areas of Adult, Family, and Pediatric, respectively. The medical school is ranked 6th in the specialty of family medicine. UCD's School of Pharmacy is ranked 23rd in the nation, and the School of Public Affairs is ranked 32nd. The Princeton Review
included UC Denver in its Best Western Colleges, Best in the West in 2008. The university ranked 34th on the Forbes
list of best public colleges. The Business School is the 5th Best Graduate School for Physician - Executives (2007), according to Modern Healthcare
. In 2010, UC Denver ranked 7th in The Scientist
's Best Places to Work for Postdocs survey.
University Of Colorado Denver has over 100 student organizations, honor societies, professional organizations and faith-based groups, that offer social, service, and professional opportunities for their members within the university and community. First time freshmen and first time international students at the downtown campus are generally required to live on campus, in the Campus Village, a student housing complex at the Auraria Campus for students, faculty and staff from any of the three schools that share the campus. UCD provides a variety of sports and recreation activities to students, faculty and staff, including personal training, intramural basketball
, volleyball
, soccer, squash
, and tennis
, and sports equipment check out for on or off campus use.
The downtown campus student newspaper, the Advocate, comes out weekly during the school year. UCD's Distinguished Lecture Series hosts an array of speakers, that have included David Horowitz
and Malcolm-Jamal Warner
. The Tivoli Student Union serves as a student center for the Community College of Denver
, Metropolitan State College of Denver
and University of Colorado Denver.
Public university
A public university is a university that is predominantly funded by public means through a national or subnational government, as opposed to private universities. A national university may or may not be considered a public university, depending on regions...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
. It is one of three schools of the University of Colorado
University of Colorado
The University of Colorado system is a system of public universities in Colorado consisting of three universities in four campuses: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, and University of Colorado Denver in downtown Denver and at the Anschutz Medical Campus in...
system. The university has two campuses — one in downtown Denver at the Auraria Campus
Auraria Campus
Auraria Campus is an educational facility located near downtown Denver, Colorado in the United States. The campus houses facilities of three separate universities and colleges: the University of Colorado Denver , Community College of Denver, and Metropolitan State College of Denver...
, and the other at the Anschutz Medical Campus
Anschutz Medical Campus
The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus is one of two campuses of the University of Colorado Denver. It is located in Aurora, Colorado...
located in neighboring Aurora
Aurora, Colorado
City of Aurora is a Home Rule Municipality spanning Arapahoe, Adams, and Douglas counties in Colorado. Aurora is an eastern suburb of the Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area . The city is the third most populous city in the Colorado and the 56th most populous city in the...
. The single university is the result of the 2004 consolidation of the "University of Colorado at Denver" and "University of Colorado Health Sciences Center". The official name of the university is University of Colorado Denver | Anschutz Medical Campus.
The University of Colorado Denver is adjacent to its primary teaching hospital, the University of Colorado Hospital
University of Colorado Hospital
University of Colorado Hospital is the principal teaching hospital for the University of Colorado Denver, located in Aurora, Colorado.In the most recent U.S. News and World Report hospital rankings, UCH ranked in the top 50 for 7 of 16 medical specialities.In 2005, UCH was redesignated by the ...
, on the Anschutz Medical Campus. It is also affiliated with the neighboring Children's Hospital, and with the National Jewish Medical and Research Center
National Jewish Medical and Research Center
National Jewish Health is a research institute located in Denver, Colorado specializing in respiratory, immune and allergic research and treatment. It was founded in 1899 to treat tuberculosis, and is today considered one of the world's best medical research and treatment centers...
and Denver Health Medical Center
Denver Health Medical Center
Denver Health Medical Center was founded on 1860, and is one of four Level I Trauma Centers in Colorado. The hospital is located near Cherry Creek, in Denver....
in Denver. There are currently more than 27,000 students at the school's two physical campuses in downtown Denver
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
and in Aurora
Aurora, Colorado
City of Aurora is a Home Rule Municipality spanning Arapahoe, Adams, and Douglas counties in Colorado. Aurora is an eastern suburb of the Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area . The city is the third most populous city in the Colorado and the 56th most populous city in the...
. The school also offers classes via CU Online
CU Online
CU Online is one of the first fully accredited online education programs, created in 1996 by the University of Colorado Denver...
.
The University of Colorado Denver is the largest research institution in Colorado, attracting more than $375 million in research grants annually, and granting more graduate degrees than any other institution in the state. UC Denver, along with University of Colorado Hospital and University Physicians, Inc., employs more than 12,200 Coloradans, making it one of the metro Denver area's top employers. The university serves more than 500,000 patients a year through its hospital and clinical services.
University of Colorado Health Sciences Center
By 1892, the last two years of classes were taught in Denver because the larger population afforded more practical experience. This practice triggered something of a turf battle with the University of Denver
University of Denver
The University of Denver is currently ranked 82nd among all public and private "National Universities" by U.S. News & World Report in the 2012 rankings....
’s medical school and the subsequent legal battle went to the state Supreme Court. In 1897, the court found that CU’s charter restricted them to Boulder
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
. However, in 1910, CU
University of Colorado System
The University of Colorado system is a system of public universities in Colorado consisting of three universities in four campuses: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, and University of Colorado Denver in downtown Denver and at the Anschutz Medical Campus in...
got an amendment to the state Constitution
Law and Government of Colorado
The Constitution of the State of Colorado provides for three branches of government: the legislative, the executive, and the judicial branches.-Sovereignty of the people:...
passed which allowed them to move back to Denver. In 1911, the School of Medicine combined with the Denver and Gross Medical College to form a larger school with a more comprehensive program, paving the way for the school's permanent move to Denver. In 1925, the School of Medicine moved to the campus on Ninth Avenue and Colorado Boulevard in Denver. This would become the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center ("UCHSC").
In 1995, the Fitzsimons Army Medical Center
Fitzsimons Army Medical Center
The Fitzsimons Army Medical Center was a medical facility of the United States military during the 20th century located on in Aurora, Colorado...
was officially put on the Base Realignment and Closure
Base Realignment and Closure
Base Realignment and Closure is a process of the United States federal government directed at the administration and operation of the Armed Forces, used by the United States Department of Defense and Congress to close excess military installations and realign the total asset inventory to reduce...
list, after which officials from the Health Sciences Center, University of Colorado Hospital and the City of Aurora presented a proposal to the Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
to repurpose the decommissioned base as an academic health center. In 1999, the Army base was closed under the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure action. In 2004, the first UCHSC labs moved from Denver to the research towers on the Fitzsimons campus. In 2006, the Fitzsimons campus of UCHSC was renamed the Anschutz Medical Campus
Anschutz Medical Campus
The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus is one of two campuses of the University of Colorado Denver. It is located in Aurora, Colorado...
in recognition of philanthropic donations from Philip
Philip Anschutz
Philip Frederick Anschutz is an American entrepreneur. Anschutz bought out his father's drilling company in 1961 and earned large returns in Wyoming. He has invested in stocks, real estate and railroads...
and Nancy Anschutz. By the end of 2008, academic and research operations of all UC Denver health sciences schools and colleges relocated from the Ninth Avenue and Colorado Boulevard campus to the new Anschutz campus, joining the affiliated University of Colorado Hospital and Children's Hospital.
University of Colorado at Denver
The University of Colorado at Denver began as the Extension Center of University of Colorado's Department of Correspondence and Extension, which was established in 1912. In 1938, the Extension Center acquired permanent quarters in Denver in the C.A. Johnson Building at 509 17th St., where a single, full-time faculty member ran the school with the help of part-time teachers. In 1947, the Extension Center moved into the Fraternal Building at 1405 Glenarm Place. In 1956, the University acquired the Denver TramwayDenver Tramway
The Denver Tramway, operating in Denver, Colorado was incorporated in 1886. The tramway was unusual for a number of reasons: the term "tramway" is generally not used in the United States, and it is not known why the company was named as such...
Company Building at 14th and Arapahoe Streets (now the Hotel Teatro and the Denver Center for the Performing Arts
Denver Center for the Performing Arts
The Denver Center for the Performing Arts ' is an organization in Denver, Colorado which provides a showcase for live theatre, a nurturing ground for new plays, a preferred stop on the Broadway touring circuit, a graduate-level training school for actors, acting classes for the community and rental...
Tramway building). In 1964, the Extension Center was renamed the University of Colorado - Denver Center, and in 1974 it became the Denver campus of the University of Colorado, or University of Colorado at Denver. Between 1973 and 1976, the State of Colorado built the Auraria Higher Education Center (AHEC) on a 127 acre (0.51395122 km²) downtown campus to be shared by the University of Colorado at Denver, the Metropolitan State College of Denver
Metropolitan State College of Denver
The Metropolitan State College of Denver is a four-year college and now offers certain Graduate programs located in Denver, Colorado, United States. As of 2009, Metro State had the second-largest enrollment of undergraduates of any college in Colorado...
and the Community College of Denver
Community College of Denver
Community College of Denver is a community college located in Denver, Colorado, United States. The main campus is at Auraria Campus, and it has two other locations in the Denver metropolitan area. CCD focuses on underserved, first-generation and minority students...
. In 1977, the Denver campus expanded to the newly opened AHEC, and later to office buildings on 14th Street and on Lawrence Street.
Merger and Renaming
In the summer of 2004, the University of Colorado at Denver and the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center merged to create the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center (“UCDHSC”). As a result, the University of Colorado encompasses three institutions, down from four.On October 29, 2007, the board of regents voted to rename UCDHSC as the University of Colorado Denver, consisting of the Anschutz Medical Campus and the Downtown Campus. This has reportedly been a source of frustration for the City of Aurora, whose representatives feel slighted that the location of one of the university's two campuses is not reflected in the university's name. In 2008, lawmakers asked the CU board of regents to replace "Denver" with "Aurora" from the university's name while referring to the Anschutz Medical Campus, which the regents refused. One state senator has proposed the moniker "University of Colorado Denver/Aurora". In 2010, it was reported that CU would drop the term "Denver" from the Anschutz Medical Campus' full name, referring to it only as "University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus".
As of August 2011, after the latest rebranding, the institution should be referred to as University of Colorado Denver | Anschutz Medical Campus (including the vertical bar "|"), while its legal name is University of Colorado Denver. The primary name of the Anschutz Medical Campus is University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. The primary name of the Denver Campus (previously Downtown Campus) is University of Colorado Denver and it can be referred to as CU Denver but not UC Denver. The domain name for the whole institution is
ucdenver.edu, while the previous domain name cudenver.edu was turned off in July 2010.Denver Campus
The Denver Campus, part of the Auraria Campus
Auraria Campus
Auraria Campus is an educational facility located near downtown Denver, Colorado in the United States. The campus houses facilities of three separate universities and colleges: the University of Colorado Denver , Community College of Denver, and Metropolitan State College of Denver...
, is located to the southwest of downtown Denver in the Auraria Neighborhood, on Speer Boulevard and Auraria Parkway. UC Denver shares the Auraria Campus
Auraria Campus
Auraria Campus is an educational facility located near downtown Denver, Colorado in the United States. The campus houses facilities of three separate universities and colleges: the University of Colorado Denver , Community College of Denver, and Metropolitan State College of Denver...
with two additional institutes of higher education: Metropolitan State College of Denver
Metropolitan State College of Denver
The Metropolitan State College of Denver is a four-year college and now offers certain Graduate programs located in Denver, Colorado, United States. As of 2009, Metro State had the second-largest enrollment of undergraduates of any college in Colorado...
and the Community College of Denver
Community College of Denver
Community College of Denver is a community college located in Denver, Colorado, United States. The main campus is at Auraria Campus, and it has two other locations in the Denver metropolitan area. CCD focuses on underserved, first-generation and minority students...
. Regional Transportation District
Regional Transportation District
The Regional Transportation District, or RTD, was organized in 1969 and is the regional authority operating public transit services in eight of the twelve counties in the Denver-Aurora-Boulder Combined Statistical Area in Colorado. RTD is governed by a 15-member, publicly elected Board of...
's (RTD) Light Rail
Light rail
Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
has two stops on the Auraria Campus
Auraria Campus
Auraria Campus is an educational facility located near downtown Denver, Colorado in the United States. The campus houses facilities of three separate universities and colleges: the University of Colorado Denver , Community College of Denver, and Metropolitan State College of Denver...
: Colfax at Auraria and Auraria West Campus.
The Denver Campus features both undergraduate and graduate courses, with more than 35 percent of the students graduate students. The campus is located in the heart of the central business district
Central business district
A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...
and is in close proximity to the Pepsi Center
Pepsi Center
Pepsi Center is a multi-purpose arena in Denver, Colorado, United States. The building is home to the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association, the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League, and the Colorado Mammoth of the National Lacrosse League...
, Elitch Gardens
Elitch Gardens
Elitch Gardens was a family-owned seasonal amusement park, theater, and botanic garden in the West Highland neighborhood of Denver, Colorado, United States at 38th and Tennyson streets. For more than a century Elitch's was one of the most popular entertainment destinations in Colorado...
, The Colorado Convention Center
Colorado Convention Center
The Colorado Convention Center is a multi-purpose convention center located in Downtown Denver. The center opened in June 1990; the first event being the NBA Draft for the Denver Nuggets. The convention center was expanded in 2004 to include several meeting rooms, two ballrooms and an indoor...
, The Denver Center for the Performing Arts
Denver Center for the Performing Arts
The Denver Center for the Performing Arts ' is an organization in Denver, Colorado which provides a showcase for live theatre, a nurturing ground for new plays, a preferred stop on the Broadway touring circuit, a graduate-level training school for actors, acting classes for the community and rental...
, Larimer Square, and the 16th Street Mall. The reclaimed Tivoli brewery, which closed in 1969, houses the student union.
Anschutz Medical Campus
The Health Sciences Campus previously had two sub-campuses, the main campus at Ninth Avenue and Colorado Boulevard ("Ninth and Colorado") in DenverDenver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
, which has since been decommissioned, and a new campus in neighboring Aurora
Aurora, Colorado
City of Aurora is a Home Rule Municipality spanning Arapahoe, Adams, and Douglas counties in Colorado. Aurora is an eastern suburb of the Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area . The city is the third most populous city in the Colorado and the 56th most populous city in the...
, where all activities of the former Health Sciences Center has since relocated. The latter campus, which is now called the Anschutz Medical Campus, is host to the Research Complex towers, The Barbara Davis Diabetes Center, the Nighthorse Campbell Native Health building, various centers of the University of Colorado Hospital
University of Colorado Hospital
University of Colorado Hospital is the principal teaching hospital for the University of Colorado Denver, located in Aurora, Colorado.In the most recent U.S. News and World Report hospital rankings, UCH ranked in the top 50 for 7 of 16 medical specialities.In 2005, UCH was redesignated by the ...
, and the health sciences library. There are approximately 3000 students at the Anschutz Medical Campus with 1297 of these in the School of Medicine (including medical and graduate students).
Architecture and Layout
The Anschutz Medical Campus is a 227 acre (0.91863722 km²) campus for the University and the University of Colorado HospitalUniversity of Colorado Hospital
University of Colorado Hospital is the principal teaching hospital for the University of Colorado Denver, located in Aurora, Colorado.In the most recent U.S. News and World Report hospital rankings, UCH ranked in the top 50 for 7 of 16 medical specialities.In 2005, UCH was redesignated by the ...
. All of the facilities on the campus, with the exception of the former Fitzsimons Hospital (referred to as 500 Main, or "Building 500"), are new construction. A series of distinct quadrangular zones on the campus governs its architectural design: the research quadrangle, consisting of the three Research Complex towers, features a contemporary glass and metal design; the education quadrangle is characterized by a brick aesthetic; and the core quadrangle is located on the central axis of the campus, and anchored by Building 500. The comprehensive 116000 square feet (10,776.8 m²) medical library is located along the center quadrangle of the campus.
The combined 578 acres (2.3 km²) of the Anschutz Medical Campus and the Fitzsimons Life Science District is undergoing a $4.3 billion renovation and transformation into the largest medical-related redevelopment project in the United States. The 184 acre (0.74462224 km²) Colorado Science + Technology Park in Aurora is being developed directly adjacent to the health sciences areas of campus, providing opportunities to collaborate with biotechnology companies and their resources. The remaining acres of the former military facility are dedicated to commercial, hospitality, retail, and residential development.
Built as state-of-the-art, the Anschutz Medical Campus consists of three zones: an education zone with facilities for training in the medical and health-related fields, a research zone that houses the various graduate programs, and a clinical care zone with the University of Colorado Hospital and The Children's Hospital, the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine's primary adult and pediatric hospital partners, nearby.
Institutional Profile
University of Colorado Denver offers bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and first professional degrees. The university (including University of Colorado HospitalUniversity of Colorado Hospital
University of Colorado Hospital is the principal teaching hospital for the University of Colorado Denver, located in Aurora, Colorado.In the most recent U.S. News and World Report hospital rankings, UCH ranked in the top 50 for 7 of 16 medical specialities.In 2005, UCH was redesignated by the ...
and University Physicians, Inc.) operates on a $1.8 billion
1000000000 (number)
1,000,000,000 is the natural number following 999,999,999 and preceding 1,000,000,001.In scientific notation, it is written as 109....
annual economy. The University of Colorado Hospital
University of Colorado Hospital
University of Colorado Hospital is the principal teaching hospital for the University of Colorado Denver, located in Aurora, Colorado.In the most recent U.S. News and World Report hospital rankings, UCH ranked in the top 50 for 7 of 16 medical specialities.In 2005, UCH was redesignated by the ...
, which is the principal teaching hospital for the University of Colorado Denver, serves more than half a million patients every year. In the 2009-10 fiscal year, UC Denver's two campuses received almost $385 million in combined research funding.
Enrollment
More than 29,000 students are enrolled in Denver, Aurora and online. 15,680 students enrolled in fall 2007. Among UCD students, 55% are undergraduates, 35% are pursuing graduate studies, and 10% are enrolled in first professional courses. 63% of the student population are full time students, 9% are out-of-state residents, and international students make up for 4% of total enrollment.12,726 students are enrolled on the Downtown Campus. Of these, 8,188 are undergraduates, and 4,538 are graduate students. 28.7% of undergraduate students and 12.5% of graduate students, on the Downtown Campus, belong to an ethnic minority. The average entering ACT score for new freshmen on the Downtown Campus is 22.0 composite, 21.7 English, and 21.6 Math. The average entering SAT scores on the Downtown campus is 540 Math and 542 Verbal. The average high school GPA for new freshmen is 3.3. The most popular undergraduate majors on the Downtown campus are biology, business and psychology. International students on the campus arrive from 125 countries.
There are 2,954 students enrolled at University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Of these, 430 are undergraduate students, 1,026 are graduates, and 1,498 are enrolled in first professional courses. 17% of the student population at the Anschutz Medical Campus are an ethnic minority.
Academics and Research
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...
to UC Denver researchers. The core laboratories in the research complex, at the Anschutz Medical Campus, include mass spectrometry
Mass spectrometry
Mass spectrometry is an analytical technique that measures the mass-to-charge ratio of charged particles.It is used for determining masses of particles, for determining the elemental composition of a sample or molecule, and for elucidating the chemical structures of molecules, such as peptides and...
, X-ray crystallography
X-ray crystallography
X-ray crystallography is a method of determining the arrangement of atoms within a crystal, in which a beam of X-rays strikes a crystal and causes the beam of light to spread into many specific directions. From the angles and intensities of these diffracted beams, a crystallographer can produce a...
, electron microscopy, a 900 mega-hertz
Hertz
The hertz is the SI unit of frequency defined as the number of cycles per second of a periodic phenomenon. One of its most common uses is the description of the sine wave, particularly those used in radio and audio applications....
nuclear magnetic resonance
Nuclear magnetic resonance
Nuclear magnetic resonance is a physical phenomenon in which magnetic nuclei in a magnetic field absorb and re-emit electromagnetic radiation...
(NMR) spectrometer, DNA array and peptide protein chemistry. The university is considered by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education
Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education
The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education is a framework for classifying, or grouping, colleges and universities in the United States. The primary purpose of the framework is for educational research and analysis, where it is often important to identify groups of roughly...
to have "very high research activity" with a basic classification of Research Universities (RU/VH) (very high research activity).
Notable Faculty and Research
Research and surgery at the University of Colorado School of Medicine has led to several breakthroughs. Dr. Tom StarzlThomas Starzl
Thomas E. Starzl is an American physician, researcher, and is an expert on organ transplants. He performed the first human liver transplants, and has often been referred to as "the father of modern transplantation."-Life:...
conducted the first liver transplant in the world at CU's medical school, and is considered "the father of modern transplantation." Dr. Ted Puck
Theodore Puck
Theodore Puck was an American geneticist born in Chicago, Illinois. He attended Chicago public schools and obtained his bachelors, masters, and doctoral degree from the University of Chicago...
, a biophysicist at the medical school, developed a classification system for the human chromosome, and has been referred to as "a pioneer in mammalian cell culture, somatic cell genetics, and the study of human genetic diseases." He was also the first scientist to grow human tissue from a single cell. Dr. Henry Swan revolutionized open heart surgery at the Department of Surgery, pioneering investigations and clinical application of hypothermia in cardiac surgery. Dr. John Caldwell and colleagues, from the Departments of Cell and Structural Biology, and Physiology, discovered the volgate-gated sodium channel Nav1.6
SCN8A
Sodium channel, voltage gated, type VIII, alpha subunit also known as SCN8A or Nav1.6 is a protein which in humans is encoded by the SCN8A gene...
. Dr. Lawrence Hunter
Lawrence Hunter
Professor Lawrence Hunter is Director of the Center for Computational Biology and of the Computational Bioscience Program at the University of Colorado School of Medicine...
is the founder of the International Society for Computational Biology, the world's oldest and largest professional organization for bioinformatics and computational biology. Nobel Laureate Dr. Tom Cech, of CU Boulder, is an affiliated faculty with UCD's Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics.
Libraries
The University of Colorado Denver hosts two libraries, one on each of its two campuses. The Auraria library on the Downtown Campus serves the three institutions that share the campus — UC Denver, Metropolitan State College of Denver and Community College of Denver. The library houses nearly 1 million print books, 130,000 e-books, 44,000 e-journals and 300 databases. The library on the Anschutz Medical Campus is the largest health sciences library in Colorado, with more than 32,000 e-journals. The health sciences library opened in late 2007 with 2 Information CommonsInformation commons
An Information Commons is an information system, such as a physical library or online community, that exists to produce, conserve, and preserve information for current and future generations. Wikipedia could be considered to be an information commons to the extent that it produces and preserves...
, 30 group study rooms, and wireless internet connectivity throughout the library.
Schools and colleges
University of Colorado Denver offers more than 115 degree programs in 13 schools and colleges. The university offers degrees in a wide variety of academic fields such as engineering, business, culture, history, language, the natural sciences, the biomedical sciences and medicine. The Downtown Campus hosts 8 schools and colleges: the College of Architecture and Planning, the College of Arts & Media, The Business SchoolUniversity of Colorado Denver Business School
The University of Colorado Denver Business School is a college located in Denver, Colorado, which offers undergraduate and graduate business degrees. The business school is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business ....
, the School of Education & Human Development, the College of Engineering and Applied Science, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the School of Public Affairs and its Presidential Climate Action Project, and the Graduate School. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is UC Denver's largest school on the Downtown Denver Campus, offering 20 baccalaureate degrees, 17 master's degrees, and two PhD programs. The Presidential Climate Action Project is a two-year, $2 million initiative administered by the Wirth Chair, School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado Denver, to engage the nation’s science, policy, business and civic leaders to produce a Presidential Climate Action Plan (PCAP). UC Denver sponsors the only college of architecture and planning in Colorado. The School of Architecture and Planning is located on 14th street, offering graduate degrees in architecture, urban design, and landscape architecture. In the engineering areas, the downtown campus has worked with Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin is an American global aerospace, defense, security, and advanced technology company with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, in the Washington Metropolitan Area....
and Raytheon
Raytheon
Raytheon Company is a major American defense contractor and industrial corporation with core manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. It was previously involved in corporate and special-mission aircraft until early 2007...
. On the Anschutz Medical Campus, the university houses the School of Dental Medicine, the School of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the School of Pharmacy, Colorado School of Public Health, and the Graduate School
Graduate school
A graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate degree...
.
School of Pharmacy
The University of Colorado's School of Pharmacy (SOP) began in 1911 as a division of the School of Medicine in Boulder. It became an independent college in 1913 and a school in 1957. It received its accreditation in 1938-1939 and awarded a B.S. in Pharmacy degree in 1995-1996 when it received a full accreditation status awarding the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree by the ACPE. In 1986, the School of Pharmacy was administratively transferred to the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver. The physical transfer from Boulder and final consolidation of faculty, staff and students was completed between August and November 1992. In 2008, the school moved to the Anschutz Medical CampusAnschutz Medical Campus
The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus is one of two campuses of the University of Colorado Denver. It is located in Aurora, Colorado...
, and offers medical and graduate degrees in pharmacy, the pharmaceutical sciences, molecular toxicology, and pharmaceutical outcomes research. 30% of its class is from out of state. In 2009, the NIH awarded $7,310,389 and $19,189,543 in grants towards the SOP and Pharmacology department, respectively. In 2011, the school will move into its new building, the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences which will also be located on the Anschutz Medical Campus.
Graduate School
The Graduate School at CU Denver awards more graduate degrees than any other institution in Colorado. The school consists of nearly 60 graduate programs. The departments running these programs are housed in the schools and colleges on both campuses of the university. These offerings include both department-based and interdisciplinary programs in architecture and planning, arts and media, biomedical sciences, business, education and human development, engineering and applied sciences, humanities, applied mathematics, nursing, public affairs, public health, chemistry, and social sciences. Graduate programs at the Anschutz Medical Campus offer MS and PhD degrees focusing on basic, clinical and translational research in the biomedical sciences.Business School
The University of Colorado Denver Business School is accredited by AACSB International. The school is accredited at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The Business School is one of only a few schools in the US to have a separate accreditation for its Accounting program. Business is one of the school's most popular majors since it is located in the heart of Downtown Denver. The Business School has worked with some of Colorado's top businesses such as Molson Coors, Wells FargoWells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational diversified financial services company with operations around the world. Wells Fargo is the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by assets and the largest bank by market capitalization. Wells Fargo is the second largest bank in deposits, home...
, First Bank, and Frontier Airlines
Frontier Airlines
Frontier Airlines, Inc., is an American airline headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The carrier, which is a subsidiary and operating brand of Republic Airways Holdings, operates flights to 83 destinations throughout the United States, Mexico, and Costa Rica and maintains hubs at...
, who provide feedback on the school's Business curriculum.
Rankings
The Chronicle of Higher EducationThe Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education is a newspaper and website that presents news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty, staff members and administrators....
ranks the university as having the top 10 Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index
Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index
The Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index , a product of Academic Analytics, is a metric designed to create benchmark standards for the measurement of academic and scholarly quality within and among United States research universities....
in the United States in the fields of biomedical sciences, developmental biology
Developmental biology
Developmental biology is the study of the process by which organisms grow and develop. Modern developmental biology studies the genetic control of cell growth, differentiation and "morphogenesis", which is the process that gives rise to tissues, organs and anatomy.- Related fields of study...
, human and medical genetics
Genetics
Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....
, oncology
Oncology
Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with cancer...
and cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
biology, structural biology
Structural biology
Structural biology is a branch of molecular biology, biochemistry, and biophysics concerned with the molecular structure of biological macromolecules, especially proteins and nucleic acids, how they acquire the structures they have, and how alterations in their structures affect their function...
and toxicology
Toxicology
Toxicology is a branch of biology, chemistry, and medicine concerned with the study of the adverse effects of chemicals on living organisms...
. University of Colorado Denver features in a number of rankings in U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is an American news magazine published from Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek it was for many years a leading news weekly, focusing more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories...
's America's Best Graduate Schools. The university ranked 5th among American medical schools for primary care in 2010, and 27th among medical schools for research. The graduate school ranked 68th in the biological sciences in 2010. UCD's School of Nursing ranked 15th in the nation in 2007, while among Nurse Practitioner programs, the university is ranked 8th, 5th, and 3rd in the areas of Adult, Family, and Pediatric, respectively. The medical school is ranked 6th in the specialty of family medicine. UCD's School of Pharmacy is ranked 23rd in the nation, and the School of Public Affairs is ranked 32nd. The Princeton Review
The Princeton Review
The Princeton Review is an American-based standardized test preparation and admissions consulting company. The Princeton Review operates in 41 states and 22 countries across the globe. It offers test preparation for standardized aptitude tests such as the SAT and advice regarding college...
included UC Denver in its Best Western Colleges, Best in the West in 2008. The university ranked 34th on the Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
list of best public colleges. The Business School is the 5th Best Graduate School for Physician - Executives (2007), according to Modern Healthcare
Modern Healthcare
Modern Healthcare is a weekly, 70,037-circulation business publication delivering news and information to executives in the healthcare industry...
. In 2010, UC Denver ranked 7th in The Scientist
The Scientist
The Scientist: Magazine of Life Sciences is a professional magazine intended for life scientists. Coverage includes reviews of widely noticed research papers, informing its audience of current research, updates to technology, updates to career information, profiles of scientists achieving...
's Best Places to Work for Postdocs survey.
Student life
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
, soccer, squash
Squash (sport)
Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...
, and tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, and sports equipment check out for on or off campus use.
The downtown campus student newspaper, the Advocate, comes out weekly during the school year. UCD's Distinguished Lecture Series hosts an array of speakers, that have included David Horowitz
David Horowitz
David Joel Horowitz is an American conservative writer and policy advocate. Horowitz was raised by parents who were both members of the American Communist Party. Between 1956 and 1975, Horowitz was an outspoken adherent of the New Left before rejecting Marxism completely...
and Malcolm-Jamal Warner
Malcolm-Jamal Warner
Malcolm-Jamal Warner is an American television actor, film director, and musician. He is best known for his role as Theo Huxtable on the long-running NBC sitcom The Cosby Show. Additionally, he appeared as Malcolm McGee on the UPN sitcom Malcolm & Eddie. He is currently starring as Dr...
. The Tivoli Student Union serves as a student center for the Community College of Denver
Community College of Denver
Community College of Denver is a community college located in Denver, Colorado, United States. The main campus is at Auraria Campus, and it has two other locations in the Denver metropolitan area. CCD focuses on underserved, first-generation and minority students...
, Metropolitan State College of Denver
Metropolitan State College of Denver
The Metropolitan State College of Denver is a four-year college and now offers certain Graduate programs located in Denver, Colorado, United States. As of 2009, Metro State had the second-largest enrollment of undergraduates of any college in Colorado...
and University of Colorado Denver.