Owens taps CU educator to lead Colorado Institute of Technology Institute

Cozzens to seek funds to boost security sector
By Tom McGhee
Denver Post Business Writer

Tuesday, March 04, 2003 – Gov. Bill Owens has appointed a University of Colorado educator to head a state technology institute that funds education for high-tech workers.

Owens on Monday named Margaret B. Cozzens, vice chancellor for academic and student affairs and a mathematics professor at CU-Denver, to replace John Hansen as president of the Colorado Institute of Technology.

Cozzens, 62, said she will work to help attract federal money that could make Colorado a center for businesses that provide security in the fight against terrorism.

Colorado has a highly educated labor force and is seen by many as being on the cutting edge, she said.

"There’s a two-fold mission: One is to develop a workforce for the future and also to make Colorado a center for innovation," she added.

Hansen recently left the job after Owens appointed him Colorado’s chief technology officer.

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DETAILS
Margaret B. Cozzens

Age: 62

Home: Lakewood

Education: Bachelor’s in mathematics and English, University of Rochester; Ph.D in applied mathematics – Rutgers University

Professional:

July 1998 to present – vice chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs, University of Colorado at Denver.

1991 to 1998 – director of the division of elementary, secondary and informal science education for the National Science Foundation.

Other experience: Professor and chairwoman of the Department of Mathematics at Northeastern University, Boston; taught mathematics at universities in New Jersey and New York.

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Cozzens has worked either full- or part-time for CIT since 2001.

Owens originally formed the privately funded CIT to increase the number of high-tech jobs in the state.

But as the economy has soured, the organization has shifted its focus to provide money for retraining and upgrading skills of tech workers.

Since Cozzens joined the organization, CIT has pumped more than $3.6 million into programs to retrain or otherwise increase the marketability of 7,200 tech-workers, Owens said in a statement announcing her appointment.

"Dr. Cozzens has been a critical contributor to these results, and will provide the continuity that is crucial to ongoing collaboration between industry, academia and the public sector," Owens said.

Qwest Communications International is among the companies that sponsor and fund the CIT.

"John Hansen made a significant contribution to the program and we appreciate all his efforts," Qwest president for Colorado Kevin Smith said through a spokeswoman. "We look forward to working with Margaret in her new capacity."

Before coming to CU-Denver in 1998, Cozzens was a division director at the National Science Foundation for seven years. She has also served as chairwoman of the Department of Mathematics at Northeastern University in Boston and taught at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

At the CIT, she has been responsible for communicating the needs of industry to the higher education community, said Helen Tueffel, CIT spokeswoman.

Cozzens created a process for funneling money to institutions that provide training programs for the CIT, Tueffel said.

She has led all the organization’s education-related programs and initiatives and has been responsible for developing educational strategies.

According to a University of New Hampshire website, she was among four finalists who applied to head UNH in 2002.

The university picked another candidate. Cozzens said she has no intention of leaving Colorado. "I’m now a permanent resident," she said.

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