Colorado State University alumna and longtime legal and administrative employee Amy Parsons took office as the 16th president of CSU Feb. 1 after being confirmed as president Dec. 16, 2022.

Parsons was born in Loveland, Colorado, before moving to and growing up in Cheyenne, Wyoming. 

“I always wanted to come back to Colorado to go to (college) and not necessarily go to University of Wyoming, which most kids did in my high school,” Parsons said. “And so I was really fortunate that my parents supported my desire to go to CSU as a student.”

While at CSU, Parsons was a student in the College of Liberal Arts studying political science. She was involved in the Associated Students of CSU and gave campus tours to prospective students with the Office of Admissions. She also worked an hourly job in the Lory Student Center.

“I really loved my experience at CSU,” Parsons said. “And it really sparked a lifelong love of the university and wanting to be part of the university community.”

Following her graduation, Parsons attended law school at the University of Colorado Boulder, which sparked her interest in a profession as a higher education attorney focusing on civil rights, employment laws and legal aspects pertaining to a university. 

“The job is really about ensuring that our students and faculty and staff have those resources that they need (and) the facilities, the funding, the environment, the opportunities to be their very best.” -Amy Parsons, 16th CSU president

Parsons interned with CSU’s legal office, and following some experience as a litigator in Denver, she was offered a position on the campus legal counsel in 2004. While serving as an attorney at the General Counsel’s Office, Parsons also co-taught classes with Blanche Hughes, vice president for Student Affairs, in higher education administration.

“It was wonderful because I was a professional with CSU as an attorney,” Parsons said. “I was also teaching classes and raising kids at the same time, and my whole family got really involved with the life of the university.” 

Parsons will now leave her job as CEO of global e-commerce company Mozzafiato to step into the role of CSU’s new president. 

“CSU’s been part of my life for nearly my entire life, and I think that there is no place on earth more special than Colorado State University,” Parsons said. “I love the community of CSU. I always have. … For me, it is not about being a university president somewhere. For me, it is solely about CSU and being part of this community.”

While coming into the role of president, Parsons spoke about how she’ll listen and learn from the community right now and address concerns regarding salaries and the cost of living in Fort Collins. She’ll also recruit faculty and staff and work on ways to continue to make CSU an inclusive community.

Parsons’ top priority will be to launch a national search for a provost, which will include meetings with deans and department heads to learn about what they’re looking for in the provost as well as creating a search committee. The future provost will serve as chief academic officer for the university. 

Parsons said she spent the majority of her professional life supporting the academic and research enterprise at CSU. 

“The president in many ways really is a supporting role,” Parsons said. “The job is really about ensuring that our students and faculty and staff have those resources that they need (and) the facilities, the funding, the environment, the opportunities to be their very best. And you can’t do that unless you really believe in the critical importance of the faculty member and the role that they serve, not just for individual students but in society as a whole, and I fiercely advocate on their behalf.”

For Parsons, this role is the pinnacle of all her professional and emotional connections with CSU and the only one that could have enticed her to leave her most recent job as CEO of a private international company.

“This job is a dream come true,” Parsons said. “For me, there’s nothing I would rather do than serve the community of Colorado State University. It’s meaningful to me professionally because I have two decades of work in various executive leadership positions across the university that I think make me uniquely qualified for this position at this time. But it’s also deeply personally meaningful to me given that I’m a student, … a donor, a fan and alumni.”

“I think Fort Collins is an incredible college town, and I think that we provide a welcoming, inclusive place for students to grow, thrive and achieve their dreams.” –Amy Parsons, 16th CSU president

While reflecting on the history of CSU as a land-grant institution that is more than 150 years old, Parsons intends to continue to champion efforts surrounding accessibility.

“That’s a unique mission that no other university in the state has, and I think that that really permeates everything that we do at the university in a really special way,” Parsons said. “When we talk about access at CSU, it’s both ensuring that students around the state and around the country, no matter what their background is, have access to come and be students at CSU. But it also works in reverse, and … we want to make sure that we’re taking out our expertise and research all around the state to the communities that need it, even if they can never come to Fort Collins, so that they have access to it as well.” 

Looking to the future, Parsons intends to continue to advance the university experience for all current and future students. 

“I believe that we have an incredible experience to offer, especially for our undergraduate students on campus,” Parsons said. “I think our campus is beautiful. I think it’s one of the most beautiful college campuses in the country. I think Fort Collins is an incredible college town, and I think that we provide a welcoming, inclusive place for students to grow, thrive and achieve their dreams. That had a transformational effect on me as a student at CSU, and I believe that it can have that effect on every student who enters the doors at CSU.” 

Reach Piper Russell and Allie Seibel news@collegian.com or on Twitter @csucollegian.