Chancellor Michelle Marks

Biography

Kenneth T. Christensen, PhD, was appointed to serve as Chancellor of CU Denver in February 2025. He previously served as provost, senior vice president for academic affairs, and chief academic officer at Illinois Institute of Technology.

During his time as provost, Dr. Christensen built a diverse leadership team that collaboratively emphasized strong shared governance to ensure the growth and success of Illinois Tech’s diverse student population. This included launching academic initiatives that emphasize workforce readiness, introducing a pathway for undecided students to explore degree possibilities, and charging a university-wide task force to modernize the core curriculum around an entrepreneurial mindset, design and innovation, computational and data literacy, and leadership.

Dr. Christensen passionately co-led Illinois Tech’s path to Hispanic-Serving Institution status and drove strategic fundraising and partnership building to expand the institution’s impact in education, research, and economic development, while also ensuring it was a foundational partner in regional research consortia. He first joined Illinois Tech in 2020 as the Carol and Ed Kaplan Armour College Dean of Engineering. Prior to that, he served on the faculty at Notre Dame, the University of Illinois, and the University of New Mexico.

A native of Santa Fe, New Mexico, Dr. Christensen holds degrees in mechanical engineering and theoretical and applied mechanics from the University of New Mexico, the California Institute of Technology, and the University of Illinois.