Dear Colleagues:

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Don Rojas of the Department of Psychology as Interim Vice Provost for Graduate Affairs and Dean of the Graduate School, effective Wednesday, July 1.

Professor Rojas brings a distinguished record of accomplishment of academic leadership, research excellence, and programmatic innovation to this critical role. Having served successfully for more than a decade as the Chair of the Department of Psychology, Don has continually demonstrated an unwavering commitment to advancing graduate education and campus research capabilities.

Notably, he was a driving force behind the vision and launch of the Center for Applied Cognitive Neuroscience, establishing a collaborative, shared-facility model that elevated our university’s profile as a competitive national player in brain imaging. His extensive mentorship of graduate students, combined with his collaborative leadership style, ensures that the Graduate School will remain in highly capable hands during this transitional period.

Don’s area of scholarship is cognitive, behavioral, and developmental psychology. His research portfolio has focused on structural and functional neuroimaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging, magnetoencephalography, and functional near infrared spectroscopy to examine sensory and motor processing in neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and childhood onset schizophrenia.

He is a three-time alum having earned his B.S. in Psychology, with a minor in Sociology and certificate in Criminal Justice, as well as an M.S. and Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology at CSU. He then completed his postdoctoral work at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Center, and worked his way up through the ranks at Anschutz to become an Associate Professor of Psychiatry, and Director of the Neurobehavioral Disorders Division and the Neuromagnetic Imaging Center and MEG Laboratory before joining CSU in 2013.

As we look forward to the future of the Graduate School under Don’s expert leadership this next academic year, I want to express our deepest gratitude once again to Dr. Colleen Webb, who stepped down from her role as Vice Provost and Dean at the end of May. Colleen’s tenure was marked by notable advancements in graduate student support at CSU. As Colleen returns to her faculty role as Professor in the Department of Biology, she leaves behind a strong foundation for Don to build upon.

Please join me in supporting Don as he moves into this new leadership role.

Sincerely,

Lise M. Youngblade, Ph.D.
Provost and Executive Vice President