Colorado governor to speak at CSC

There will be no admission charge, but tickets will be required and should be obtained through the Memorial Hall Box Office prior to the event.

Owens became Colorado’s 40th governor in January 1999 and was re-elected by the greatest majority in Colorado history in 2002. National Review Magazine once labeled him “the best governor in America.” His policies of low taxes and restrained government spending were cited as an example for other states in a lead editorial in The Wall Street Journal.

In 2002, Owens was touted as one of the major emerging leaders in American politics by The Economist magazine. He also has been identified as one of the country’s top 10 rising political figures by syndicated newspaper columnist Robert Novak. He is chairman of the Republican Governors’ Association.

Owens has instituted sweeping school reform in Colorado. He created an education accountability system—including detailed, online report cards—that U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige called “the envy of the nation.” His accountability system has been praised as among the best in the nation by Education Week magazine and the Heritage Foundation.

Not everything in Colorado has been rosy during Owens’ tenure as governor. Like nearly all the other states, Colorado has had a sharp decline in revenue the past two years, and higher education has been forced to take significant cuts. Fort Lewis College at Durango took the biggest hit last year, when its state appropriation was reduced from $10.6 million to $7.5 million, or approximately 30 percent, and the institution was forced to leave 41 positions unfilled.

Prior to being elected governor, Owens served in both the Colorado House of Representatives and Senate and was the state treasurer. The governor is considered an expert on Soviet affairs, and often writes and lectures on Russia.