University of Colorado Denver

ABOUT UNIVERSITY

University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver) is a public research university located in downtown Denver and part of the University of Colorado system. Founded in 1912 as an extension center of the University of Colorado Boulder, it became an independent university in 1973 and is now classified as an R1 doctoral university with very high research activity. CU Denver shares the Auraria Campus with Metropolitan State University of Denver and Community College of Denver. The university’s medical history began in the late 19th century when the University of Colorado established its Department of Medicine and Surgery in Boulder before relocating medical education activities to Denver to provide better clinical experience. In 1911, the School of Medicine merged with the Denver and Gross Medical College, later moving to the Ninth Avenue campus and eventually evolving into the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, the university transformed the former Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Aurora into the modern CU Anschutz Medical Campus, supported by donations from Philip Anschutz and Nancy Anschutz. CU Denver and the Health Sciences Center merged in 2004, later becoming the University of Colorado Denver | Anschutz Medical Campus before operating more independently again after 2014 with separate leadership. The university is also notable for its connection to Beall's List, created by former faculty member Jeffrey Beall, whose controversial list of predatory publishers gained worldwide recognition and later disappeared following disputes and alleged institutional pressure.