Dave Curtin collection

Collection

Identifier: COU:5072

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

A collection of speeches written by Dave Curtin for the Chancellor of the University of Colorado Boulder, during his career as the Chancellor's speech writer from 2007-2021. The collection includes speeches given annually, such as the State of the Campus address as well as commencement addresses, in particular the first virtual commencement address given two months after the onset of Covid-19. The speeches reflect CU Boulder's strengths in space, physics, the arts and the environment, and provide insight to the various issues across campus during this time.

Dates

2007 - 2021

Copyright Statement

The University Libraries may not own the copyright to all materials in this collection. Researchers are responsible for contacting the copyright holder(s) for this material and obtaining permission to publish or broadcast. The University Libraries will not grant permission to publish or broadcast this material and are not responsible for copyright violations resulting from such use.

Biographical / Historical

Dave Curtin is a 1978 graduate of the University of Colorado Boulder School of Journalism where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Journalism Feature Writing in 1990 at the age of 34 while writing for the Colorado Springs Gazette telegraph.

Following a 35-year Colorado daily newspaper career in communities small and large, he worked as speechwriter and director of executive communications at CU Boulder for 14 years from 2007 to 2021. He was Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano’s speechwriter for 12 years from 2009 to 2021. He also served as speechwriter for Chancellor G.P. “Bud” Peterson from 2007 to 2009.

As the chancellor’s executive communicator, Curtin wrote speeches and drafted guest editorials published in local, state and national publications. He also drafted video scripts and internal communications to the campus community for the Chancellor. His award-winning op-eds in concert with Chancellor DiStefano were honored by the Public Relations Society of America-Colorado Chapter in 2020.

Curtin’s son, Alexander James Curtin, graduated in 2019 from CU Boulder’s College of Media, Communication and Information in 2019.

Extent

4.59 linear feet : 11 document boxes

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

A collection of speeches written by Dave Curtin for the Chancellor of the University of Colorado Boulder. Following a 35-year Colorado daily newspaper career in communities small and large, he worked as speechwriter and director of executive communications at CU Boulder for 14 years from 2007 to 2021.