The University of Colorado at Boulder (CU-Boulder, UCB officially; Colorado and CU
colloquially) is the flagship university of the University of Colorado System
in Boulder, Colorado. CU has produced a number of astronauts, Nobel laureates,
Pulitzer Prize winners and other notable individuals in their fields. It is known
as one of the Public Ivies. The January 2004 edition of The Economist ranked
CU as the 11th-best public university in the nation and 31st best public university
globally for 2003. The U.S. News and World Report currently ranks the university
77th in the nation overall (private institutions included) and 34th best
among public universities. In 2004, Carl Wieman was named U.S. Professor of
the Year.
On March 14, 1876, the Colorado state legislature passed an amendment
to the state constitution which provided money for the establishment of the
University of Colorado in Boulder, the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, and
Colorado Agricultural College in Fort Collins, now known as Colorado State University.
Two
cities competed for the site University of Colorado: Boulder
and Cañon City. The consolation prize for the losing city would be home of the
new Colorado State Prison. Cañon City was at a disadvantage as it was already
the home of the Colorado Territorial Prison (There are now six prisons in the
Cañon City area). |
