Southern Colorado’s largest institution of higher education has announced the appointment of its 16th president and he is a man who knows the land as well as anyone who has ever held the job. He is Armando Valdez, a native of the San Luis Valley and whose family’s roots in the region date back generations.
Valdez, who was the sole finalist for the position, succeeds Dr. Timothy Mottet, who announced his resignation earlier this year after serving in the position for the previous six years. Valdez is currently the Colorado Director for USDA-Rural Development. He is also the president of his family’s ranching and cattle operation in Capulin, Colorado, Valdez Land & Livestock.
While Valdez will be the 16th president of CSU-Pueblo, his background makes him, perhaps, the most unique individual to ever hold the title. He is a native of the San Luis Valley and can trace his family’s presence to northern New Mexico to the early 1600s. Valdez says his family and a handful of other families moved north arriving in the Valley and Conejos County in the 1860s.
The December 15th announcement naming Valdez the school’s new president was greeted with the unanimous support of many of the state’s political and educational leader, including Governor Jared Polis. Polis praised the selection and said Valdez would lead the university as “an engine of opportunity and growth for Southern Colorado.”
Tony Frank, former president of CSU-Fort Collins and now Chancellor of the CSU system, called Valdez a “solid leader who know this campus and community…and is 100 percent invested in the future of Southern Colorado.”
Valdez’s first day on the job will not take place until February 1st but with his experience serving on the CSU System Board of Governors he has gained ample knowledge of the school. He has chaired the Board since June 2023.
“During my time on the Board of Governors,” Valdez told The Pueblo Chieftain, “I have always admired the hard work, dedication and commitment of the faculty, staff and administrators of CSU Pueblo.”
Hard work is something Valdez knows well. A descendant of a long line of ranchers, Valdez raises cattle, sheep, hay and some grain on his Capulin operation. He also holds the title of assistant professor of management in the Adams State University School of Business. He also serves on a number of boards, including the governing board of Saint Joseph parish, in Capulin, and the church he grew up in.
CSU-Pueblo has been southern Colorado’s higher education launching pad for thousands of young people for nine decades beginning in 1933 when it was a very mod- est three-room junior college. From its humble beginnings, the school has been known by a number of names before assuming its current appellation.
In 1963 it transitioned from Pueblo Junior College, a two-year program, into a four-year institution then known as Southern Colorado State College. As the school grew and new degree granting programs were added, in 1975, it became the University of Southern Colorado. The school adopted its current name in 2003 with the signature of Governor Bill Owens.
CSU-Pueblo is one of Colorado’s Hispanic Serving Institutions, a designation granted when a school has a full-time enrollment of at least 25 percent Hispanic stu- dents. In 2008, it was named the top HIS by the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU). Today, the school has a full-time enrollment of nearly 4,000.
CSU-Pueblo has a Hispanic enrollment of nearly 50 percent and also identifies nearly 40 percent of its enroll- ment as first-generation college students. It is something Valdez can identify with, as he told STATE, the magazine of the CSU System.
“My parents were first-generation college students. So, for my entire life, I’ve been the beneficiary of their opportunity to pursue higher education,” he said. Educating a cohort of students who may be the first to attend college, Valdez believes, is a launch pad to higher earning and greater opportunity but also a key element in shaping the future of communities as business and political leaders.
While winning the endorsement of Governor Polis and CSU Chancellor Frank, Valdez also drew praise from Amy Parsons, President of CSU Fort Collins. Valdez, she said, “is a wonderful and service-minded colleague whose work and leadership on the CSU Board of Governors has been outstanding…CSU Pueblo will benefit from Amando’s longtime experience.”
Outgoing CSU-Pueblo President Mottet’s last day on the job was December 15th. Valdez will serve out the remaining two and a half years of Mottet’s term. At that point the CSU Board of Governors will do an evaluation to determine if Valdez continues in his role as President.
President Mottet announced his intention earlier this year to resign after a six-year tenure. At the end of that 2.5-year term, the Board and Valdez will assess how and whether to move forward.
