The University of Denver announced Wednesday that former Gov. Bill Owens will join the faculty as a senior fellow at the school’s Institute for Public Policy Studies.
The recent Republican governor said he will work with former Democratic Gov. Dick Lamm writing and discussing policy issues.
“I’m a big believer in the battle of ideas. I’m a big believer in the role of a university in the public life,” Owens said.
Lamm and Owens are longtime friends, and Owens occasionally sought his predecessor’s perspective. Shortly after the shootings at Columbine High School, for example, Owens called on Lamm for advice.
One of Owens’ first appearances on campus will be in Lamm’s Health Policy in America class, Lamm said.
Owens said he will focus on the importance of increasing competition and decreasing regulation, a major theme during his eight-year administration.
Owens said he looks forward to debating and writing about subjects like health care reform and prisons from a conservative viewpoint.
“My real value is going to be as a person who is a practitioner of policy for 24 years in elected office,” said Owens, who served as a state representative, senator and treasurer before becoming governor.
Owens said he has ruled out running again for public office.
Both Owens and DU chancellor Robert Coombe declined to say how much Owens will be paid in his part-time position.
“It won’t involve any full-time teaching yet,” Owens said. “I would anticipate in future years I may take a class or course load.”
But Coombe said he hoped the position will eventually be full time.
Ralph Nagel, an Owens friend, Republican donor and DU trustee, said Owens’ fellowship will be paid entirely with private money. It will cost about $3 million to endow the position.
Nagel said he is planning a fundraising dinner honoring Owens for 300 to 500 people, including Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper.
Nagel said he also will give money to the endowment but declined to say how much. He joked that Owens’ switch from raising money in a political campaign to raising funds for an endowment is “a re-adaptation of the same survival skills.”
Owens announced last month that he had formed a real estate investment venture, JCB Group LLC, with Joel Farkas and Chris Paulson to develop and invest in commercial and residential projects.
He said he also works in international banking and sits on several boards.
“If (businessman) Phil Anschutz can be an expert in 12 fields,” Owens said, “I hope to be able to do two or three different things.”
Staff writer Chris Frates can be reached at 303-954-1633 or cfrates@denverpost.com.
