A Denver man will be remembered for his tenacious pursuits, such as co-founding the Denver International Film Festival and serving as a University of Denver dean.
Peter Warren, 77, died Oct. 15 after being diagnosed with multiple system atrophy — a neurological disorder — in February.
“He packed a lot in,” said Warren’s wife, Katharine Smith-Warren. “He really had a lot of interests and enjoyed life.”
Warren moved to Denver in 1970, and he became a tenured associate professor in the math department. After a three-year stint as the director of research and policy planning for Colorado Energy Research, Warren began his development of University College, DU’s college of professional and continuing studies.
“He just developed this incredible, wonderful program where adults can get their degrees while still working, and he was also a champion of online learning,” Smith-Warren said.
Smith-Warren said Warren was the “primary architect” behind University College, where he served as dean until 2001, when he was named vice provost for global development.
An avid traveler, Warren was an education ambassador to countries in Asia, Africa, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. During his retirement, he founded the International Education Corps in 2003. The non-profit placed retired educators as consultants with Third World universities around the world.
In 1977, Warren — a lover of arts and culture — felt that Denver lacked a film festival, so he co-founded one for his hometown.
“The Denver International Film Festival has been a wonderful asset to the arts life,” Smith-Warren said. “Just to get that started was really quite an achievement.”
While building up the Denver community, Warren managed to solidify strong relationships with folks he met along his journey.
“I describe Peter as a collector of people,” said long-time friend and colleague Marty Robbins. “Wherever we went, he always knew somebody there.”
Warren is survived by his wife, stepson Tyler Chafee and daughter-in-law Sally Richards Chafee and three grandchildren, Anna, Nora and Will Chafee.
A memorial event is set for 2 p.m. Nov. 20 in the Hamilton Recital Hall at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts at DU. The family asks that donations go to to help find cures for brain diseases like multiple system atrophy.
Elizabeth Hernandez: 303-954-1223
