Colorado State University System Announces Loretta P. Martinez as New General Counsel

The Board of Governors of the Colorado State University System today named Loretta P. Martinez, a respected attorney with extensive experience in higher education, General Counsel. Martinez will begin her new duties May 15.

"We are pleased to have a professional with Loretta’s experience and character serve in this vital position at Colorado State," said Larry Edward Penley, Chancellor of the Colorado State University System. "Her outstanding reputation and long history with higher education position her well to take on this important role and greatly help the university achieve its mission of education, research and outreach."

Martinez currently serves as Legal Counsel and General Secretary to Colorado College in Colorado Springs where she has worked since 1999. Martinez has also served as a staff attorney in the University Counsel’s Office at the University of Colorado and at the Office of the General Counsel at Harvard University.

"The choice to spend my legal career in higher education comes from my firmly held belief that educational institutions provide one of the most positive forces for human development and opportunity in our society and our world," said Martinez. "I am pleased to have this opportunity to support the outstanding educational mission and quality of the Colorado State University System."

Outside of higher education, Martinez served as an attorney in the Public Law Department at Gorsuch Kirgis LLP in Denver; an attorney at Parcel Mauro, Hultin & Spaanstra in Denver; and as a law clerk at the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.

Martinez earned her law degree from Harvard Law School in 1991 and a bachelor of arts in political science from Yale University in 1988. A Colorado native, Martinez graduated from Pueblo County High School in Pueblo.

Martinez is highly active in the community and has been recognized with several honors and awards. She currently sits on the Denver Metropolitan YMCA Board of Directors, the Denver Women’s Commission, the Colorado Educational and Cultural Facilities Authority, the Colorado Board of Law Examiners and is a member of the Colorado Hispanic and the National Hispanic bar associations. Martinez was inducted into the Colorado Women’s Forum, has served on the Legal Advisor’s Group for United Educators and on the China Judicial Program for Global Volunteers. Martinez has been named a Mexican and American Solidarity Foundation Fellow, a National Hispana Leadership Institute Fellow and a Harvard Administrative Fellow among other professional accomplishments.

Martinez was offered the General Counsel position following a national search conducted by the Colorado State University System.

Martinez is married to Denver City Councilman Rick Garcia and has two daughters.

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