Colorado State University System Names Jim Schirmer as New Marketing Director

The Board of Governors of the Colorado State University System announced today that Jim Schirmer, a longtime successful marketing consultant and former US West executive, was named the new director of marketing for the university system.

Schirmer, based in Colorado State’s Denver Center office, will oversee integration and strategic marketing of the university system’s brand identity. He will work closely with marketing, public relations, and communications units at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CSU-Pueblo and throughout the university system.

Schirmer will report to Larry Edward Penley, Chancellor of the Colorado State University System.

"Jim is an effective and candid communicator with exceptional expertise in creating and growing brands," Penley said. "He has an understanding of the mission of higher education in Colorado as well as the challenges and trends we face, and will be an outstanding addition to our team."

As part of a strategic reorganization in October, Penley announced the university would create a marketing position to manage the creative direction of the university’s brand as part of a more coordinated emphasis on marketing.

"We must create broader public awareness and greater appreciation of Colorado State’s exceptional contributions to quality of life and economic development in Colorado, across the nation and throughout the world," Penley said.

Schirmer already has ties to Colorado State as a past member of the Marketing Advisory Board within the College of Business. He has also served as a guest lecturer on branding strategy and marketing communications.

"I’m excited about the opportunity to enhance Colorado State’s marketing efforts," Schirmer said. "Its reputation as a major research institution with an outreach focus offers much to residents of the state, the nation and the world."

Before joining Colorado State, Schirmer was principal of BrandBasis LLC, a strategic brand development and marketing communications consulting firm he founded in 2002. He previously had been vice president of branding strategy and communications at Due.Com Inc. and senior brand strategist at Monigle Associates.

After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Kansas, Schirmer started his career as a manager of Business Advertising at Mountain Bell. He later worked as director of Corporate Advertising and Identity at US West Inc and as director of Branding and Media Relations at MediaOne Group Inc., a US West spinoff.

Schirmer also has an executive MBA from the University of Denver.

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