Office of the President
President's Welcome
Boise State University is on the map and on the move. We stand uniquely positioned in Idaho as a metropolitan university empowered by a dynamic, high-tech economy and one of the most attractive regions in the nation.
From its earliest days, Boise State has been a place where students come first, with award-winning faculty dedicated to excellent teaching. As Boise has grown into a dynamic marketplace of ideas and products, the university has kept pace, transforming itself into a metropolitan university dedicated not only to an outstanding undergraduate experience, but also to advanced graduate studies and the pursuit of groundbreaking research and technology.
People throughout the nation and world are looking at Boise State in a new light. The success of the football program has provided a window to the university, and we have so much to be proud of at Boise State:
- Since 1990, a Boise State professor has been named the Idaho Professor of the Year 11 times in academic areas from political science and nursing to Spanish and history.
- The fall 2008 student body includes a record 21 National Merit Finalists, including 10 incoming National Merit Scholars.
- Our emerging research presence attracted a school record $28 million in grants and sponsored projects as Boise State scientists and students are committed to life-enhancing research from exploring nanotechnology to fighting Alzheimer's disease.
- We are Idaho's largest university with 19,667 students while maintaining an average class size of 28 students and a 18:1 student/faculty ratio. Our campus housing has increased by 63 percent, including residential colleges with faculty members living among the students.
- Our degree programs include four doctorate, 53 master's, 92 baccalaureate, and 14 graduate certificate programs within seven colleges - Arts and Sciences, Business and Economics, Education, Engineering, Graduate Studies, Health Sciences, and Social Sciences and Public Affairs.
- We have national champions on our campus with the Talkin' Broncos—the student debate and speech team which won the national forensics crown in 2005—and the 2007 national champion Boise State University cheerleaders.
- One of our deans, Cheryl Schrader in the College of Engineering, received the 2005 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering mentoring from the White House.
- Of course, we have the world's only NCAA Division I blue football field as Bronco Stadium has been named one of the top 10 sports spots in America by ESPN.
Situated less than a mile from Boise's bustling downtown, our location in the state's capital city provides unique opportunities to live and learn in the center of government, business, arts, technology and health care. The greater Boise area is a nationally recognized high tech and entrepreneurial center. Forbes magazine ranked Boise No. 1 in its 2005 Best Places for Business and Careers while Inc. magazine rated the capital city No. 2 in its Best Places rankings for job growth.
A booming Boise accounts for our surging enrollment, our faculty's engagement in the community, and its success in winning research grants, most of which relate directly to the economy and the community in which we work and serve. It also accounts for our expansion of graduate programming to meet the needs of a more sophisticated work force in the Treasure Valley.
It is not all work and no play at Boise State. The 175-acre main campus borders the Boise River with a backdrop of foothills that provide unlimited year-round recreational opportunities for skiing, mountain biking, hiking and fishing. More than one million people visit the campus annually for cultural, athletic and entertainment events. Signature events include the Gene Harris Jazz Festival, Distinguished Lecture Series, and the annual Martin Luther King Jr./Idaho Human Rights Celebration.
We welcome you to explore our Web site and discover what Boise State offers for future students, current students, faculty and staff, alumni and the community. Directories and the A-Z index can help you find exact contact and subject information. You will soon discover that you are part of a dynamic university that is full of energy and desire to fulfill its metropolitan mission through quality teaching, research and public service.
We are certainly excited about our future. Here is a video about Boise State's transformation into a metropolitan research university of distinction. I hope you will take a closer look at Boise State University as you plan for your future.
Dr. Bob Kustra
President