Academics and Research / Magazine Feature

Trygve Myhren named chairman of DU Board of Trustees

The University of Denver Board of Trustees has elected prominent Denver business leader Trygve Myhren to serve as its chairman. Myhren, a DU trustee since 1995, succeeds Joy S. Burns. The election took place Aug. 31.

Myhren is president of Myhren Media Inc. He serves on the corporate boards of AdPay Inc. and Jookt Inc. and maintains advisory relationships with American National Bank and two venture capital groups. He previously served as president of the Providence Journal Company, chairman and CEO of American Television & Communications (now Time Warner Cable), chairman of the National Cable Television Association and on the boards of eight public companies. He is a founder or co-founder of six cable TV networks, including the Food Network, Northwest Cable News and E! Entertainment.

At DU, Myhren has been a strong advocate for innovation, academic excellence, integrity in intercollegiate athletics and fiscal accountability. He has served on several trustee committees, sequentially chairing the University’s audit, finance and budget, and faculty and educational affairs committees. His community involvement includes the Denver Art Museum, where he is a trustee, the Colorado Forum, the National Cable Center and the U.S. Adaptive Ski Team. Myhren served as U.S. chief of mission at the 2006 Paralympic Games in Torino and Sestrierre, Italy.

Myhren and his wife, Vicki, support various DU causes, most notably in athletics and the arts.  They have been the principal supporters of the Victoria H. Myhren Gallery in the Shwayder Art Building.

“The University’s momentum continues to build, and I know the trustees are committed to keeping it that way with the leadership of Trygve Myhren and Chancellor Robert Coombe,” says Burns, who will remain on the DU board. “I’ve invested a lot of my life in this wonderful university, and like others on the board, I want to see DU’s star continue to rise.”

Burns, a DU board member for 28 years, served as chairman from 1990 until 2005 and again from 2007 until Aug. 31, 2009. An icon of Denver’s business, civic and professional sports community, she is president and CEO of the D.C. Burns Realty and Trust Company and president and owner of the Burnsley Hotel in Denver.

“Joy’s dedication to DU is legendary, including not just her strong board leadership, but her emotional and financial commitment to ever-increasing excellence in all that the University does,” Myhren says.

Burns’ support of DU goes far beyond her tenure with the board. The Joy Burns Arena at the Ritchie Center and the Joy Burns Plaza in the Newman Center for the Performing Arts were, in large part, made possible by her generosity. In addition, the Franklin L. Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management, named after her late husband, benefits from her support.

Myhren became chair of DU’s Board on Sept. 1. He has an undergraduate degree in political science and philosophy from Dartmouth and an MBA from the Amos Tuck Graduate School at Dartmouth.

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