Class of 2024
Noel Ginsburg
Founder, Chairman and CEO of Intertech Plastics
Noel born in Denver to a working-class family. His parents ran a manufacturing and food business, and on weekends he and his dad would bottle pickles at their plant in Arvada. Early on, he knew I loved manufacturing and working with people. The folks on the assembly line took pride in their work, and actually made things. That always stayed with him. He built three organizations that have expanded opportunity for Coloradans.
He began his manufacturing company, Intertech Plastics, as a senior at the University of Denver, and over 37 years created hundreds of middle-class jobs. They make products for the packaging, industrial, and medical markets, and today employ nearly 200 people and are committed to making a difference. They offer the employees training in math and science, tutoring for their kids, and job training to local students seeking new skills.
He founded CareerWise Colorado, America’s first statewide youth apprenticeship and job training program, which has been called a national model. It matches high schoolers with job training in modern industries, giving them college credit, a paycheck, and real-world skills. CareerWise is creating 230 job pathways, taking students from apprenticeships to middle-class jobs in advanced manufacturing, IT, finance, renewable energy, healthcare, and more.
He co-founded the Colorado I Have a Dream Foundation, to raise graduation rates for disadvantaged kids, bringing in mentors from around Colorado to support inner-city kids, promising if they graduated high school, he’d provide college scholarships. Over 29 years, he’s changed the lives of 800 kids in inner-city Denver, generating graduation rates double and triple the norm.
His vision is rooted in Democratic values, but his approach is unique because his background isn’t in politics, but in creating opportunity in non-profits and business. He believes if you take a problem-solving approach to big challenges, they can make a difference for all Coloradans.
He and his wife, Leslie, have been married for 27 years and raised their children—Corey and Ali—in Colorado. They love the outdoors and natural wonders of Colorado, and especially loves riding his motorcycle through the beautiful mountains.
Paul Ford
CFO of EV3
Paul was the President of Centerfield's insurance division. Prior to this Paul was the President of Datalot sold to Centerfield in 2021. Prior to Datalot, Paul was the CEO of Total Attorney's that was sold to Internet Brands in 2014. Prior to this he was the CEO of NetQuote which was sold to Bankrate in 2010. Paul stayed on with Bankrate through their IPO in June 2011. Prior to NetQuote, he was a founder of InsLogic sold to Capital One in 2005. Prior to InsLogic, Paul founded Canadian Access, sold to Sitel in 2001.
Paul has acted in an advisory capacity and served on a number of digital customer acquisition company boards. These include A Place for Mom which was acquired by General Atlantic and Silver Lake in 2017, Everquote which IPO'd in 2018, and Jornaya sold to Verisk in 2020.
Paul has a B.A. in Economics and a Business School Degree from Queen’s University in Kingston Ontario, Canada, is a Certified Accountant and winner of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2010.
Steve VanNurden
Associate Vice Chancellor for Biotechnology of University of Colorado
Steve is the associate vice chancellor of biotechnology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, and serves as president and CEO of the Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority (FRA) in Aurora, Colorado. VanNurden works with CU Anschutz faculty and staff to develop a strategic vision to foster discovery and innovation in order to grow and diversify funding for the research enterprise. He started CU Innovations in 2016 to reinvent the way technology transfer is conducted at a university.
Now known as the Fitzsimons Innovation Community, the FRA was formed in 1996 as a unique partnership between the University of Colorado and the City of Aurora, Colorado, to create a life science innovation community that links discovery and innovation with entrepreneurship. Currently home to more than 80 companies, the FRA is committed to building a vibrant life sciences community by providing companies with the resources and environment in which to thrive.
Prior to coming to Colorado, VanNurden was chair of Mayo Clinic Ventures, the commercialization arm of Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where he spent 22 years. During his tenure, Mayo Clinic Ventures commercialized nearly 2,000 Mayo Clinic discoveries, inventions and other intellectual property through conventional licensing agreements, collaborations and directly investing in start-up companies. The direct investment into Mayo Clinic-related start-up companies began in 1998, which allowed Mayo to evaluate internal technologies for possible formation and direct investment into start-up companies. Under VanNurden’s direction, the program resulted in the formation of over 50 companies with a positive return on investment to Mayo Clinic.
Before becoming chair of Mayo Clinic Ventures, VanNurden held a variety of positions in the other operating divisions during his 22 years at Mayo Clinic, including serving as the first director of electronic publishing in the Health Information Division. During his tenure, several award-winning CD-ROMs and websites were created, including the vision, business strategies, product development and successful launch of Mayo Clinic Health Oasis and Mayo Clinic HealthQuest Online in 1995 (now known as mayoclinic.com) websites. He also served as an industry liaison to the U.S. Health and Human Services Committee on the Emergence of Interactive Health Communication.
In 2019, VanNurden founded, along with Kimberly Muller and Steven Lindseth, the CU Healthcare Innovation Venture Fund to capitalize on the nationally recognized healthcare innovation activities, unique deal flow and extensive healthcare facilities at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. Now on Fund II, the Funds have raised more than $100 million in investment capital and have invested in 30 companies to date.
Previously, VanNurden held management positions at Cargill, Inc. and U.S. Bank, and was vice president of Aerodrome Airline Services, Inc., a small aviation company. He holds degrees in accounting and finance, and a master’s degree in business administration.
Class of 2023
Dr. Marvin Caruthers
Distinguished Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder.
- The chemical reactions that he discovered in the early 1980s lead him to developing a faster, more efficient way to successively add a new nucleotide to a growing strand of DNA in a matter of seconds.
- Co-founded Amgen and Applied Biosystems—two global companies he used for his R&D to break into the market.
- Honors & Memberships: National Medal of Science, National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts & Sciences, National Academy of Inventors, National Inventors Hall of Fame, and most recently the Inaugural Merkin Prize in Biomedical Technology.
Jeffrey Galgano
Former CFO of FullSpeed Automotive and Tidel Engineering
- Retired C-level entrepreneurial executive with more than 30 years of strategic, operational, transaction and financial experience.
- He was the CFO of FullSpeed Automotive, which he led into more than 400 franchisees and operated over 180 company owned retail stores.
- Served as the CFO of Tidel Engineering, where he successfully partnered with 2 CEOs and 4 private equity funds in four buyouts resulting in significant value creation.
Larry Gold
Serial entrepreneur and bioscience industry pioneer
- Bioscience industry pioneer & entrepreneur who is internationally recognized for his research at the University of Colorado Boulder and initiated numerous discoveries while developing successful biotechnology patents.
- Founder of NeXagen, Inc. (later became NeXstar Pharmaceuticals, Inc), which merged with Gilead Sciences, Inc. to develop and commercialize treatments for infectious diseases.
- Awards & Memberships: American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, Lifetime Award, and the Chiron Prize for BioTechnology from Colorado BioScience Association, as well as many other local and national awards.
Steve Swinney
CEO of Kodiak Building Partners
- Responsible for the overall vision, strategy and execution of Kodiak's business plan while also serving on Kodiak's Board of Directors.
- Kodiak has grown to nearly $900 million in revenue through a series of sixteen acquisitions and one business launch along with extensive organic growth of its portfolio companies.
- Prior to Kodiak, he was with ProBuild Holdings, where he created the organization to support the company’s M&A, Financial Analysis, Investor Relations, Budgeting and Long Range Planning Functions.