Executive Leadership Team Bio
Marc Barker
Assistant Vice President for Safety & Risk Services and Chief Resilience Officer (CRO)
Marc Barker is the Assistant Vice President for Safety and Risk Services and Chief Resilience Officer for Colorado State University. Safety and Risk Services is a new unit resulting from an organizational restructure and oversees several departments within University Operations, including: Environmental Health, Risk Management, University Policy Office, Clery Compliance Office, the CSU Police Department and Emergency Management. Marc also serves as co-chair of the Pandemic Preparedness Team and will continue in a leadership role of all future Campus Emergencies, such as the pandemic.
Throughout his career in higher education, Marc has been persistent in his advocacy for military and veteran students. Marc has provided testimony to the House and Senate Veteran Affairs Committee’s relative to the Post 9/11 GI Bill, and additional educational topics for military and veterans students. He has presented on veteran and military education topics for the Council of College and Military Educators (CCME) National Symposium, the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) Annual Conference, the Department of Defense World Wide Education Symposium, the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), and the Rocky Mountain Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (RMACRAO). Prior to his current appointment to the NAVPA Executive Board he served as the organizations national Legislative Director. Additionally, he has served on various community boards and panels dealing with military and veteran issues including the Kentucky/Tennessee Chapter of the Association of the United States Army (AUSA), and the Larimer County (CO) Veteran and Workforce Advocacy Panel.
Robyn Fergus
Executive Director and Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO)
Robyn Fergus serves as the Executive Director of Human Resources and Chief Human Resources Officer at Colorado State University. Robyn oversees Benefits, Employment, Classification & Compensation, Employee Relations, Payroll, the HR Service Center, HR Solutions, and HR Information Systems, and Records. Robyn has extensive experience in public education in both Denver and Jefferson County schools. Her background includes creating strategies for diversity hiring practices, establishing partnerships, enhancing transparency, designing and implementing efficient systems and processes, and guiding human resources units through change and transformation.
A graduate of a fellow land-grant institution, Michigan State University, Fergus was a first-generation student from a family that embraced obtaining an education as a core value.
Her experience spans serving in various human resources positions in both private and public institutions, starting her career at a staffing business before working at Daimler Chrysler in Detroit and Alabama, and then Vail Resorts, before transitioning to a career devoted to supporting education through public schools in Colorado.
Fergus also serves as a board member for an organization that rescues horses and provides equine-assisted programs for at-risk youth, and enjoys riding her horses at home with her partner. She also volunteers through a canine rescue organization and fosters dogs before they are adopted, and previously volunteered for the Reading Partner Program through Denver Public School
Angie Nielsen
Director, Office of Budgets
Angie Nielsen is the Director of the Office of Budgets at Colorado State University and is responsible for providing research and analysis on internal and external affairs in support of executive decision making related to the University’s budget. Additionally, she has experience in two of CSU’s critical supporting units: Facilities Management and Sponsored Programs. Prior to joining Colorado State University, she had the opportunity to work for KPMG and a local accounting firm. She is an alumna of Colorado State University, holding a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and their two kids.
Dave Ryan
Executive Director, Business and Financial Services/Controller
Dave Ryan serves as Executive Director, Business and Financial Services and Controller and oversees Financial Reporting and Analysis, Campus Services, Cost Accounting, Property, Banking Services, Accounts Receivable Operations and Procurement. His primary focus is managing the annual preparation of the financial statements and external audit. Previously to this, Dave had served as Controller at the Municipality of Anchorage in Alaska.
Tom Satterly, P.E.
Associate Vice President, Facilities Management
Tom Satterly currently serves as Associate Vice President for Facilities Management at Colorado State University, leading a team of 630 facilities professionals in the operation of three main campuses which span 2000 acres and 533 buildings, and a 1,600-acre mountain campus. His experience includes 34 years of progressive operational management expertise, 15 years in higher education, across a broad range of facility disciplines including planning, design and construction, operations and maintenance, utilities, sustainability, safety and finance. He also contributed to several Public Private Partnership (P3) projects that included housing and dining facilities, recreational sports and a wastewater treatment plant, both while in the Navy and later at the University of Georgia. His most recent P3 project at Colorado State University involves a $470M program of research laboratories and veterinary medical facilities.
A native of Galveston, Texas, Tom served in the United States Navy and traveled throughout the world for 22 years, both as a Shipboard Propulsion Engineer and a Civil Engineer Corps Officer. He is also a life-long learner, having earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Engineering, an MBA degree, and is a registered Professional Engineer.
A guiding principle for Tom is his focus on ‘Mission First, People Always,’ ensuring that facilities best serve its mission and supporting the people who carry it out. Among his proudest achievements was work in Monterey, Calif., at the Naval Postgraduate School creating a master plan to preserve the historic charm of the campus, which was built in the 1880s as a hotel, while modernizing the facilities and expanding the campus mission. The project was recognized at the federal level by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation for excellence.
Tom and his wife, Lauren, have two children. He is an avid outdoorsman, which has been the impetus for many domestic adventures including family camping trips to Yosemite and Yellowstone, and backpacking in Washington state with his son.
