Dr. Charles F. Ferris is the former Director of Biosciences Programs at the Colorado Commission on Higher Education (CCHE) which had assumed the role of the former Colorado Advanced Technology Institute (CATI), where he had held the position of Director of Biosciences Programs since April 1997. CATI was the State of Colorado's science and technology development agency to form and participate in public/private consortia to foster research excellence, technology transfer and technology based business formations in Colorado.
A resident of Colorado since 1983, Dr. Ferris has been involved in biological sciences research for greater than 20 years in universities, Department of Defense biomedical laboratories and the private sector. This involvement has included participating in and leading research in different scientific and medical disciplines that have for the most part, been focused towards advancing basic science toward emerging technologies or treatment modalities, or introducing new technologies to market. Additionally, he has served on or chaired critical institutional research committees. He is or has been active in the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Sigma Xi, The Health Physics Society, both the Societies of Animal and Dairy Science, and the International Embryo Transfer Society.
He has earned a B.S. and M.S. from The Ohio State University, a MBA from the University of Colorado and a Ph.D. from Utah State University.
Dr. Ferris has served on active duty in the U.S. Army for over 11 years and is currently a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. He has graduated from numerous Army military medical courses and schools including Command and General Staff College.
He has previously assisted in technical education and the Colorado Governor's Productivity Commission implementation, and has been affiliated with the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry's "Fifty for Colorado" and the Colorado Leadership Forum.