Owens Accepts DU Fellowship

Fresh out of the governor’s office, Bill Owens has already added another job to his schedule. When he’s not busy advising presidential hopeful Mitt Romney or looking for work as an investment banker, Owens will be researching public policy as a senior fellow at the University of Denver.

From the Denver Post:

Former Gov. Bill Owens will join the University of Denver’s Institute for Public Policy Studies as a senior fellow.

The institute is co-directed by former Colorado Gov. Dick Lamm, a Democrat who served three terms from 1975 to 1987.

Owens will work part-time on researching and writing about public policy. Occasionally, he will give lectures or teach at special events.

“It’s a way to engage with the university without being a full-time professor or a full-time faculty member,” Owens said. “It won’t involve any full-time teaching yet. I would anticipate in future years I may take a class or course load.”

He declined to say how much he will be paid.

Lamm added, “He will be a senior fellow, which is not a standard faculty position. It’s a very part-time position for researching and writing about public policy. He continues to want to spend more of his time in the private sector.

Owens left the governor’s office this month after eight years when he became term-limited. Owens spent a total of 24 years in elected office, including posts as a state representative, a state senator and state treasurer.

Just before Bill Ritter followed him into the statehouse, Owens said he was planning to work as an international investment banker and with some commercial real-estate developers he is friends with. Owens formed a real estate investment venture, JCB Group LLC with Joel Farkas and Chris Paulson, to develop and invest in commercial and residential projects.

He also has signed on as a political consultant to Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican who is considering a presidential bid.

“I”m very delighted that he agreed to join us,” Lamm said. “We have a bunch of young people excited about public policy and to have one Democrat and one Republican ex-governors will be a real asset.”