Ajay Menon stepped into the role as leader, President and CEO of CSU STRATA in October 2019, bringing over 25 years of academic and administrative expertise. Prior to his appointment at CSU STRATA, Ajay served as dean of CSU’s College of Agricultural Sciences and director of the Colorado Agriculture Experiment Station since July 2015. He served as the dean of the CSU College of Business, 2002 until 2015,
From November 2011 to August 2013, as appointed by Gov. John Hickenlooper, Ajay served in a dual role as the state’s first Chief Innovation Officer. In that role, he helped establish and lead the Colorado Innovation Network to develop an ecosystem in Colorado that cultivates entrepreneurial and innovative activities. Ajay holds a Ph.D. in Marketing and joined CSU in 1991 as a member of the Marketing Department faculty. His teaching and research expertise lie in the areas of International Marketing, New Product Development and Management and Strategic Market Planning. His research interests lie in the areas of customer loyalty, new product management and strategy implementation. Ajay’s research has appeared in numerous preeminent publications in the field, including the Journal of Marketing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science and Journal of Business Research.
In addition to his academic and administrative work, Ajay has served as a management consultant to local and multinational companies on issues related to customer satisfaction and loyalty. He has also served on the Boards of Directors or Advisors to for-profit and nonprofit organizations including the Colorado Innovation Network; Junior Achievement – Rocky Mountain, Inc.; Colorado National Bancorp; World’s Fresh Waters, Chile; Convera Corp.; Women’s Vision Foundation; Envirofit Corp.; and the Better Business Bureau of Northern Colorado.
As President and CEO of CSU STRATA, Ajay is responsible for the protection, management and commercialization of intellectual property resulting from research at CSU and oversees services CSU STRATA provides to both CSU and the CSU System. These services include the coordination and management of non-campus real estate holdings on behalf of CSU, CSU-Pueblo, CSU-Global and the CSU System and the provision of debt financing expertise and capabilities to those entities. As principal spokesperson of CSU STRATA, Ajay develops and enhances relationships with the State of Colorado, the Board of Governors , the business community, the City of Fort Collins, the Colorado State University and CSU System administration in order that CSU STRATA may continue in its mission and support of CSU and the CSU System.
