Mark Alan Heckler (BA, Elizabethtown College, Communication Arts, 1977 summa cum laude; MFA, The Catholic University of America, Drama: Directing, 1979) is Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs at the University of Colorado Denver (UC Denver). Heckler served as vice chair of the university system-wide study that led to the consolidation of the University of Colorado at Denver and the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center on July 1, 2004, creating one of the nation’s finest public urban research universities. Prior to the consolidation, he served as Acting Chancellor and Interim Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs in 2003.
Heckler arrived at the University of Colorado in 1995 where he served initially as the Director of the School of the Arts. In 1998, working in close collaboration with the faculty of the School, Heckler founded the College of Arts and Media (CAM), the first new college at CU in over a quarter century, and was appointed as its founding Dean. Under his leadership, the College grew rapidly and is now the third largest college at UCD. He retains his appointment as tenured Professor of Theatre, Film, and Television in the College. From 1979- 1995, Heckler was a professor at Siena College in Albany, NY earning tenure and eventually serving as Professor of Theatre, Director of Theatre, and Chair of the Department of Fine Arts.
As an actor, director, designer, and producer for the stage, Heckler has over 100 academic and professional productions to his credit, including performances throughout the United States, Europe and the Middle East. He created the title role of Joseph in the production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat that would eventually make its way to Broadway in the 1980’s. Heckler also served as a founder and Artistic Director of Park Playhouse, an outdoor professional summer music theatre in upstate New York that reached upwards of 100,000 theatergoers each year during his years there.
For the downtown campus, Heckler was an integral player in the creation of the $40 million Kenneth King Academic and Performing Arts Center that opened in Fall 2000. Through forging an innovative partnership in 2002 between the University, the Denver Film Society, and through a generous gift from Starz-Encore and the Anna and John J. Sie Foundation, Heckler served as a co-founder of the Starz FilmCenter, now one of the nation’s pre-eminent centers for independent cinema and home of the highly acclaimed Denver International Film Festival. The $5.25 million gift that founded the center remains the largest cash gift ever awarded the downtown campus of UCD. Most recently in his role as Provost, Heckler partnered with Governor Bill Owens’ Office of Economic Development and International Trade to create the AdvanceColorado Center. Colorado’s Economic Development Commission has awarded nearly $1 million to launch this economic incubator for a number of key technology, bioscience, and other business clusters deemed critical for Colorado’s economic future.
Heckler has been an active participant in the downtown campus' innovative international education program, as well as its pioneering online initiatives that contributed to the formation of what is now known as the publicly traded corporation, eCollege. His international education initiatives since 1995 included programs in the People’s Republic of China, Russia, Nepal, Mongolia, Taiwan, Germany, Scotland, and Italy.
From 1996-1998, Heckler served as President of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE), the largest international professional organization for post-secondary theatre educators. He has also been an active participant in the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival serving on its National Committee in 1997-1998. With Barbara O. Korner, Heckler co-founded the Association for Theatre in Higher Education’s Leadership Institute in 2000 and serves as its Co-Director. He completed the Harvard Institute for Management and Leadership in Education in summer 2001 and is currently a participant in the American Council on Education’s inaugural Institute for Chief Academic Officers. He currently serves as member of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges, represents UCD at the Urban Serving Universities coalition, serves as a founding Director of the Colorado Film Commission, and is an active board member at the National Center for Voice and Speech, the Denver International Film Festival/Denver Film Society, the KBDI-PBS Channel 12 Community Advisory Board, and the Cultural Task Force of the Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce.
For the University of Colorado Board of Regents, Heckler chaired the Advisory Committee on Tenure-Related Processes. This committee conducted one of the nation’s most comprehensive reviews of tenure, from point of hire through post-tenure review, promotion, and dismissal for cause. The committee will issued its report late spring 2006.
Along with his wife and partner of 28 years, Veronica Heckler, he is the proud parent of four children, all of whom are graduates of or are currently attending the University of Colorado.