Last Lecture Series: Dr. David Rainbow
Join the Centennial Institute for our upcoming Last Lecture event with Dr. David Rainbow, Associate Professor of History and Senior Advisor to the Provost at Colorado Christian University.
Inspired by the story of former Carnegie Mellon professor Randy Pausch who, after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis, presented a final lecture of lessons he had always wanted to share with his students, Centennial Institute posed the question to Colorado Christian University’s top faculty and staff: “If this was your last chance to address your students, how would you summarize your accumulated wisdom into a concise summation?”
Last Lecture Series: Dr. David Rainbow
Monday, February 22, 2027
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm MT
Fran & Larry Donnithorne Great Hall; Anschutz Student Center
Colorado Christian University
8787 W. Alameda Ave.
Lakewood, CO 80226
MEDIA CREDENTIALING: While members of the media are welcome to attend our events, they are not allowed inside university buildings or facilities for the purpose of reporting unless they have received prior approval in writing from the Communications and Creative Services Department. For more information on how to apply for a media credential, please email centennial@ccu.edu.
About Dr. David Rainbow
David Rainbow is a historian of modern Europe and Russia. Originally from California, Dr. Rainbow came to CCU from Texas, where he was an Associate Professor of History in the Honors College at the University of Houston. He taught courses on Russian history and literature, European intellectual history, and Great Books from antiquity to the 20th century. He received several teaching awards in Houston, including the University Provost’s Teaching Excellence Award. At CCU, Dr. Rainbow teaches classes on the history of Europe, Russia, the United States, and Western Civilization. He also teaches in the Augustine Honors Program.
Dr. Rainbow’s research, which took him to dusty historical archives across Russia and the United States, relates to the Russian Empire and early Soviet Union (1850-1930). He’s published work on the Russian Revolution and Civil War, the history of race in Russia and the USSR, and Siberian regionalism. He holds degrees from New York University (PhD), Drew University (MA), and Fresno Pacific University (BA), and also studied at several Russian universities. His work has been supported by fellowships and grants from Columbia University’s Harriman Institute (postdoc), the Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia, Fulbright, the U.S. Department of State, and a few other institutions.
Before becoming a professor, he lived in St. Petersburg, Russia, Siberia, and Germany, worked for two years on a cattle ranch in North Dakota, and sailed around the Pacific Rim as an engineer aboard a merchant ship.
