Commissioner Will Toor

Will Toor was elected to the Board of County Commissioners in 2004. He currently serves as Vice-Chair of the Board.

He is a founding member of the US 36 Mayors' and Commissioners' Coalition, and is actively involved in efforts to get funding for the locally preferred alternative for US 36, which includes commuter rail, bus rapid transit, a bikeway, and road improvements.

He represents Boulder County on the Denver Regional Council of Governments (which he chaired in 2005). Will currently chairs the Boulder County Regional Transit Committee.

Will spearheads the County's environmental sustainability initiative. Under his leadership, the County adopted two resolutions on sustainability and zero waste, and is now developing programs and policies designed to reduce energy waste and transition to renewable energy sources.

Prior to being elected County Commissioner, Will was elected to the Boulder City Council in 1997. In 1998 he was elected mayor by the city council. He was re-elected to council and as mayor in 2001, and served until taking office as County Commissioner in January 2005.

Will was born in 1961 in Pittsburgh, PA. He graduated from Carnegie-Mellon University with a B.S. in physics in 1978 and moved to Boulder in 1980 where he worked as a truck driver, mechanic and yard foreman for Eco-Cycle from 1981 to1984 and 1986 to 1987. He attended graduate school in Chicago, receiving his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Chicago in 1992.

Will was also an instructor in the University of Colorado’s Environmental Studies Program, teaching classes on Environmental Leadership, the Campus and the Biosphere and Transportation and Environmental Policy. He is currently an adjunct professor in the CU school of Architecture and Planning.

Will served as the director of the CU Environmental Center from 1992 to January 2005. During his tenure, the center received national recognition, including a 2001 green Power Leadership award from the US Department of Energy for initiating the nation's largest university green power program. He is co-author of the books "Finding A New Way: Campus Transportation For The Twenty-First Century," and "Transportation for Sustainable Campus Communities."

He lives in central Boulder with his wife, Maria Colvin, his son, Nikolaus Toor, who was born in 1998, and his daughter Theresa, who was born in 2003. Will is an active gardener, climber and bicycle commuter.

Please visit our Regional Collaborations page for more information about the Commissioners' regional boards and commissions.