2020 Spring GBG: Designing From Colorado to Copenhagen

Designing From Colorado to Copenhagen

By Keira Hook (Education Abroad Peer Advisor, 2019-2020), Moriah Maron (Education Abroad Program Manager), and Sylvie Burnet-Jones (Global Buffs Gazette Editor)

 Jeff Risom (Danish Institute for Study Abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark - Fall 1999) is the ultimate CU Boulder education abroad success story. Growing up in Colorado, he had never traveled outside of North America and didn’t have a passport until he started exploring study abroad options, now he has worked in Copenhagen for twenty years in his dream field.

    As a young architectural engineering student, study abroad offered Risom an opportunity to pursue a new pathway in his field: design. He chose Denmark due to its outstanding reputation in the field of design, as well for its personal connection to his Danish roots. He thus embarked on a semester abroad, and spent Fall 1999 studying at the Danish Institute for Study Abroad (now known simply as DIS) in Copenhagen. He describes the program as a “close-knit family”: at the time the program hosted about 150 students a semester. It  has since expanded to serving 700-800 students, in Stockholm as well as Copenhagen. Jeff remembers that it felt comfortable, like being at home, but in a new place. 

    After returning to Colorado, Risom realized that he had gotten, “more than he had bargained for.” The world had opened up to him, and he wanted others to have the same opportunity, so he spent a year working as a peer advisor in the Education Abroad office at CU Boulder. But Denmark was calling, so soon after graduation he headed back to Copenhagen, to work for DIS, assisting professors and leading study tours all around Europe.

While working for DIS,  he met world-renowned Danish architect Jan Gehl, and through this connection, he later landed a job with Gehl’s eponymous company. He is now a partner and the Chief Innovation Officer, and as an international design consultant with the company, he works with private and public clients across four continents. According to his bio, he is passionate about people-first design, and how humans interact with spaces in their community. In a very full-circle moment, one of his projects has brought him back to his native Colorado: he is working with the City of Denver on a project with the 16th Street Mall. After so many years abroad, he jokes that he is happy to be “back in Broncos’ territory”. 

    One of the most important lessons that Rissom has learned over the last two decades is about being an immigrant. He has dealt with visa issues, the difficulty of learning Danish.  He had to transition into Danish culture. He says that his experiences give him a new perspective on the immigration debate in the U.S..    

    His time at DIS dramatically altered Rissom’s life trajectory: not only did he move to Copenhagen and start his career in international design, he also married a Danish woman with whom he is raising their two bicultural children.  In addition to his work at Gehl’s, he is still connected with DIS, his study abroad alma mater, where he teaches courses and continues to use his design skills to build intercultural bridges.


Jeff Risom Photo: Gehl Architects



Jeff Risom of Gehl Architects leads a master class on designing cities for people, during the Livable Cities Tour in August 2014. Photographer Torbjörn Larsson/Knight Foundation


Jeff Risom visiting the Barrio 31 project in Buenos Aires, Argentina
September 27, 2019 - Image credit: City of Buenos Aires & Carlota Pedersen Madero - Article by centroidpm

The Global Buffs Gazette: Spring 2020 - News for CU Boulder Education Abroad Alumni

?Last Updated June 2020