UVU Board of Trustees announces new leadership, members
August Miller, UVU Marketing
UVU Trustee Rick Nielsen portrait on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem on Tuesday, June 13, 2017.Every few years there is a change with members of Utah Valley University’s board of trustees. On Wednesday, the board named Nebo School District Superintendent Rick Nielsen as chair. Scott M. Smith will be first vice chair and Jeanette Bennett will be second vice chair.
As board chair, Nielsen will lead trustees as they oversee the development of UVU curriculum, policies, degrees, facilities and bylaws.
UVU has grown in recent years to be the largest state university, topping over 43,500 students in the fall of 2022. Future plans include the expansion of facilities in Vineyard and other locations, which could involve the current leadership.
Nielsen has been a member of the UVU Board of Trustees since 2017. Smith and Bennett have been board members since 2019 and 2021, respectively. New board leadership is selected every two years following university bylaws established by the Utah System of Higher Education.
Former chair James Clarke and former first vice chair Jill Taylor have now rotated off the board. Noel Vallejo, a business leader in technology training and certification, and Andrea Clarke, a business leader and philanthropist, will fill their vacancies.
“I want to thank my fellow trustees, James [Clarke] and Jill [Taylor], for their commitment to UVU,” Nielsen said announcing the new leadership. “They have served with great enthusiasm and integrity over the past eight years and have made a tremendous impact on the university and the students we serve. UVU is an outstanding educational institution, and it is a profound privilege for me and the other trustees to serve these wonderful students and staff.”
For 13 years, Nielsen has served as superintendent for Nebo School District, which has over 36,000 K-12 students in southern Utah County. Smith is a former university professor and co-founder of Qualtrics, an experience management platform. Bennett is a business leader, entrepreneur and owner of Utah Valley Magazine.
