The Utah System of Higher Education released the names of the four finalists for the position of Weber State University president Thursday in a press release by Pamela Silberman, director of communications.
The names of the campus group representatives that will meet with candidates Monday is also now available on the WSU Presidential Search website at weber.edu/presidentialsearch/timeline.html. The public can submit commentary directly to the Board of Regents at weber.edu/presidentialsearch/comment.html.
The Board of Regents will then meet with the finalists Tuesday in the Shepherd Union Ballrooms and deliberate. The Regents then might hold a public meeting at 3:30 p.m. in the ballrooms to select the president. However, they might convene the meeting at another time, which will be announced at a later date.
Finalists:
Kathryn Cruz-Uribe
According to the biographical information given about each finalist in the press release , Cruz-Uribe is second-in-command at Cal State Monterey Bay as the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. She has overseen the development and implementation of a new university strategic plan and a five-year academic plan. She previously serves as Interim Dean and then Dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Northern Arizona University. She joined the faculty at NAU in 1989 as an assistant professor and was promoted to full professor in 1998. She received the President’s Medal for Outstanding Administrator from Cal State Monterey Bay in 2011 and also received an Outstanding Teaching Award from NAU in 1996. She is the author of more than 45 scholarly articles and books. Cruz-Uribe graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts from Middlebury College and holds both a master’s degree and a doctorate in anthropology from the University of Chicago. Cruz-Uribe’s bio on the Cal State Monterey Bay website states she is an anthropologist with many years of fieldwork outside of the U.S.
“I’m particularly intrigued by the nontraditional, cross-disciplinary majors, as well as the emphasis on student learning through internships and field study as well as coursework,” she said in the school biography.
Kim Reed
On the Louisiana Board of Regents Reed oversees initiatives to strengthen completion, improve accountability, and increase quality within the state’s institutions of higher education. While at Southeastern Louisiana University for five years she served as Executive Assistant to the President and Interim Vice President for Student Affairs. She also previously served as Deputy Commissioner for Public Affairs for the Louisiana Board of Regents and Executive Vice President for the University of Louisiana System. Reed served as Deputy Chief of Staff, Director of Policy and Planning, and Press Secretary for two governors in Louisiana. Her biography on the University of Louisiana website states she as a team leader on Louisiana’s nationally-recognized juvenile justice reform efforts. The press release states that she is also a senior higher education consultant for HCM Strategists in Washington, D.C. Reed holds a Bachelors of Arts in Broadcast Journalism and a Masters of Public Administration from Louisiana State University, and a doctorate degree in Higher Education Policy from Southern University and A&M College. She also completed a program in education management and leadership at Harvard University.
Michael Thomas
According to the New England Board of Higher Education website, Thomas is their President and CEO. The board works to expand education opportunity and services. MASS. He joined the board in 2002 and also served as Senior Director of Policy and Research and Senior Vice President. According to the press release, before that he worked at Lesley University in Cambridge, Mass., as Executive Assistant to the President and Assistant Professor, and as Coordinator of Institutional Research and Analysis. He served as a trustee and the vice-chair of Worcester State University in Mass. and was a 2008 Millennium Leadership Initiative Fellow with the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. He is the author of more than 30 published articles and reports. Thomas graduated with honors from Brigham Young University with a Bachelors of Arts in philosophy. He then earned a Masters of Arts in Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration from Teachers College at Columbia University, as well as a Masters and Doctorate of Education in Administration, Planning and Social Policy from Harvard. Thomas also holds a Masters of Business Administration from Boston University.
Charles Wight
According to his biography on the University of Utah Website, Wight has served as the Dean of the Graduate School since July 2009 and has taught in the Chemistry Department since 1984. Wight’s research is focused on the chemistry of high explosives and rocket propellants. Since starting at the U he has held numerous positions, including Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies and Assistant Vice President for Continuing Education. He received the R.W. Parry Teaching Award in Chemistry in 2006 and was also named a fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1994. Wight was an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow from 1990-1994. He has filed three patent applications and authored 150 peer-reviewed articles and two books. Wight is the founder of ChemVantage.org, an open education web site for teaching and learning general chemistry. He received a Bachelors of Science in chemistry from the University of Virginia and graduated Phi Beta Kappa and then received a doctorate in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology, where he also won the best dissertation award. Wight also speaks Russian.