President Matthew S. Holland

Dr. Matthew S. Holland’s road to a distinguished career in higher education began as a student at Brigham Young University, where he graduated with honors and was valedictorian for the political science department in 1991. That same year he won a prestigious Raoul Wallenberg Scholarship to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem to study leadership in democracies.

Before earning his master’s degree and Ph.D. in political science at Duke University, Dr. Holland served with distinction as chief of staff for the top executive of the international consulting firm Monitor Group and, later, as special assistant to then-Governor Michael O. Leavitt.  As a faculty member at BYU, his research in American political thought garnered national attention. In 2005-06, he was awarded Princeton University’s James Madison Fellowship. A popular teacher, his commitment to applied learning concepts led to his selection as BYU’s “Civically Engaged Scholar of the Year” by Utah Campus Compact. Most recently, Dr. Holland was selected from an exceptional pool of candidates as Utah Valley University’s sixth president.

A true son of Utah Valley, Dr. Holland is married to fellow Utah County native Paige Bateman, and they have four children: Jake, Mitzi, Grace and Danny.