Nebo School District Superintendent Rick Nielsen has been named chair of Utah Valley University’s Board of Trustees. Scott M. Smith has been named first vice chair, and Jeanette Bennett second vice chair.

As chair, Nielsen will lead board members as they oversee the development of UVU curriculum, policies, degrees, facilities, and bylaws. 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 completed their terms of service and have 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,” said Nielsen. “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 (XM). Bennett is a business leader, communicator, and entrepreneur who owns several businesses, including Utah Valley Magazine.

Vallejo is a long-time supporter of UVU. He is the founder and CEO of Testout, a technology company that provides IT training and certification. He earned an MBA from the University of Phoenix.

Andrea Clarke is a passionate and dedicated supporter of UVU and serves as chair of the board for UVU’s Women’s Success Center. She co-founded the Labor and Honor Foundation, which supports the arts, education, and poverty alleviation. She is also a managing partner of Clarke Capital Partners and earned a master’s degree in nonprofit management from Columbia University.