OREM, UT – Dr. Astrid S. Tuminez will assume official duties as the seventh president of Utah Valley University on September 17, 2018. She was selected after a 24-member Presidential Search Committee, co-chaired by Regent Steven Lund and UVU Trustee Chair Elaine Dalton, narrowed an extensive pool of national and international applicants to four finalists. From those finalists, the Utah State Board of Regents selected Tuminez as president on April 20, 2018.

UVU's current president, Matthew S. Holland, announced late last year that he had been called to serve as a mission president for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He will continue to serve as UVU president until June 30, 2018. Dr. Jeffery E. Olson, senior vice president of Academic Affairs, will serve as interim president from July 1 until Tuminez arrives on campus in September.

"We honor the vision and legacy of President Holland over the last nine years, and celebrate his many accomplishments at Utah Valley University," said Utah Commissioner of Higher Education David L. Buhler. "At the same time, we look forward to UVU's bright future under the direction of President Tuminez, who is a proven visionary leader in the academic, nonprofit, public policy, and corporate sectors."

Prior to UVU, Tuminez was the corporate regional director of corporate, external and legal affairs for Microsoft in Southeast Asia. She has also served as the vice dean of Research and assistant dean of Executive Education at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, where she trained over 2,000 government officials and private-sector professionals in leadership and organizational change. Other previous positions include senior consultant to the U.S. Institute of Peace, director of research at AIG Global Investment, and program officer at Carnegie Corporation of New York. She previously ran the Moscow office of the Harvard Project on Strengthening Democratic Institutions. She holds a bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University, a master's degree from Harvard University, and a doctoral degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"I am honored to have been selected by the Board of Regents, and look forward to leading Utah Valley University to its next level of success," said Tuminez. "Education frees the human spirit, and UVU's dual-mission, which emphasizes engaged learning and inclusivity, gives students from many different backgrounds the same opportunity to access higher education and transform their lives. I am excited to work with UVU students, faculty, staff, trustees, and community leaders to continue providing that transformative experience."

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About Utah Valley University
At 37,282 students and growing, Utah Valley University is the largest public university in the state of Utah, and one of a few higher education institutions in the nation offering a dual-mission model that combines the rigor and richness of a first-rate teaching university with the openness and vocational programs of a community college.
UVU's unique model — which focuses on student success, engaged learning, rigorous academic programs, and faculty-mentored research — is transforming higher education by making it more affordable and accessible to students of all backgrounds.