Academic Affairs Office of the Senior Vice President

About Mitzi M. Montoya

Mitzi M. Montoya, Ph.D., was appointed provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs in January, 2023. She joins the University of Utah with a vigor for solving problems, breaking barriers and innovating change for the greater good.

Montoya is a thought leader in higher education. Throughout her career she has supported student and faculty success, enhanced entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystems and led collaborative initiatives to find solutions for social, technical and political challenges.

Before joining the U, Dr. Montoya was the dean of the Anderson School of Management at the University of New Mexico. She also served as provost and executive vice president at Washington State University and as the Sara Hart Kimball dean of the College of Business at Oregon State University. At Arizona State University, she was dean of the College of Technology & Innovation, vice provost of the ASU Polytechnic campus, and the inaugural vice president and university dean of entrepreneurship and innovation. Prior to ASU, Montoya spent 15 years at North Carolina State University where she held the Zelnak Chair in Marketing & Innovation in the Poole College of Management. She received her doctorate in marketing and statistics and a bachelor's in applied engineering science from Michigan State University.

Montoya’s entrepreneurial approach to problem-solving is driven by her research on innovation processes and strategies and influenced by her experiences as a former American Council on Education Fellow. As provost, Montoya seeks to inspire students, faculty and staff; lead innovation efforts; and help the U become a top 10 public university with unsurpassed societal impact.