I am delighted to serve as senior vice president for Academic Affairs at the University of Utah, where I have responsibility for the quality of our academic programs and facilities, the success of our faculty and students, and the alignment of campus resources with our priorities and strategic directions.

The U is a great public research university. These adjectives—great, public and research—are each defining attributes of our focus and our mission, and they shape both the U’s philosophy and its daily practice.

As a public university, the U is deeply committed to the residents of Utah, focused on ensuring the lifelong success of its students, to partnering with the state and private sector on effective economic development, and to continuing to build insightful partnerships that serve our society and health, and improve our world.

As a research university, the U’s faculty, staff and students conduct breakthrough research and scholarship, creating new knowledge and translating those new discoveries and insights into practice, essential tasks in ensuring Utah’s position in an increasingly competitive global environment.

As a great university, the U’s academic prowess places it among the country’s elite universities, a magnet for talent across the state, the nation and the world—talent that enriches our culture, energizes our economy and shapes our future.

Integrating each of its attributes as a great public research university, the University of Utah is well positioned to both build on its success and to define the model of a 21st century university. The U has the highest graduation rate, the lowest average debt at graduation, and the highest average beginning salary for graduates of any public institution in the state—and well above the national median. The U accomplishes this while having the lowest undergraduate full-time tuition among its peers in the Pac-12.

As senior vice president for Academic Affairs, I am excited to collaborate with students, faculty and staff, and the residents of Utah to take the state’s flagship university to even greater heights, as a beacon of excellence that illuminates, informs and helps shape our collective future.

Almost 2000 years ago, the Greek biographer and essayist Plutarch wrote, “The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.” His words are as apt today as they were then. At the University of Utah, we strive to light the intellectual fire of curiosity and learning in everyone for we know that once lit, that fire burns for a lifetime.