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OREM — Incoming Utah Valley University President Astrid Tuminez will assume official duties at the university on Sept. 17.
Tuminez, regional director of corporate, external and legal affairs for Microsoft in Southeast Asia, was selected the seventh president of UVU by the Utah State Board of Regents on April 20.
She will succeed President Matthew S. Holland, who has been called to serve as a mission president for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the North Carolina Raleigh Mission starting in July.
Jeffery E. Olson, senior vice president of academic affairs, will serve as interim president until Tuminez's arrival, officials said Friday. The fall semester begins Aug. 20.
Tuminez was selected after an international search. She was one of four finalists forwarded to the regents by a 24-member search committee. The board of regents announced its decision by unanimous vote during a meeting on the university campus.
“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 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.”
Tuminez 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.
She has also served as a 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.
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Microsoft executive named president of Utah Valley University
Astrid S. Tuminez, who was raised in poverty in the Philippines and went on to earn graduate degrees at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been selected the next president of Utah Valley University.Tuminez earned 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.
Tuminez said she looks forward "to leading UVU to its next level of success," according to a statement issued by the Utah System of Higher Education.
"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.”
