Awards, Grants & Appointments

Lori K. McDonald named vice president for student affairs

University of Utah President Ruth Watkins announced that Lori K. McDonald has been named vice president for student affairs. “Lori has earned the trust and respect of the U community through creative, skillful leadership and through her capacity to build vibrant partnerships with virtually every major office and academic unit on our campus,” Watkins said. […]


University of Utah receives prestigious grant from Lumina Foundation to support degree completion initiatives

The University of Utah has received a $335,000 grant from Lumina Foundation to assess the effectiveness of its newly launched Invest in U program, an income share agreement program aimed at helping students finish their degrees faster. The grant also will allow the U to develop and highlight best practices and innovative models with other […]


Katharine Ku appointed to U Research Foundation Board of Directors

The University of Utah Research Foundation has appointed Katharine Ku to its board of directors. Ku recently retired from Stanford University’s Office of Technology Licensing after serving as executive director for 27 years. A world-renowned expert in technology transfer, she developed nine principles for university technology licensing that have been adopted by tech transfer offices […]


University of Utah appoints first vice president for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

University of Utah President Ruth Watkins announced that Mary Ann Villarreal will join the university as the inaugural vice president for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. Villarreal is currently associate vice president of strategic initiatives at California State University, Fullerton. She will assume her new role on July 1, 2019. “Mary Ann has extensive experience in […]


U mathematician elected to Royal Society

Christopher Hacon, McMinn Presidential Endowed Chair and Distinguished Professor of Mathematics, can now add another honor of a lifetime to his already stellar resume: Election to the Royal Society of London. Hacon, born in England, is one of 50 eminent scientists elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society, along with 10 Foreign Members, in […]


Enhancing the fan experience

University of Utah President Ruth V. Watkins and Director of Athletics Mark Harlan announced the largest gift in Utah athletics history today in a press conference held prior to the annual Red-White game. The Ken Garff family has pledged $17.5 million for the Rice-Eccles Stadium renovation and expansion. The Garff family’s record-setting donation will help […]


Sarah B. George to take on new role at the University of Utah

Heidi Woodbury, vice president for institutional advancement at the University of Utah, is pleased to announce that Sarah B. George will join her office as campus chief advancement officer. George is currently the executive director of the Natural History Museum of Utah. “We are delighted to have Sarah join the university’s advancement team in a […]


New dean announced for S.J. Quinney College of Law

University of Utah Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Dan Reed announced that Elizabeth Kronk Warner has accepted an offer to serve as the next dean of the S.J. Quinney College of Law. Kronk Warner is currently associate dean of Academic Affairs, professor and director of the Tribal Law and Government Center at the University […]


U to award three honorary degrees at 2019 commencement

The University of Utah Board of Trustees today announced that Robert “Archie” Archuleta, May Farr and Gary L. Crocker will receive honorary doctoral degrees during the 2019 annual commencement ceremony, set for Thursday, May 2, at 6 p.m. in the Jon M. Huntsman Center. The award is the highest honor given by the university. This […]


Protecting the Field of Dreams

Plants have important things to say, and University of Utah electrical and computer engineering associate professor Hanseup Kim wants to listen to them. He leads a team of U engineers who have received a $2.2-million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to design and build small chemical sensors that can “sniff” out when a […]