Frankie Eliptico Elected WICHE’s First Chair from U.S. Pacific Territories and Freely Associated States

Utah Sen. Ann Millner to Serve as Immediate Past Chair

BOULDER, Colorado – Frankie Eliptico, Senior Vice President of Northern Marianas College in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), has been elected as the 2027 Chair of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE). Utah Sen. F. Ann Millner, who served as the 2026 Chair of the WICHE Commission, will now serve as the Immediate Past Chair. Nevada Truckee Meadows Community College Professor Fred Lokken will serve as Vice Chair.

Eliptico is the first Commissioner to be elected as a WICHE Commission officer representing the U.S. Pacific Territories and Freely Associated States, a shared membership among six Pacific jurisdictions — three U.S. territories and three freely associated states: American Samoa, CNMI, Guam, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), and the Republic of Palau. As Chair, Eliptico will lead the WICHE Commission, which consists of 48 Commissioners appointed by their respective governors from 15 Western states and the U.S. Pacific Territories and the Freely Associated States.

Eliptico was appointed to the WICHE Commission in 2019.

“I am both humbled and honored to serve as Chair of the WICHE Commission and to bring the perspectives of the Pacific region to our shared work advancing postsecondary education and workforce development across the West. I look forward to continuing our shared work to expand educational opportunities, strengthen collaboration, and support students and institutions throughout the region,” Eliptico said.

A leader in higher education for nearly two decades, Eliptico previously served as NMC’s interim president for three years, leading recovery efforts following Super Typhoon Yutu and the COVID-19 pandemic. In that role, he led efforts to secure more than $100 million that is now helping to rebuild the NMC campus with state-of-the-art buildings. His work on institutional marketing and branding efforts has been recognized nationally, and he was named Communicator of the Year in the District VI (Western U.S.) region of the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations.

Beyond his role at NMC, he is a dedicated community leader, having served in leadership positions in numerous nonprofit organizations. In addition to his role on the WICHE Commission, he also sits on the board of governors for the Asia Pacific Association for Fiduciary Studies, which empowers fiduciaries across the Asia-Pacific region with best practices in governance, responsible investment, and financial stewardship. He has served as the education policy advisor to the CNMI Governor and has also chaired the board of the Mariana Islands Nature Alliance, a nonprofit organization dedicated to environmental conservation, as well as the Northern Mariana Islands Humanities Council. The Marianas Press named Eliptico its inaugural 2025 Person of the Year, recognizing his leadership in the college’s transformation and its contributions to education and economic renewal in the CNMI, a U.S. territory located in the northwestern Pacific Ocean.

The Pacific islands share many challenges with rural and remote communities across the West: geographic isolation, limited access to services, higher costs associated with distance, and fewer nearby options for higher education and workforce training. Their inclusion in WICHE is a natural extension of its regional mission, said WICHE President Demarée Michelau.

“Chair Eliptico’s election is a historic milestone for WICHE that recognizes the Pacific Islands’ longstanding contributions to our shared work in higher education,” she added. “His leadership and deep commitment to the students and communities he serves will bring valuable perspectives and strengthen our work to expand opportunity, address shared challenges, and ensure every community, regardless of geography, has a voice in shaping the future of higher education.”