Denise Runge

Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for academic affairs, University of Alaska Anchorage

Denise Runge, Ph.D., has served as provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Alaska Anchorage since 2020. She leads programming across five campuses and collaborates closely with the other campuses in the Alaska system. Previously, she held similar positions in Montana and Georgia. Denise received her B.A. in political science from Washington and Jefferson College,  an M.A. from Jacksonville State University, and  Ph.D. in policy and administration from the University of Alabama.

John Georgas

Senior Vice Provost for Academic Operations, Northern Arizona University

John Georgas, Ph.D., has served as the senior vice provost for academic operations at Northern Arizona University since 2020. In this role, he collaborates across a broad portfolio of offices and areas, including academic advising, office of the registrar, academic policies, and undergraduate research. His scholarly interests include software and architectural visualization, self-adaptive software systems, domain-specific architecture and architectural styles, and software engineering pedagogy and learning. Georgas earned his bachelor’s degree in computer science from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and his master’s and doctoral degrees in information and computer science from the University of California, Irvine.

TBD

Matthew Makley

Provost, Metropolitan State University of Denver

Matthew S. Makley, Ph.D.,  is the provost and executive vice president of academic affairs at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Prior his appointment as interim provost in January 2025, he served as chair of the History Department and completed three terms as Faculty Senate president.  His areas of expertise include Indigenous North America, water history, particularly Colorado water, and the American West. Makley has been teaching at MSU Denver for over 15 years. He also taught courses at Arizona State University while earning his doctorate. He received the 2016 Faculty Senate Teaching Excellence Award for Tenured Faculty. Makley received his doctorate in history specializing in Native American history, and the history of the American West from Arizona State University in 2007.

Debora Halbert

Associate Vice President for Academic Strategy, University of Hawai‘i System

Debora Halbert is the associate vice president for academic strategy at the University of Hawai‘i System where she works on student success and transfer related issues.  Prior to her current position, she was the associate vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. She received her B.A. and M.A. from Western Washington University and her Ph.D. in political science from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Prior to returning to Hawai‘i where she was a professor in the political science department teaching law, policy and also futures studies, she taught for 12 years at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio.

Heidi Estrem

Chief Academic Officer, Idaho State Board of Education

Heidi Estrem, Ph.D., serves as the chief academic officer at the Idaho State Board of Education. She advocates for higher education, leads sustainable and supportive policy implementation, and supports students and faculty at Idaho’s eight public institutions. Prior to joining the Board office, she was the director of first-year writing and professor of writing studies at Boise State University. Estrem received her B.A. in English from California State University, Chico, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in composition and rhetoric from the University of Nevada, Reno.

Joe Thiel

Interim Deputy Commissioner for Academic, Research and Student affairs, Montana University System

Joe Thiel serves as interim deputy commissioner for academic, research and student affairs for the Montana University System. The Montana University System comprises 16 institutions that together serve more than 40,000 students. Thiel holds a B.S. in chemical engineering and a B.A. in liberal studies from Montana State University and master’s degrees in public policy and higher education from the University of Oxford, which he attended as a Rhodes Scholar.

TBD

Barbara Rodríguez

Interim Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, University of New Mexico

Barbara Rodríguez, Ph.D. serves as the interim provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the University of New Mexico (UNM), and a professor in speech and hearing sciences in the UNM College of Arts and Sciences. Previously, she served as the UNM senior vice provost. Her scholarly interests include cultural competence/humility, bilingual language acquisition, and bilingual language assessment to accurately identify young bilingual (English/Spanish) children who are experiencing language learning difficulties. Rodríguez earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in communicative disorders from the University of New Mexico and doctoral degree in speech-language pathology from the University of Washington.

Eric Link

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, University of North Dakota

Eric Carl Link serves as provost and vice president for academic affairs at the University of North Dakota.  Prior to that, Link served as provost and senior vice president for academic and student affairs the University of Houston Downtown, and before that as the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Purdue University Fort Wayne, and associate dean and department chair at the University of Memphis.  Link holds a Ph.D. in American literature from Purdue University, is widely published in his field, and is a two-time Fulbright Senior Scholar, with appointments in Fribourg, Switzerland, and Lutsk, Ukraine.

Veronica Dujon

Director for Academic Policy and Authorization, State of Oregon: Higher Education Coordinating Commission

Veronica Dujon, Ph.D., is the director for academic policy and authorization at Oregon Higher Education Coordination Commission. She leads the Commission’s efforts to coordinate academic programs, degree pathways, and student success initiatives among Oregon’s public universities. Dujon also oversees degree authorization for private schools, and licensing and compliance for private career schools. Prior to joining the HECC she was an associate dean in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Portland State University. Dujon did her graduate work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is an environmental sociologist by training. Dujon’s research and publications focus on conflicts over declining natural resources; the role of women in the global economy; and the tensions between national development strategies and forces of globalization.

Pam Carriveau

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Black Hills State University

Pamela Carriveau is the associate vice president for academic programming for the South Dakota Board of Regents (SDBOR). She manages academic program development, facilitates collaborative efforts between student success and academics across the regental system, and provides leadership in implementing high-impact educational practices.  Prior to starting with the SDBOR in August 2022, she was the interim provost at Black Hills State University (BHSU).  Previously, Carriveau served as the assistant provost, the director of program review and assessment, and as an associate professor of political science at BHSU.  She received her B.A. in political science from the University of Wyoming and her M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from Purdue University.

TJ Bliss

Associate Commissioner for Academic Affairs, Utah System of Higher Education

TJ Bliss, Ph.D., is the associate commissioner for academic affairs at the Utah System of Higher Education. He fosters collaboration, fiscal responsibility, and inclusive problem solving by building deep relationships of trust to achieve outcomes, create a positive culture, and lead people toward a collective vision. In addition to his role as Associate Commissioner for Academic Affairs at the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education, Bliss is a clinical assistant professor in Education Leadership at the University of Idaho. He was formerly the chief academic officer for the Idaho State Board of Education, chief advancement officer at the Wiki Education Foundation, education program officer at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and director of assessment and accountability at the Idaho Department of Education. Through these senior leadership roles, he has worked to increase access, affordability, and success for students at the international, national, state, and institutional levels, across higher education and K-12.  Bliss received a B.S. in microbiology and Ph.D. in educational inquiry, measurement, and evaluation from Brigham Young University, as well as an M.S. in biology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Julie Garver

Director of Policy and Academic Affairs, Council of Presidents

Since 2015, Dr. Julie Garver has been the director of policy and academic affairs for the Council of Presidents. She collaborates on higher education policy at the state and national levels to meet the needs of Washington’s public baccalaureate institutions. Previously, Garver served as the director of government relations with The Evergreen State College for eight years and worked with the Oregon Community College Association for five years. Garver earned a B.A. in international political economy from the University of Puget Sound, a M.A. in international affairs from American University, and a Ph.D. in higher education policy from Oregon State University.

Anne Alexander

Interim Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, University of Wyoming

Anne Alexander is interim provost and vice president of academic affairs at the University of Wyoming (UW). Alexander’s research and teaching focuses on the history of American capitalism, international economics, and health economics. Prior to her position in academic affairs, she was the director of international programs and associate dean of outreach at UW. She has also served as a resources economist in the U.S. Department of State, assistant dean of the UW College of Business, and director of the interdisciplinary Health Economics Policy Center at UW. She is an alumnus of Leadership Wyoming, Class of 2013. Alexander earned her Ph.D. in economics at UW, and her master’s and B.B.A. in economics from New Mexico State University.