LOGAN – After months of searching for qualified candidates and a national search to replace Noelle Cockett, the Utah Board of Higher Education selected Elizabeth “Betsy” R. Cantwell as the 17th president of Utah State University on Friday.
Cantwell will assume the position later this summer as Cockett steps down to resume teaching and research opportunities with the university. Cockett served as president from January 2017 to May 2023 and announced she would be resigning in November 2022.
“I’m enormously grateful for the Utah Board of Higher Education for the faith they’ve put in me to become the next president of an amazing institution like Utah State University,” Cantwell said in a statement. “I’m very thankful for President Cockett for setting Utah State up as well as she has to be on the upward trajectory that it is today. I’m so excited about serving the students, faculty and staff who have been welcoming, charming and made me certain that this is the place to be.”
The finalists were Rodney D. Bennett, Cantwell and Kenneth L. White.
Cantwell is currently senior vice president for research & innovation at the University of Arizona.