Elizabeth R. Cantwell (Betsy) became Utah State University’s 17th president on Aug. 1, 2023. Before coming to USU, she served as the senior vice president for research and innovation at the University of Arizona, where she was responsible for an $925 million annual research portfolio and a research and innovation enterprise that spanned 20 academic colleges with locations across Arizona. She has a long history of leadership positions in top-level research programs, national laboratories, and space and technology boards and councils.
Cantwell is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School (MBA, 2003); the University of California, Berkeley (Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, 1992); and the University of Chicago (BA, Human Behavior 1976).