On April 11, 2024, the Utah Valley University Board of Trustees and Presidential Awards of Excellence program honored full-time faculty and staff who dedicate their time and talents to students, scholarship, and the advancement of higher education. These individuals embrace UVU’s core values of exceptional care, exceptional accountability, and exceptional results.
Awardees and their guests enjoyed an evening of celebration and recognition with fine dining, musical performances from Artiva Strings and Bloom A Cappella, and remarks from UVU leaders.
UVU Board of Trustees member Andrea Clarke began the program with this message:
“If you’ve ever seen the outside of a geode, you might not suspect that the inside is lined with layers of sparkling crystals as they appear very humble. The crystals are formed when temperature, pressure, and evaporation changes exist. The color of geode crystals depends on the specific materials and minerals found in the environment.
“As we think about the individuals we are honoring tonight, they represent not only UVU’s core values but, in a way, they are also UVU’s geodes. They are humble. They are brilliant. They create beautiful crystals of their own through mentorship, scholarly and academic works, and most importantly, their environment has crafted them into true green UVU representatives. We are so grateful to these unique individuals who make UVU a beautiful and successful place to work, learn, and educate our students.”
UVU President Astrid S. Tuminez included this message:
“The Awards of Excellence honor those who live the core values of UVU: exceptional care, exceptional accountability, and exceptional results. They support our mission of student success and do it with discipline and love. To the awardees, I say: ‘You truly represent the best of UVU!’
“What makes the best of UVU? I believe these are faculty and staff who bring their best selves to work every day. They are clear about their goals. They work effectively alone or in teams. They are ambitious and gritty. They use resources wisely. They model behaviors that we want our own students to have when they leave the halls of UVU.
“To the awardees, thank you for your dedication, passion, skills, and leadership. Because of you, our students thrive and our university moves from strength to strength. I am proud and grateful to work alongside all of you.”