Reeves selected as UW president
The University of Wyoming (UW) Board of Trustees has selected Brigadier General Shane Reeves, a Wyoming native with a distinguished academic and military leadership career, to serve as the university’s next president.
Originally from Sweetwater County, Reeves currently serves as the dean of the Academic Board at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y.
He will take office as UW’s 29th president in July, replacing current president Ed Seidel. The position is a four-year contract with an annual base salary of $500,000.
“I am deeply honored and humbled to return home and serve as the next president of UW,” Reeves says in an April 2 article published by UW’s Institutional Communications Department and written by Nick Seeman. “The future is bright for our incredible community, and I am excited about what we will accomplish together.”
Academic and military background
Reeves graduated from Rock Springs High School in 1992. He then enrolled at West Point Academy and earned a bachelor’s degree in European history in 1996.
He earned a Juris Doctor from the College of William and Mary in 2003 and a Master of Law in Military Law from the Judge Advocate General’s School of the U.S. Army in 2008.
Seeman notes Reeves began his Army career as an armor officer with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, “leading soldiers at the platoon and establishing a foundation of tactical and organizational leadership.”
He also directed and taught courses in constitutional and military law, jurisprudence, legal theory, international law and rules of engagement at the Judge Advocate General’s School of the U.S. Army.
In 2011, Reeves moved to West Point to serve as a professor and deputy head of the Department of Law, earning a reputation as “a prolific scholar” with over 35 peer-reviewed publications and other articles about armed conflict and national security.
In 2020, Reeves became head of West Point’s Department of Law and was appointed dean of the Academic Board in 2021. In this role, Reeves “drove institutional transformation by advancing education, research and partnerships to prepare leaders for complex global challenges.”
He also founded both the West Point Werx Innovation Hub and the West Point Press, accelerating the U.S. Military Academy’s position as “the intellectual engine of the Army’s innovation ecosystem,” according to Seeman.
Deepening connections
Reeves says he looks forward to applying principles from his previous career to his presidency at UW and continuing to build connections.
“Throughout my Army career, I have worked with and learned from amazing people who are engaged daily in important work for our nation where communicating, innovating, winning and, most importantly, leading with character are essential,” Reeves says. “I look forward to applying those same characteristics as president of this amazing university.”
Reeves says additional priorities for his presidency include “deepening connections with university and state communities, building the team, establishing an artificial intelligence task force to ensure leadership in the evolving landscape of higher education” and seeing UW sports thrive.
Selection process
UW says the vote to appoint Reeves completes a process which began in September with the appointment of a 17-member committee composed of UW trustees, faculty, staff and students – along with representatives of the state’s key industries – which led the search for UW’s next president for roughly seven months.
Reeves and UW College of Agriculture, Life Sciences and Natural Resources Farm Credit Services of America Dean Kelly Crane were the two semifinalists to be considered for the position out of an initial applicant pool of more than 100 people.
Leaders of UW’s Faculty and Staff senates, along with the Associated Students of UW, have voiced support for Reeves’ appointment as president, according to Seeman.
“We are thrilled a proven leader with a track record of academic success and strong Wyoming roots has agreed to become the next president of Wyoming’s university,” says Kermit Brown, chairman of the Board of Trustees. “We offer our deep appreciation to the search committee, others who participated in this process and, especially, the excellent field of candidates who applied for UW’s presidency.”
“We have every confidence Reeves will lead UW’s faculty, staff and students – working with the trustees, state leaders, alumni and many other supporters – to lift Wyoming’s world-class university to even greater heights,” Brown concludes.
Grace Skavdahl is the editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.
