LITTLE ROCK — (Monday, November 18, 2024) The Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas today unanimously approved the selection of retired United States Air Force Lieutenant General Jay B. Silveria as the next president of the University of Arkansas System.
Silveria, the associate vice president and executive director of Texas A&M University and the Bush School of Government & Public Service in Washington, D.C. and former superintendent at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Co., is expected to start his new role Jan. 15, 2025, contingent upon the successful negotiation of an employment agreement as directed by the Board.
Current UA System President Dr. Donald R. Bobbitt announced plans last summer to retire after more than 13 years at the helm of the state’s largest higher education system. The Board of Trustees engaged in a national search, led by Trustee Scott Ford, in August that culminated in a series of specially called meetings to consider candidates for the position.
“We are tremendously honored to have had the highest quality of candidates show interest in being the next president of the UA System, and also to have a dedicated group of trustees that was very deliberate in choosing the right person for this important position,” said Kelly Eichler, chair of the UA Board. “I believe we’ve found a proven leader who brings unmatched qualities, achievements and experience from his time in the military and in higher education to our System that will help us navigate the myriad of opportunities and issues facing our campuses, divisions and units. The Board is very proud of this selection, and we are looking forward to welcoming General Silveria and his family to Arkansas, and helping him familiarize himself with our unique System and our dedicated students, faculty and staff across the state.”
Silveria, a command pilot with more than 3,900 hours in elite military aircraft, retired from a 35-year career in the U.S. Air Force in November 2020, after spending the last three years of his service as superintendent of the U.S. Air Force Academy. Shortly after retirement, he was appointed the associate vice president and executive director of Texas A&M University and the Bush School of Government & Public Service in Washington, D.C., which serves graduate students looking to boost careers in government and public service and the broader Texas A&M University community. Silveria said he looks forward to completing his obligations to Texas A&M and the Bush School before joining the UA System in early 2025.
“The last several years of working in a university setting have given me a firsthand view of the transformational power of public higher education in peoples’ lives,” Silveria said. “I am humbled by this opportunity to lead the UA System and feel that there is tremendous potential to build on its outstanding reputation and high-quality programming. It’s clear to me that Dr. Bobbitt and the rest of the leadership across the System have us well positioned to continue our mission to provide the highest quality education, research and public service to the people of Arkansas and beyond. I could not be in this position without the guidance and support I’ve had from my colleagues and family along the way, and certainly not without the vision and dedication of the UA Board, to which I am grateful for this opportunity.”
Silveria previously served as Deputy Commander, Combined Air Force Component, U.S. Central Command, Southwest Asia, where he was responsible for the command and control of air operations in a 20-nation area and where key operations Resolute Support in Afghanistan and Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Syria were executed under his command. He previously served as Commander, U.S. Air Force Warfare Center, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, and Vice Commander, 14th Air Force Space Command at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, as well as Director, Security Assistance in the Office of Security Cooperation-Baghdad, Iraq.
Raised in an Air Force family, Silveria is a 1985 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and in 1986 completed undergraduate pilot training. He is a command pilot with experience in the T-37, T-38, F-15C/E, HH-60 and F-35A aircrafts. He has flown combat missions over the Balkans and Iraq and served as Vice Commander at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.
Silveria has commanded a Fighter Wing, an Air Operation Center, and a Fighter Squadron, and was awarded a Distinguished Service Medal and a Bronze Star, along with multiple Air Medals, during his career.
Silveria earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Air Force Academy and a Master of Social Science degree from Syracuse University, attended the National War College at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington DC., and was a senior executive fellow at Harvard University where he also attended the Harvard Seminar for New Presidents at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
More about Silveria can be found in the resume and cover letter he submitted when seeking this position:
Resume
Cover Letter
About the University of Arkansas System (www.uasys.edu)
Since its inception, the University of Arkansas System has developed a tradition of excellence that includes the state’s 1871 flagship, land-grant research university; Arkansas’s premier institution for medical education, treatment and research; a major metropolitan university; an 1890 land-grant university; two regional universities serving southern and western Arkansas; seven community colleges; two schools of law; a presidential school; a residential math and science high school; and a 100 percent-online university and divisions of agriculture, archeology and criminal justice. As the premier higher education system in the state, it enrolls more than 70,000 students, employs more than 17,000 employees, and has a total budget of more than $4 billion. An intrinsic part of the texture and fabric of Arkansas, the UA System is a driving force in the state’s economic, educational and cultural advancement.