For one day at the end of June, the University of Utah’s tour bus crisscrossed Northern Utah — from Herm’s Inn in Logan to the Great Salt Lake’s Farmington wetlands to the Roy headquarters of bicycle component maker ENVE Composites.

Like U presidents before me, I’m traveling around Utah this summer to redefine and rededicate to our university’s unique role in the state. The University of Utah has a lot of reach, but also tremendous responsibility. It’s an obligation we share with Weber State University, Utah State University, Bridgerland Technical College, Davis Technical College and Ogden-Weber Technical College.

As we snacked on squeaky cheese and Spudnuts on the bus, all around us was the proof of the partnerships and collaborations of Northern Utah’s government and education leaders, entrepreneurs and corporations, regular citizens and community and religious leaders that have contributed to making our state the incredible place that it is to live, learn and work.

As president of the University of Utah, I recognize the responsibility my university has for making the lives of every Utahn better. During my first year, I’ve focused on three numbers: 40,000 students, 3.3 million Utahns and $1 billion in research funding. These goals help guide every decision I make.

At Northrop Grumman in Roy, I met Takara Petersen, a 24-year-old graduate of the U and an alum of Weber State University.

As an 8-year-old growing up in Syracuse, Takara first tagged along with her mother, an engineer, to watch missile test launches in California from a control room at Hill Air Force Base. She was hooked. The problem was figuring out how to choose a degree. The materials science program at the University of Utah provided a career path. After receiving her associate degree from Weber State University, she transferred to the U in 2019.

A month ago, the Class of 2022 graduate started working full time at Northrop Grumman, designing corrosion solutions for the defense contractor. Petersen is one of 900 U alums with 1,200 degrees among Northrop Grumman’s 8,000 Utah employees. She’s also a perfect example of the impact of the university on the state around it.

“There’s just so much opportunity at the U,” Petersen said.

These numbers tell the story of the university’s statewide impact:

• Students come to the U from two-thirds of Northern Utah ZIP codes — including 2,016 students from Davis County, 606 from Weber County and 267 from Cache County.
• U of U Health patients live in 96% of those ZIP codes — nearly 64,000 in Davis County, another 20,500 in Weber County and 5,600 in Cache County.
• The U manages 550 buildings totaling 15.4 million square feet of space in 14 counties and 33 cities across Utah.
• The U awards more than half of the advanced degrees awarded to Utah graduates.
• The university is the state’s largest employer with 39,300 direct jobs, and directly and indirectly supports another 831,000 jobs.
• The university trains two-thirds of Utah’s physicians.

But our renewed compact with the state around us is more than numbers. The state invests heavily in us, and that carries with it an obligation to teach, to advance knowledge and to help the communities around us. It’s a mission all state colleges and universities share. As we work together to improve the state around us, I make these Six Commitments to you:

1. To lead as the state’s flagship university.

2. To educate and elevate our students.

3. To innovate and improve lives through research.

4. To serve the communities around us.

5. To provide exceptional patient care.

6. To unify Utah’s higher education institutions.

To read more about the Six Commitments, visit president.utah.edu.

I hope to meet more of you on the 2022 “Utah Across Utah” tour. I’ll see you on the road!

Taylor Randall is president of the University of Utah.

Newsletter