Orem, Utah – October 6th, 2026
First Experiences at UVU & Early Years
President Jon Anderson’s first time on campus was when he was very young. His father taught Religion Classes at the LDS institute on campus for 21 years; “[My dad] started teaching there when I was 10, and he did a lot of leadership, led a lot of the dances, that kind of thing.” Anderson’s father would often take him to these activities. “…Walking around this campus is the first time I began to realize the power of higher education and what it can do for individual people, and so I carried that with me.” Anderson continued: “And to have an opportunity to take the experience I’ve had outside of Utah for nearly three decades in education, to come back here to the place where my love for higher education began, really is a dream come true. I’m so honored to be back.”
In Anderson’s high school years, he struggled to express his ideas in his writing. Janice Voorhees, his 9th grade English teacher, took a special interest in him and nurtured his writing skills and confidence. She opened him up to the possibility of doing something in education affecting the rest of his life. “That teacher, Janice Voorhees has been an influence in my life ever since.” Said Anderson, “One of my first days on campus, I had a student walk up to me, and she said, ‘I am Janice Voorhees’ granddaughter’ …. we took a picture together [and] texted it to her. To have the opportunity to help one of her grandchildren and lead an institution where she’s enrolled is just a meaningful experience “
Career and Education
Anderson got his Bachelors of Science at Utah State University after changing his major three times. “I spent some time as an English major, a psychology major, and ended up settling in sociology.” That undergraduate major has been transformative for him. “I got the chance… to dig really into the social condition and social processes, how groups and teams work, how individuals act within groups and teams, how groups and teams can help individuals be successful or not.”
After his Bachelors, Anderson did some finance work but decided to keep pursuing his passion for education: “that’s where my passion is at.” Anderson taught high school and was a coach, and then later taught middle school. However, he noticed that there was more to be done to help fix the educational system and he started meeting with people to see what educational option he should pursue.
He settled on getting a Ph.D. with an emphasis in Business Strategy, ended up with majors in Business Strategy, Organizational Behavior, and Organizational Theory. “PhD was kind of for me the crowning educational experience…It took all the learning I had in each of those pathways, integrated them into one kind of cohesive whole about how we could use business principles to drive educational outcomes,” Anderson continued, “and that’s what I’ve been working on ever since.”
Most recently, Anderson served as the president of Pennsylvania Western University and before that, he worked many years with experience in leadership in college administration. Anderson’s passion lies within both as a strategic leader for UVU and to help others get a similar experience.
Philosophy and Future Goals
Anderson brought up his philosophy of seeing others as individuals, connecting the students to their programs, and hope for the future.
We can help students at UVU by not putting them in boxes, and we hamper their ability to grow when we do that. “We as leaders, as parents, as people, need to see every individual as an individual, and see what we can do to help them move from where they are to just being a little bit better, and provide the right support in the right places.” Anderson stated, “…There’s a tendency sometimes to categorize people or put them in certain boxes…this is a strong person, a good writer, this person’s not so good at math…. that categorization does a lot of damage.”
Students can feel lost in the university. “…Think of someone who just recently graduated from high school, enrolling one of our 4,500 of 4,700 new freshmen. They show up on campus… think, "I’m one of 49,000 people.” The way this can change is involving the students more in their program, making the percentage smaller. For example, having that student see themself as part of the 4,500 freshman and eventually as part of their specific program. “All of a sudden, a student can say, ‘I’m not one of 49,000. I’m one of 253, and I can know 250 names. I can know 50 names, and when they start to get in groups… or clubs outside of the classroom, it starts to feel like they’re part of a great movement’.”
When asked about what changes to expect with higher education and the rise of artificial intelligence and different workforce demands, Anderson responded “I was speaking to one of our legislators who built an AI company in the 1990s and sold it later on. AI is a new phenomenon, we believe, but it has been around for a very long time…The core fundamental principles of what a higher education does prepares people to succeed in any economy, in any community, no matter what is changing.”
Anderson strongly believes in the skills that higher education teaches, and the need for humans in the future. “I am very optimistic about the role education will fill, because we are honestly about developing human capacity, and we need human capacity in every economy, no matter how involved AI or how strong the economy is, we need human capacity, and that’s what we develop every day.”
The 8th UVU President, Jon Anderson brings so much to Utah Valley University. He will continue to use his knowledge and experience of the educational system to help this university to thrive.
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