Elizabeth R. Cantwell

Elizabeth R. Cantwell is the president of Utah State University, a role she began on August 1, 2023.

Education
Cantwell has a B.A. in Human Behavior from the University of Chicago (1976). In 1992, she received her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. In 2003, she earned an MBA in Finance & Entrepreneurship from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School.

Career
Cantwell worked for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where she was director for economic development and focused on developing research programs for the U.S. Department of Defense. From 2015 to 2019, she was at Arizona State University. Prior to her appointment at Utah State University, Cantwell was an American professor of aerospace-mechanical engineering and the senior vice president for research and Innovation at The University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. At the University of Arizona, she oversaw twelve major university research centers and facilities, including Biosphere 2, Bio5 Institute, Arizona State Museum, and the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy. Cantwell was named president of Utah State University on May 19, 2023.

Awards and honors
She was elected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2019. In 2020, she was presented with the Transformational Leadership Award at the Arizona Governor's Celebration of Innovation Awards.