President’s Council

Brad Mortensen

Brad L. Mortensen became the 13th president of Weber State University in January 2019, after serving in several leadership positions at WSU since 2004. He began his tenure as president with a call to action for the Weber State family to become louder and prouder about the university.

Since then, Brad has celebrated numerous accomplishments with campus partners, including establishing a new strategic plan, expanding community partnerships and economic engagement initiatives, and helping WSU maintain and achieve top rankings in multiple areas, including student affordability and return on investment.

Brad guides Weber State’s efforts to be a leader in transforming lives by meeting all students where they are, challenging and guiding them to meet their goals both academically and in life. This includes expanding access as an open enrollment university, increasing retention and completion rates, providing personalized and innovative learning experiences and striving to become an Emerging Hispanic Serving Institution.

He believes it is his primary role to unlock the creative potential within everyone in the Weber State community, and to guide the university in being an institution that is continually learning and improving.

A first-generation college graduate, Brad holds several degrees, including a doctoral degree in educational leadership and policy from the University of Utah.

Norm Tarbox

Norman C. Tarbox Jr. was appointed Weber State University’s vice president of Administrative Services in March, 2002.

Tarbox came to WSU from the Utah System of Higher Education, where he was assistant and then associate commissioner for finance and facilities and assistant commissioner for student financial aid. Previously, he was interim deputy director of the Utah Department of Workforce Services. He was a budget and planning analyst at the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget and has been a director of the Utah Higher Education Assistance Authority, a member of the State of Utah Privatization Policy Board and a part-time faculty member of the Intermountain Academy for Leadership in Higher Education at the University of Utah.

Tarbox received his Bachelor of Arts degree in communications and his master’s degree in business administration from Brigham Young University. He earned a doctorate in educational leadership and policy from the University of Utah.

Laís Martinez

Laís Martinez is currently serving in a dual capacity role as Assistant Commissioner for Belonging & Opportunity at the Utah System of Higher Education (USHE) and Interim Vice President of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at Weber State University.

A decade ago, she began her work as a regional enrollment advisor for USU Eastern and Utah Valley University. Martinez’s institutional experience includes work in student affairs, student leadership and community outreach. In this capacity, she spent much of her time in Latinos in Action, AVID, Gear Up and TRIO classrooms, where she infused principles of hip hop pedagogy and spoken word to create culturally sustaining college readiness workshops for students.

Later, as UVU’s Assistant Director for School Community University Partnership, she led the only Spanish GED program in the state, securing grants to provide additional support for immigrant parents and adults to complete their GED. In this role, she also supported an after- school tutoring program for K-6 students as well as planned programming for UVU Prep, a free STEM Summer program for middle and junior high first-generation and underrepresented students.

When joining the Office of the Commissioner, she first worked managing statewide access and outreach programs like Utah College Application Week (UCAW), where she expanded the program to include an awareness component for elementary and middle school students. She was later promoted as the inaugural Assistant Commissioner for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in 2020. In this role, she has had the unique opportunity to work in collaboration with many higher education, community, government, and business leaders and stakeholders to address systemic change through policy, programming, and funding. Since 2017, she has convened each of the institutional Chief Diversity Officers, providing state strategy for efforts to close attainment disparities and supported the collective creation of the USHE Equity Lens Framework.

Martínez holds a Master of Education with an emphasis in Education, Culture, and Society from the University of Utah. She approaches her work rooted in the liberating power of education to transform lives.

Mark Halverson

Mark Halverson was appointed as the interim vice president of Information Technology in September 2023.

Halverson has been with Weber State University since 2007. He has served as the director of Campus Planning & Construction as well as associate vice president for Facilities & Campus Planning. Halverson has more than 20 years of experience in strategic management and leading specialized teams.

Halverson holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Weber State University in business administration. He is currently pursuing his doctoral degree in higher education administration from Southern Mississippi University.

Ravi Krovi

Ravi Krovi joined Weber State University as provost and vice president of Academic Affairs in March, 2020.

Krovi previously worked at the University of Akron where, since 2002, he served as a professor, the director of the Center for Information Technologies and eBusiness, chair of the Department of Management and as dean of the College of Business Administration for 10 years. During this time, the college’s strategic emphasis on academic quality, student professional development and career readiness resulted in affirmation of global accreditation in business and accounting and a Top 50 public business school national ranking. He has actively participated in consulting activities and led executive development programs for corporations and government agencies in digital competencies, business analytics, strategic planning, leadership and technology.

Krovi earned his doctoral degree in management information systems and decision sciences and master’s degree specializations in computer science and statistics from the University of Memphis, and a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Baroda, India.

Betsy Mennell

Betsy Mennell joined Weber State University in August 2019 as the vice president for university Advancement.

Previously, Mennell worked at Northern Arizona University (NAU) for 18 years, most recently as Vice President for Development and Alumni Engagement and President of the NAU Foundation. She has more than 20 years of development experience, including United Way/Capital Area, St. Edward’s University (both in Austin, Texas) and Regis University in Denver, Colorado. She has presented on development at the Association of Governing Boards, Association of Fund-Raising Professionals, CASE, Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences Annual Meeting, and Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

Mennell holds a Ph.D. in Educational Administration from the University of Texas at Austin, a M.A. in Human Services from St. Edward’s University, and a B.A. in English Literature and Political Science from Saint Mary’s College (Notre Dame, Indiana).

Jessica Oyler

Jessica Oyler was appointed as the vice president for Student Access & Success in June 2023.

Previously, Oyler served as Associate Provost, Assistant Vice President for Human Resources, and Executive Director for Student Affairs Strategic Initiatives at Weber State. With expertise in assessment and strategic planning, her research focuses on first-generation student success, and she regularly teaches classes in the Master of Education’s Higher Education Leadership program.

Oyler holds a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy from the University of Utah, an M.A. in Postsecondary Educational Leadership from San Diego State University, and a B.S. in Agricultural Food and Life Sciences from the University of Arkansas.

Jason Francis

Jason Francis is the 2022-23 Faculty Senate Chair, as well as an associate professor and librarian for Weber State University.

Francis holds an MLS degree from the University of North Texas, and a bachelor’s degree from Weber State. He has been at WSU for more than 28 years, holding various positions throughout that time.

As a member of Weber State’s digital literacy task force, he has implemented digital assignments into information literacy instruction. He also passionately advocates for accessibility accommodations for all students, which has informed his research as a faculty member. He has received two Hemingway Collaborative awards for his research, as well as having his work featured in Medical Reference Services Quarterly.

Amanda Geilman

Coming soon!

Steven Richardson

Richardson previously worked at Huston-Tillotson University (HT) in Austin, Texas, where he served as director of marketing and public relations and Title IX Coordinator. In his communications role at HT, Richardson was the university spokesperson, photographer, and social media leader, creating content that engaged audiences across the HT and Austin communities. He also established and advised a student news team that served as a mentoring and career exploration opportunity for students. In the Title IX role, Richardson conducted investigations and interviews pertaining to Title IX and related regulations/university policies. Prior to HT, Richardson served as public relations coordinator, hearing officer, and trademarks attorney for the Natchez-Adams School District in Mississippi, the state in which he holds an active law license.

Richardson earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of New Hampshire School of Law, a master of science degree in mass communication from Jackson State University, and a bachelor of arts degree in English and Theatre Arts from Millsaps College.

Sherri Cox

Sherri Cox is the Executive Assistant in the Office of the President and secretary to the President’s Council and Board of Trustees.

Cox previously worked at Utah State University in the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences where she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Studies. Cox joined Weber State University in 2018 and earned her Master of Professional Communication in December 2022.