Prior to 1969, the University of Utah was overseen by the Utah Board of Regents. An Institutional Council governed the university from 1969 to 1991, when the first Board of Trustees was established.
Today, The University of Utah is governed by a 10-member Board of Trustees, eight of whom are appointed by the governor of the state of Utah with consent of the Utah Senate. The president of the University of Utah Alumni Association and the president of the Associated Students of the University of Utah serve as ex officio board members. The eight appointed board members serve four-year terms, with four terms expiring on June 30 of odd-numbered years. The two ex officio board members serve for the terms of their respective offices. The board elects one of its members to serve as chair and another member to serve as vice chair; the term of these offices is two years, pending the selection and qualification of successors.
The board’s responsibilities include consulting with the Utah Board of Higher Education on the appointment of the president of the university; overseeing the university president’s enumerated and delegated powers; and other duties, responsibilities and functions as delegated and authorized by the Utah Board of Higher Education or through rules and regulations of the university. Its duties include acting on behalf of the university in facilitating communication between the university and the community; assisting in the planning, implementation and execution of fund raising and development projects aimed at supplementing university appropriations; and perpetuating and strengthening alumni and community identification with the university’s traditions and goals. The board also approves all candidates for earned degrees and diplomas granted by the university. More information is available here: https://regulations.utah.edu/u-organizations/2-002.php.
The board operates several committees, including an executive committee, audit committee and honors committee that, in consultation with the university’s president, makes recommendations for honorary degrees, portraits and other honors bestowed by the university. The board may form other ad hoc committees as needed to carry out its business.
The University of Utah Board of Trustees meets regularly, in most cases monthly during the academic year. For more information or if you have questions, contact Karen West at 801-585-5846.
Board of Trustees Members
Joe is a Junior at the David Eccles School of Business, a return LDS missionary, and started and helped with multiple clubs on campus. He devotes his time to serve others through humanitarian work with YMAD, advocating for students as newly elected Student Body President, and has hosted events on campus to enhance student experience and community. As Student Body President he will overlook the operations of the Executive Branch of ASUU, serve on many University Committees, and advocate on campus on behalf of students.
Curt Doman is co-founder of Progressive Leasing, the leading fintech provider of lease-to-own solutions (PROG Holdings, Inc. NYSE:PRG). A seasoned entrepreneur and visionary in the financial technology space, Curt has been driving innovation and growth in financial technology solutions for over 25 years.
Curt is a member of PROG Holdings’ Board of Directors. He previously served as PROG Holdings’ Chief Innovation Officer, Chief Technology Officer, and Chief Product Officer. He also is instrumental in guiding PROG Holdings’ philanthropic efforts through its non-profit arm, the PROG Foundation, and its PROG Youth Development Center. These community resources offer young adults in the greater West Valley City, Utah area access to in-person and hybrid programming, initiatives, and other offerings designed to develop the skills necessary to positively shape their futures. PROG Holdings is headquartered in Draper, Utah, has over 1,600 employees, and reported consolidated revenues of $2.4 billion last year.
Curt began his entrepreneurial journey at 12 with the founding of SoftArt, a loan document programming solution. Following his success with SoftArt, Mr. Doman earned a Finance degree from the University of Utah while co-founding International Document Services, Inc. (IDS), a leading mortgage services provider. Curt also acquired and developed Checkstop, LLC, before co-founding Progressive Leasing in 1999, effectively creating the virtual lease-to-own industry while emphasizing principles like grit, innovation, integrity, and valuing people.
In addition to being a prolific angel investor, Curt started the Doman Innovation Studio at the University of Utah. The studio is an incubator that empowers entrepreneurs to realize their potential, create positive change in their communities, and build adaptable processes that allow them to succeed in current and future ventures.
Outside of his professional activities, Curt enjoys spending time with his wife Alisa and their four children—Morgan, Tyler, Ethan, and Brooklyn. He is an avid road and mountain cyclist, enjoys chess, and is also a licensed pilot. Curt served a two-year religious mission in Taiwan for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where he became fluent in Mandarin Chinese.
Bassam was born in Cairo, Egypt; before his 14th birthday, he had lived and attended school in Egypt, France, England, and the United States studying in Arabic, English, and French. This diverse upbringing shaped his core beliefs centered on multicultural globalism and humanitarianism.
As the son of a mother who was a chief computer engineer and a father who was a retired air force pilot with PhDs in Economics and Political Science, both of whom immigrated to the US nearly 40 years ago, Bassam's upbringing prioritized academic achievement entering high school at age 12, starting college at age 15, programming professionally at age 16, and starting his first Master's degree at age 20. He completed BS, MS, and MPhil degrees in Computer Science as well as an MBA, all from the University of Utah.
His early professional career was a software engineer and architect at Philips Electronics and IBM Global Services; he spent much of his career building and scaling services organizations within high-growth tech start-ups such as Siebel Systems (acquired by Oracle), Omniture (acquired by Adobe), inContact (acquired by NICE Systems), and MaritzCX (acquired by InMoment). He managed teams as large as 2,100 professionals across 18 offices around the world with responsibility for over $200m.
In late 2015, Bassam founded startup consultancy Mindshare Ventures followed in early 2016 with the incubation of conversational AI company AtlasRTX, the first company started, funded, and scaled within Mindshare Ventures. AtlasRTX was acquired in late 2022 by NICE Systems amid the move to AI-powered customer experience.
Bassam's current passions center around education, immigration, and entrepreneurship, and their impact on socioeconomic opportunity. He does so with a focus on supporting those who are underrepresented or are underprivileged. He is honored to serve on the board of trustees at the University of Utah among other non-profit and cause-based association boards.
James Sorenson is an attorney practicing in the Salt Lake City office of Ray Quinney & Nebeker P.C. He is a member of the firm’s Bankruptcy and Creditor’s Rights and Litigation sections. His practice is concentrated in creditor’s rights and commercial and bankruptcy litigation. His practice includes commercial and trustee representation in Chapter 7, 11, and 13 of the Bankruptcy Code. Mr. Sorenson also has experience representing plaintiffs and defendants in actions involving preference, fraudulent transfer, and avoidance actions. As part of his creditor’s rights practice, Mr. Sorenson represents parties in all aspects of collection matters, foreclosures, replevins, and evictions. In addition to Mr. Sorenson’s bankruptcy and creditor’s right practice, he also represents multiple parties in general commercial litigation, including real property disputes, business disputes, and disputes arising in probate court.
Mr. Sorenson currently serves as President of the Board of Governors for U Alumni. He has previously served as the President of the Utah Minority Bar Association, Chair of the Bankruptcy Section of the Utah State Bar, as an ex officio member of the Utah State Bar Commission, President of the Utah Asian Chamber of Commerce, and on the founding board for the Utah Center for Legal Inclusion.
Mr. Sorenson graduated from the University of Utah with degrees in Political Science and French. Mr. Sorenson joined Ray Quinney & Nebeker upon graduation from The George Washington University Law School in Washington D.C. While in law school, Mr. Sorenson interned with the United States Department of Justice, Tax Division.
Spencer F. Eccles is the board treasurer.
2024 Meeting Schedules and Agendas
The University of Utah Board of Trustees has ten public meetings annually. Meetings are held on the second Tuesday of the month. The board usually meets at the Cleone Peterson Eccles Alumni House, located at 155 Central Campus Dr., Salt Lake City, UT 84112. Changes to meeting locations are announced in the agenda. Agenda materials are posted on BoardDocs no later than three business days prior to a meeting.
Meetings begin at 9 a.m. and are are also streamed live at http://www.utah.edu/live/.
For questions about the meeting contact Karen West at karen.west@utah.edu. The length of each meeting varies according to business needs. On occasion, trustees meet in executive sessions, which are closed to the public.