Jay Silveria named next University of Arkansas System president

Jay Silveria has been named the next president of the University of Arkansas System, an institution with more than 70,000 enrolled students and more than 17,000 employees. He succeeds Donald Bobbitt who retired Nov. 1 after 13 years in the top job.

The University of Arkansas Board of Trustees unanimously approved the hiring of Silveria, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant general, according to a statement from the UA system.

Silveria, the associate vice president and executive director of Texas A&M University and the Bush School of Government & Public Service in Washington, D.C. and former superintendent at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Co., is expected to start his new role Jan. 15, 2025, contingent upon the successful negotiation of an employment agreement as directed by the board.

“We are tremendously honored to have had the highest quality of candidates show interest in being the next president of the UA System, and also to have a dedicated group of trustees that was very deliberate in choosing the right person for this important position,” said UA Board Chair Kelly Eichler said in a statement. “I believe we’ve found a proven leader who brings unmatched qualities, achievements and experience from his time in the military and in higher education to our System that will help us navigate the myriad of opportunities and issues facing our campuses, divisions and units. The Board is very proud of this selection, and we are looking forward to welcoming General Silveria and his family to Arkansas, and helping him familiarize himself with our unique System and our dedicated students, faculty and staff across the state.”

According to the UA System statement, Silveria is a command pilot with more than 3,900 hours in various aircraft types, including the F-15 and F-35. He retired from the USAF in November 2020 after spending three years as superintendent of the U.S. Air Force Academy. After retiring, he was appointed the associate vice president and executive director of Texas A&M University and the Bush School of Government & Public Service in Washington, D.C.

“The last several years of working in a university setting have given me a firsthand view of the transformational power of public higher education in peoples’ lives,” Silveria said. “I am humbled by this opportunity to lead the UA System and feel that there is tremendous potential to build on its outstanding reputation and high-quality programming.”

Silveria’s jobs in the USAF included:
• deputy commander, Combined Air Force Component, U.S. Central Command, Southwest Asia;
• commander, U.S. Air Force Warfare Center, Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.;
• vice commander, 14th Air Force Space Command at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.; and
• director, Security Assistance in the Office of Security Cooperation-Baghdad, Iraq.

He is a 1985 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, and was awarded a Distinguished Service Medal and a Bronze Star, along with multiple Air Medals, during his career. He earned a master’s degree in social science from Syracuse University, attended the National War College at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington DC., and was a senior executive fellow at Harvard University where he also attended the Harvard Seminar for New Presidents at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.