University of Wyoming President Seidel wrapped up six years as UW’s president this week, making way for his successor, Shane Reeves, who assumed the presidency July 1.
Seidel said his replacement will arrive at a university full of potential but that also faces challenges.
“I just feel like we have a lot of momentum,” Seidel said. “[Reeves is] going to have to work hard to build trust across the university, coming in from the outside, like I did.”
Seidel became UW’s president in the summer of 2020, during the earliest waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, Seidel announced he would step down in 2026. He was the university’s 28th president.
During Seidel’s six years as president, UW became an R1 research university, set fundraising records and established an official free speech policy.
But it also saw declining enrollment and the firing of several popular campus leaders. UW was also forced to shutter its diversity programs by state lawmakers who also took aim at its course curriculum and funding.
Those aren’t the only challenges awaiting the new president.
UW is undergoing a state-mandated organizational review. The goal of that review is to find “efficiencies,” which UW leaders say could mean cutting programs in the months ahead.
Reeves is a brigadier general who has served in several legal positions for the U.S. military across a 30-year career and taught law at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He most recently served as West Point’s chief academic advisor.
The incoming president has already suggested a shake up of UW’s leadership structure.
